Diamond Daze has ‘something for everyone’

As far as Marty Green is concerned, if people can’t find something to their liking on May 2-3 in downtown Sallisaw, they’re just not trying.

“You name it,” the Sallisaw Chamber of Commerce executive director contends, and it will probably be part of Diamond Daze.

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.”

The festival, now in its fifth year at the city’s four-block epicenter from Cherokee Avenue south to Chickasaw Avenue and Elm Street east to Wheeler Avenue, has found a home convenient to other downtown activities that capitalize on all the excitement and plenty of foot traffic approaching 10,000 attendees.

“Of course there’s a lot of people who aren’t just here in the downtown area,” Green points out. “We’ll have a site at the middle school, where there’ll be stick ball and the 3-on-3 basketball tournaments, so we don’t see those people, but those numbers are captured by the city’s geofencing tool. So with the citywide garage sales and all those different parts and components of Diamond Daze, there’s thousands of people in town those two days.”

While Diamond Daze may be the weekend’s centerpiece, there are other attractions nearby, including Larry Crowe’s Big Toy Museum, the Sallisaw Farmers’ Market, Sallisaw Masonic Lodge pancake breakfast, the annual citywide garage sale and a Cherokee Nation-sponsored 5K Wings Run & Fun Run/Walk, along with the return of festival crowd-pleasers — a hot dog-eating contest, 3-on-3 youth basketball and, what Green calls the “crown” jewel of the festival, the second annual Diamond Daze pageants.

The spring spectacular, while adding more diversity to attract an even wider audience, returns the standards for which it is known: lots of vendors, plenty of children’s activities, musical entertainment, the popular car show, and Main Street barbecue taster kits and cookoff, as well as several first-time activities: Stick ball, bingo and singo, which is a music-based version of bingo, where players listen to snippets of songs and mark off matching song titles on their computer-generated cards. Both bingo and singo are sponsored by Akins store, Green says. Participants have multiple ways to win, with prizes donated by local businesses. “I think it’ll be a full place for those.”

And like a quarter burning a hole in his pocket, Green is excited to preview a new activity that will debut in 2026: Archery.

“I can tell you next year, the biggest thing coming is we’re going to have an archery contest. We’re already working on next year’s Diamond Daze — that event — now,” Green says. “I promise you, that’s going to be a big deal. There’ll be people driving here from all over to shoot in the archery contest next year. We’re terribly excited about that.

“So we just have a variety. It’s like a shotgun approach,” Green says. “There’s something, hopefully, that people will like and they’ll come out and give it a view. Lot of music, lot of fun and games. It’s clean, family fun. Bring the family out, you don’t have to worry about it. It starts with Indian tacos at 11 o’clock on Friday with the Pink Pig by the Pocket Park.

“It looks a little different, Diamond Daze does. We move things a little bit every year, and we’re still trying to tinker with it to some extent, trying to find the right, exact fit,” Green reveals, noting that organizers of the Stilwell Strawberry Festival, which started in the 1940s, “still change things every year.”

Diamond Daze consistently features as many as 150 vendors and approaching 100 show cars that attract thousands upon thousands of festivalgoers.

Something for everyone

It’s a wonder all the things that comprise Diamond Daze can fit into the downtown district and is packed into two days. But Green says the festival’s more than 30-member planning committee works as one, despite all the working parts that must be orchestrated.

“Some of them overlap, but each one of them is doing their specific thing. That’s the various moving parts of this thing. It’s neat, all the different groups working [together],” Green says in praise of the volunteers. “Diamond Daze is designed to be compartmentalized.

“It’s a wonderful deal to see a community do things like that. Nobody cares who’s getting credit or anything like that. Everybody’s just working to make it a good event, and that’s what it takes. Our committee has worked so hard this year. I appreciate what they’ve done and how they’ve done it. I want to thank them.

“And, of course, we thank all our sponsors. We couldn’t do it without our sponsors. There’s a lot of work that goes into this, and a lot of money. There’s a lot that goes on that people never see. They just show up and walk around and have a good time,” Green says.

“We couldn’t do it without the city’s help, either. All the different departments contribute — police, the fire department, streets, parks, all of the them. They’re all involved. You may not see them. Sanitation, you may not see them either, but we’ve got containers everywhere, and they make sure everything’s kept clean and neat. It’s everybody working together towards one goal.

