Each October Watonga hosts its annual Cheese Festival, a small-town fair built around the local Watonga Cheese factory — which produces cheddar and colby cheeses that are sold across the state. The festival draws several thousand visitors for cheese tastings, craft booths, food stalls, and a parade through the downtown. It is the kind of modest, unpretentious county fair that is rapidly becoming rarer across rural America.
The Watonga Cheese factory itself has been operating since 1941 and is one of the few remaining small-scale commercial cheese operations in Oklahoma. The festival is held in the town square area and gives a good view of small-town Oklahoma civic life. If you are passing through western Oklahoma in October, it is worth timing your visit to coincide with it.