For five years, WingFest set up poolside at the Regalia Hotel & Conference Center, a short walk from the Bagnell Dam Strip. The Lake of the Ozarks Shootout has run its race weekend out of that same general corridor for most of its history too. This year, within about six weeks of each other, both moved. WingFest lands at Level5 next to Backwater Jack's on September 16. The Shootout's race headquarters shifted to Dog Days Bar & Grill on the Grand Glaize Arm for its August 29 and 30 race days.
Nobody coordinated this. WingFest is run by Central Bank of Lake of the Ozarks and the Lake Ozark Rotary Noon Club. The Shootout is its own 501(c)(3). They didn't hold a planning meeting together. But two of the Lake's longest-running institutions independently pointed at the same shoreline in the same year, and if you live in Camden County and plan your weekends around what's actually open, parked, and hosting, that's worth more than a passing note in an events calendar.
Two Decisions Nobody Coordinated
WingFest goes back to 2000, when it started as the Wing Ding before getting rebranded in 2017. It has spent the last five years poolside at Regalia. This year it moves to Level5, the pool and entertainment complex built into the cove at Backwater Jack's, on Wednesday, September 16, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Twelve restaurants are competing this year: HalfSauced BBQ, Twisted Tony's, Tucker's Shuckers, Redhead Lakeside Grill, Paradise, Horseshoe Bend Bar & Grill, Pappo's Pizzeria & Pub, The Encore Lakeside Grill, Bandana's, Franky & Louie's, Shorty Pants, Full Throttle Sports Bar & Grill, and Neon Taco. Last year's title went to Franky & Louie's, with The Encore taking second and People's Choice, and Pappo's finishing third with the Best Presentation award. The event raised more than $23,000 in 2025, split between the Rotary Noon Club and Central Bank for distribution to Lake-area charities and scholarships.
Wendy Rudd, president of the Lake Ozark Rotary Noon Club, pointed to parking and layout as the draw at the new venue, saying it sets up to be "the best WingFest to date." That's a practical reason, not a sentimental one, and it lines up with what's actually sitting on that piece of shoreline now.
The Shootout tells a similar story on a different timeline. This year's race weekend runs Saturday and Sunday, August 29 and 30, with headquarters at Dog Days Bar & Grill on the Grand Glaize Arm, a new location for the event. The week around it is fully scheduled: a Hall of Fame Dinner at The Encore on August 25, Shootout on the Strip and a street party back at Bagnell Dam Strip on August 26, a Showcase and Demo Day at Dog Days on August 27, and the Poly Lift LOTO Shootout Poker Run out of Performance Boat Center on August 28. Race days follow on the 29th and 30th, with a live auction at The Encore Lakeside Grill & Sky Bar the same night as Race Day 1. In 2025, the Shootout raised $1.62 million and distributed $815,000 to 47 Lake-area charities, so this isn't a small fundraiser looking for a cheaper parking lot. It's a major regional event choosing infrastructure over tradition.
What's Actually Built on That Shoreline Now
Level5 didn't exist a couple of years ago. It was built as a five-level pool and music complex tucked into Backwater Jack's cove, with four pools, swim-up bars, and a stage backed by three LED screens. The project came with its own 7.5-acre parking lot, built alongside the Beach Drive road improvements that also opened up better emergency vehicle access to that stretch of Osage Beach. That combination, standing capacity, parking that doesn't require a shuttle, and a stage built for a crowd, is exactly what an event outgrowing a hotel pool deck needs. Regalia is a fine hotel with a nice pool. It was never built to host a wing competition for a dozen restaurants and however many hundred people show up to judge them.
The Shootout's move to Dog Days and the Grand Glaize Arm reads the same way, even without a stated reason on the record. Race headquarters needs waterfront access, room for boats and trailers, and enough open ground for a poker run staging area and a live auction tent. The Strip has charm. It doesn't have unlimited flat ground.
None of this means the Bagnell Dam Strip is fading out. Hot Summer Nights, the monthly classic car cruise that's been running since May, still closes out its season on the Strip through September, and the Shootout's own street party is still happening there on August 26. The Strip remains a fixture. What's changed is where the two anchor events with the most infrastructure needs, the ones drawing the biggest single-night crowds, have decided to land. That's a meaningful distinction if you live here, because it tells you where the parking crunch and the extra traffic will actually concentrate on any given weekend this fall, and it's not always where you'd assume from habit.
The Next Five Weeks, In Order
If you're mapping out what to plan around between now and the end of September, here's how it lines up:
- August 25: Shootout Hall of Fame Dinner at The Encore
- August 26: Shootout on the Strip, street party at Bagnell Dam Strip
- August 27: Shootout Showcase and Demo Day at Dog Days Bar & Grill
- August 28: Poly Lift LOTO Shootout Poker Run out of Performance Boat Center
- August 29 and 30: Shootout race days at Dog Days, live auction at The Encore Lakeside Grill & Sky Bar
- September 5 through 7: Labor Day weekend fireworks at multiple resorts and communities around the Lake
- September 6: Ty Myers at Ozarks Amphitheater
- September 11: Whiskey Myers at Ozarks Amphitheater, a venue that's picked up real recognition as one of Missouri's better live music stages this year
- September 15 through 20: Bikefest, extended to six days for 2026 and drawing well over 100,000 riders across the Lake
- September 16: WingFest at Level5, next to Backwater Jack's
That's five weekends in a row with a headline event, which is unusual even by Lake standards. It also means the Osage Beach corridor around Grand Glaize Arm and the 17.5 Mile Marker is going to see disproportionate traffic and dining demand for most of that stretch, while the Strip carries its own smaller, steadier load from Hot Summer Nights and the Shootout street party.
What This Means If You Live Here
None of this is a reason to buy, sell, or second-guess where you've settled. It's a reason to plan differently than you might have three years ago. If you live near Osage Beach and the Grand Glaize Arm, expect the next five weekends to bring more boat traffic, more parked cars, and longer waits at the restaurants closest to Dog Days and Level5, especially the twelve competing in WingFest. If your routine runs through the Strip, Hot Summer Nights and the Shootout street party still give you a reason to be there on August 26, even with headquarters relocated elsewhere.
The bigger takeaway is simpler than a traffic forecast. When two organizations with decades of institutional memory both choose the same new stretch of shoreline in the same year, independently, for their own reasons, that's a better read on where the Lake's actual capacity has grown than any single announcement could give you. Keep an eye on what gets built next along that corridor. It tends to tell you where the next event ends up before the flyer does.
If you're weighing a move to the Lake area, or you already call Camden County home and want a read on what a particular stretch of shoreline actually means for day-to-day living, not just the Instagram version, Lynn Papenbrok has spent years working this market on both sides of the state line. Let's Connect.
