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"Our team has nailed the last two years of Mayfest, and I know the 50th will be bigger and better than ever," Heather Pingry, executive director of Tulsa International Mayfest, wrote Friday.
Heather Pingry, executive director of Tulsa International Mayfest, announced Friday that she is resigning.
Pingry made the announcement in a post to her personal Facebook page.
"Hey friends, this is a tough post to write. Today is my last day with ahha/Mayfest," the post states, adding that this year's festival "marked my 18th Mayfest, which basically has been my career."
Pingry joined Downtown Tulsa Unlimited, the organization that oversaw Mayfest for most of the festival's history, soon after graduating from the University of Oklahoma in 2002. She began as an administrative assistant, and soon rose to vice president of promotions and communications, with Mayfest being one of her major projects.
When DTU closed in 2009, Pingry was chosen by the festival's board of directors to become its executive director. For much of her tenure, she was the festival's only full-time employee, overseeing hundreds of volunteers who worked to help make the annual festival happen.
As Pingry said in a past interview with the Tulsa World, the learning curve for becoming the Mayfest executive director was at times rather steep.
"I know things about Porta-Potties," she said, laughing, "that no human being should know."
In 2020, Mayfest merged with ahha Tulsa, formerly the Arts and Humanities Council of Tulsa, which originally established the arts festival in 1973. In addition to serving as Mayfest director, Pingry was also senior director of events and guest services for ahha Tulsa.
"Mayfest has been my baby, but it's pretty grown up now," Pingry wrote in her Facebook post. "Merging with ahha has been great for both entities. Despite a pandemic, they've both grown stronger together. Our team has nailed the last two years of Mayfest, and I know the 50th will be bigger and better than ever.
"As for my future, I'll be taking several months off, tending to some much needed health care issues and spending time with my family before jumping right back into the job market," wrote Pingry, whose husband in Tulsa World staff photographer Stephen Pingry. "Today is bittersweet, so be nice to me if you see me."
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"Our team has nailed the last two years of Mayfest, and I know the 50th will be bigger and better than ever," Heather Pingry, executive director of Tulsa International Mayfest, wrote Friday.
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