Norman adds Wiffle Ball Home Run Derby to FourthFest celebration week

Norman is adding a Wiffle Ball Home Run Derby to FourthFest 2026, turning Reaves Park’s Field 6 into a July 3 stop for anyone willing to step in and swing. The derby is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, July 3, at 2501 Jenkins Ave., and the city says it is open to all ages, with spectators welcome to come cheer, watch and grab concessions while the competition unfolds.

The derby will sit inside a four-day FourthFest lineup running July 1 through July 4 as Norman marks the 250th anniversary of the United States. The city’s holiday schedule includes a Water Lantern Festival on July 1, an outdoor showing of Captain America: The First Avenger on July 2 and the Firecracker 5K on July 4, along with live music, food trucks, vendors, yard games, contests, family attractions and a fireworks display the city promotes as one of Oklahoma’s largest and best.

City officials are using the holiday week to push more people onto the field instead of leaving them in the stands. VisitNorman President and CEO Dan Schemm said FourthFest has become a tradition people plan their summer around, and Norman Parks and Recreation Director Jason Olsen said the goal is a safe, memorable, uniquely Norman celebration. The Wiffle Ball derby fits that approach cleanly: it is simple enough for kids, competitive enough for adults and familiar enough that no one needs a long introduction to the rules.

Reaves Park gives the event a larger stage. The city park now includes four new fields for ages 5 through 8, new concession and restroom facilities, a new park loop road, large new parking lots, a pond and upgrades to 11 other baseball and softball fields, making the complex one of Norman’s key athletic venues. The derby will be staged on Field 6, inside a park that has also hosted the city’s Juneteenth Festival on June 19 and its Earth Day Festival on April 26, reinforcing its role as a recurring gathering place for city events.

The game itself carries the kind of summer shorthand that makes it easy to drop into a city festival. The Baseball Hall of Fame traces Wiffle Ball to the 1950s and notes that it was patented in 1957 after being created in a family backyard. Norman is leaning into that history by giving the format a public spotlight during FourthFest, where the winner will leave with a trophy and bragging rights and the park will be the place where the holiday week really comes alive.