Diamond Daze promises ‘something for everyone’

By Lynn Adams Staff Writer

It’s still more than three weeks until Sallisaw’s annual Diamond Daze festival kicks off, but Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce executive director Marty Green is practically giddy with excitement.

The biggest event on the chamber calendar, Diamond Daze is a two-day extravaganza that Green is quick to point out, “there’s something for everyone.”

“We’re seeing this thing continue to grow. There’s a lot of people that are going to be in town and around town those couple of days,” he says of the free festival May 5-6 in the downtown district. “We were told last year there were between 7,000 and 8,000 people there. I talked to one of the vendors last year that had completely sold out. He says ‘I go to a lot of places, and you had 7,000 or 8,000 people here.’

“So we’re bringing the State Fair to them. It’s really geared at families. There is something for everyone, all ages,” Green says.

Now in its third year at the city’s four-block epicenter from Cherokee Avenue south to Chickasaw Avenue and Elm Street east to Wheeler Avenue, Diamond Daze has found a home convenient to other downtown activities that want to capitalize on all the excitement and plenty of foot traffic.

“The farmers market will also be going on that day. It’s just all right here within walking distance,” Green says. “There’s good parking around the festival — different churches, over by the library and places like that. We’re excited for all the different parts and pieces that are coming together. And we’re looking for new things to add to this, too.

“Diamond Daze is a natural tie-in to the first Saturday of the month for the Masons, so their breakfast is going on right across the street at their facility on Redwood Avenue.

“Again, there’s something for everyone. If there’s not, let us know.”

Green says the J.P. Wickett Memorial Junior Rodeo will become another festival draw in 2024. The two-day rodeo is sanctioned by the Oklahoma Junior Rodeo Association, and the second annual event was held April 1-2 this year.

Plenty to see and do

Diamond Daze, like any event that attracts people, “is good for the city of Sallisaw, and it’s a great impact on our tax dollars,” Green says. “I don’t care if you’re at Charlie’s Chicken or McDonald’s, they can tell you when we have a festival in town.

“There’s something for everyone. Truly, that’s what Diamond Daze has become. There is a lot of variety of things for people, from the citywide garage sales — we got a call from a lady from Stilwell wanting to know about the garage sale and is coming for that; people like this stuff — to the 5K or the half-marathon or the fun walk, fair food, barbecue teams, vendors — it’s wild the varieties you get — bouncys for the kids, the car show,” Green says. “Of course it’s all weather dependent, it’s an outside festival. All things are growing. We’ve got good superintendents and chairpeople in charge of the different parts, and they do a great job.”

Green says the chamber has already booked more than 60 vendors, but expects that number to more than double as the dates draw near.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if we’re over 70 by the end of this week. The majority of them wait until they can see the weather — 10 days out, seven days out — then expect this thing to go straight up. We had 116 last year. If we don’t hit 130 to 150 this year, I’ll be shocked.”

Expect similar numbers for Saturday’s car show.

“We had over 100 last year for the car show. The car show has moved, they’re totally on Elm Street this year, so that gives them room to grow. When the car show leaves, they’ll be able to drive right onto Cherokee Avenue, so it’ll be really easy and accessible. And we have a cruise night that night. We hope a lot of them will take advantage of that — come out and cruise from 6 to 10 p.m.,” Green says. “Of course, we do state that we follow all state and city laws, so it’s not an opportunity to be crazy. We want people to have fun, we want people to show off their cars and have fun and talk with their friends and neighbors. On the car show, you don’t just have local people, you have people from all over.”

Food, of course, is always a crowd favorite. Indian tacos will be sold beginning at lunch Friday on Oak Street, then there’s the Main Street BBQ Taster Kits, which are sold Saturday on the lawn of the Stanley Tubbs Memorial Library. And you can never have too much barbecue. “We need barbecue teams,” Green says. “We need these businesses, clubs, churches, whoever wants to do a barbecue team.”

In addition to a myriad of shopping opportunities, other activities on Saturday include a cornhole tournament, a treasure hunt sponsored by Your TIMES and a 12:30 p.m. performance by the Muldrow Activity Center dance troupe at Stage Park — “That’s something different,” he says.

Music is also a festival highlight, and Diamond Daze offers plenty of it at three locations — Stage Park at the corner of Choctaw Avenue and Oak Street, Pocket Park at the corner of Cherokee Avenue and Oak Street, and the GRDA stage on Cherokee Avenue next to the library. “Our committee’s done a great job this year lining up the talent,” Green says.

“Sing Sallisaw’s another great deal if you’re a talented individual. We had people from Tahlequah to Van Buren last year singing in that. They don’t have to be exactly local — we like the local talent, but … That’s a great opportunity to showcase if you think you can sing or play. We love to have people come out to be a part of that,” Green says. The competition begins at 6 p.m. Friday on the GRDA stage, then the field is whittled down with performances at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at Pocket Park followed by a 7 p.m. performance by the winner at Stage Park.

“I’m really, really excited about the Cherokee Nation National Youth Choir that’s going to be here during the day on Saturday. I don’t know if they’re from all 14 counties as the footprint of the Cherokee Nation. So we’re really excited. Of course the Cherokee Nation is one of our premier sponsors on this.” The choir performs at 11 a.m. Saturday on the GRDA stage.

Nashville recording artist Brittany Morse & Friends will perform from 3 to 4:30 p.m. in Pocket Park. “She a very talented young lady,” Green says, “and does anywhere from country to gospel.”

The Johnny Mullenax Band — “they’re kind of a bluegrass type of group” — is scheduled from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Stage Park. “They play a bunch around the Tulsa area,” Green says. “We’ve got a variety of music this year, not all just country.”

Headliner for the festival is The Klocks, which will perform beginning at 7:30 p.m. at Stage Park. “They’re a very, very talented group. They’ve been around in some part or version since the mid-1980s. They’re a known commodity. They play a lot in the Fort Smith area,” Green says.

How it all began

The first Diamond Daze was in 2006 at the airport, which included a fly-in, car show, motorcycle show, mini-tractor pull, fishing tournament and a carnival. But Green remembers “it was a muddy mess.”

Then from 2007-2019, the festival was at the high school, and the dates frequently moved around to accommodate school activities.

In May 2020 when it was set to move to the downtown district, there was no festival due to pandemic restrictions, but it resumed in 2021. “The city canceled us because of Covid. We couldn’t do it, they couldn’t let us do it,” Green says.

This is the 17th festival — it would have been the 18th, but the pandemic interruption broke the string — which is the successor to the Grapes of Wrath Festival, the first of which was held in October 1990. But it lasted only through October 1998 before it was abandoned.

“It was the Grapes of Wrath before it became Diamond Daze,” Green remembers. “I think they went a few years without having a festival, then the chamber wanted to have a festival, so they started Diamond Daze. But it was Grapes of Wrath back in the day, back when I was a kid.”

Diamond Daze is sponsored by the chamber and Sallisaw Main Street.