Step back in time at the Oklahoma Steam Threshing & Gas Engine Show in Pawnee. For more than 50 years, this tradition has brought the prairie to life with massive steam traction engines thundering across the grounds. Watch steam-powered sawmills turn raw logs into lumber and check out more than a dozen steam traction engines and even a gas-powered rock crusher from the 1920s. An operating blacksmith shop and early 20th-century machine shop will be on display as well as early to mid-century gas-powered tractors.

Browse the trading post and swap meet for treasures ranging from antique parts to toy booths then stop to refuel with barbecue sandwiches, burgers, fresh-squeezed lemonade and food truck fare. On Saturday, bring the whole family for the pedal tractor pulls for kids, live music, daily parades, steam-powered wheat threshing, hands-on domestic displays, and a growing garden tractor collection.

After dusk, the steam engines will light up the night with a spark show, sending glowing cinders high feet into the air. Rain or shine, the fun rolls on, with plenty of indoor exhibitors to keep the gears turning.