Policies, Procedures, and Other Information

Check-in: We ask that you arrive for check-in between 8:30 – 8:45 a.m. on the day(s) of your participation. Opening ceremonies will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. on both days. Check-in tables will be located in the museum’s main lobby. Your group representative must be available to check in participants and to pick up registration packets.

Please note that due to time constraints and out of consideration for our judges, we are not able to accept late or walk-in registrations. Students who are not registered may be allowed to perform if their competition category is not overfull, but they will not be eligible for judging or prizes.

Grand Entry for Pre-K – 5th Grades: On Day 1 of the Fair, the opening ceremony starts with a Grand Entry. Please have your students lined up in the foyer outside of the Great Hall at 8:50 a.m. We encourage all the programs, classes, or individual learners to make a banner announcing their program or class, or have a Tribal flag to carry.

Designated Representative: ONLY your designated representative (the first instructor listed on your registration sheet, to whom your confirmation letter was sent) can check students in and pick up T-shirts. They will not be released to anyone else. If this individual cannot attend, please notify us as soon as possible!

Chaperones: Please remember that 1 adult chaperone is required for every 5 students. Chaperones are responsible for their students at all times in the museum or on the museum grounds. If chaperones fail to adequately supervise students, the museum reserves the right to request the group’s departure.

Props: You can use props for performances. You may not have real food unless it is packaged; do not open the packages during the performance. Props can be made of painted corrugated cardboard if they are brought in only for the time of the performance. You may not have natural items, such as bark, grass, plants, flowers, wood, etc.  Natural items associated with regalia or traditional dress, such as feathers and leather, is permitted.

Clothes changing and rehearsal: The museum has several areas available for participants to change into performance dress or to be used as a rehearsal space. These include public restroom facilities in the museum lobby and on the 2nd floor of the exhibit area for clothes changing, and one education classroom on the first floor for rehearsal space. We respectfully request that all areas be used only for the time needed as they are shared areas.

Food and Drink: Food and drink are not allowed in the museum. Please remember that the only beverage that will be allowed in any audience or performance area is the bottled water provided by Language Fair staff to our judges and MCs. Please make sure that your students do not bring gum or candy into the museum.

Photography Release: The University of Oklahoma reserves the right to have photographs of Fair participants taken by museum staff and affiliated agencies. These photographs may be used in museum and University of Oklahoma publications, both print and electronic.

Bringing lunches to the Museum:

• We ask that all lunches be brought in sealed bags or plastic containers.
• Bring your individually packaged lunches in coolers. No corrugated cardboard boxes may be brought into the museum, but you can bring them in coolers, plastic tubs or containers, or bags. Please label your cooler or tub!
• If you would like to store your lunches inside the museum, check them in at the registration desk. Labeled coolers or tubs will be kept in our pantry. At lunch time, Language Fair staff will at the pantry and will help you transport it to the designated eating area (the museum’s Pleistocene Plaza, with the mammoth statue). You may also keep lunches outside in cars or buses, and bring it straight into the museum’s eating areas during the lunch hour.
• No refrigerated storage is available. If you are bringing coolers inside the museum, we ask that you not fill them with ice. If cooling is required, please use the “Blue Ice” or other brand of freezable gel packs (if possible, put these in plastic bags before putting them in the cooler to keep moisture at a minimum).
• All food must be consumed and re-stored or disposed of during the lunch hour. No food or drink may be taken into any area of the museum other than the designated eating area, including audience and performance areas. Uneaten food should be packed back into the cooler or tub and taken to the pantry or your vehicle.

Museum Café:
The Redbud Café is located next to the entrance. The café is closed on Mondays; it will be open on Tuesday, but it is a very small-scale dining area, staffed with one employee, serving a selection of pre-made sandwiches, soups, snacks and beverages. If you choose to eat here, your options and time may be limited.

Dining Out:
The lunch break is only 1 hour, and contests will resume promptly at 1:00 p.m. If you have students competing at that time, please make sure you are back in time for their performances. There are a number of dining options that are close to the museum; we have enclosed a map with a small selection of available options (though these are by no means all options available in Norman). We recommend avoiding the restaurants on Campus Corner (on Boyd Street) due to narrow streets, limited parking, and long lines of customers from the OU campus during the lunch hour.