“It makes us proud to be associated with that kind of thing. It’s as good as the people you’ve got putting it together. There are a lot of parts, a lot of pieces, a bunch of moving parts that just kind of works together like cogs on a machine. We’ve got people trying to make it a good event, that’s the main thing,” Green says.

“There’s a lot of people in town, a lot of activities, a lot of tax dollars generated during that time. The committee works long and hard to make this a really good family weekend to come to town and be involved and do things.

“Those are all just parts of what’s going on that weekend. We’ve got the vendors, we’ve got musical groups, Main Street barbecue — they’re setting up on Friday night, too.

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

“The crowd will change itself out throughout the day. You’re going to come for farmers’ market and she’s going to come for the Wings Run, and I’m going to come back for the music at 4 o’clock. And then somebody else is coming to watch the hot dog-eating contest. Somebody else comes to watch the evening deal. It just changes the crowd up throughout the day. And nowadays with the geofencing, George Bormann can tell you exactly how many people you had, where they came from, where they went to.”

Vendors

“There’ll be lots of vendors,” Green says. “It’s like going to the state fair. You just never know what’s around the next corner. And the food, fair food is wonderful, and there’s variety. Come out and eat until you can’t eat anymore.”

More than 130 vendors signed up for last year’s Diamond Daze, and even more are expected this year. While Green oversees the event, members of the committee are really in charge of all the different aspects.

“The way it’s set up, it’s meant to be able to be done like that, where people can come in and just run it, because something could happen to us again this year. But it’s made so that you run your segment, I run my segment and somebody else runs their segment, and so it works well,” Green says.

Green says festivalgoers will find everything from beef jerky to knives, woodworking, arts and crafts “and a lot of shirt people. I can’t even imagine all the stuff that will be out there.”

He also says there’s a wide variety of food available — fair food, hamburgers, turkey legs, “different food than people might normally eat,” food trailers, cupcakes, cookies, drinks, “you name it. There’s just everything in the world.”

Drake Hyde

Libby Starks Band

Entertainment

Homegrown country recording artist Drake Hyde has been pegged as this year’s Diamond Daze headliner.

“We’ve got Drake Hyde as the headliner,” Green says, adding that other entertainers include Ted Capps & Rude Mood, as well as the Libby Starks Band, the Canyon Sons Band, Kanyon Teen & the Penny Pickers and Mr. Cabbage Head & the Screaming Radishes. “In addition, we’ve got the Cherokee Nation youth choir that’s going to be singing, which are always really great when they’re here. We’re excited to have them back again. They do a good job. You need to come out to listen. They’re good; they’re talented. They wanted to be back here again this year, so they’re going to be singing for us at 10:30 Saturday morning at the Pocket Park. And that’s going to be a really neat deal. We’re fortunate to be able to get them. We appreciate them, and we appreciate the cultural aspect of it, too.”

Kanton Teen & the Penny Pickers

Canyon Sons

Also making its return as part of the Diamond Daze musical lineup is the Sallisaw Middle School Jazz Band, which will play at 1 p.m. at the Pocket Park. “If you’ve not heard the middle school jazz band, they’re really good,” Green says. “We had them a couple of years ago, and we’ve wanted them every time. They’ll put on a good show.”

“That’s just some of the things I know that we’ve got nailed down, and we’ve got committees working on the different parts of this deal. Every activity is designed to be encapsulated, that’s how we like to do it. They just manage their deal,” Green says.

Ted Capps & Rude Mood

Mr. Cabbagehead & the Screaming Radishes

“There’s something going on pretty much all the time. We’ll have two bands Friday night, and then multiple times during the day Saturday, concluding with the headliner Saturday evening.”

Green points out that sound and production have been added this year at both Stage Park and Pocket Park, so musicians will not have to provide their own sound equipment. “It makes it a lot better for the bands and groups who are singing and performing.”

Trinity Raine Cox

Pageant

The Diamond Daze pageants were a huge hit when they debuted in 2024, so they’re making an encore return this year as one of the biggest attractions of the weekend.

The pageants have already received a lot of interest, organizers say. The Diamond Daze pageants were created to give the younger children in the community a way to be involved.

Trinity Raine Cox, a junior at Sallisaw, was crowned the first-ever Miss Diamond Daze last year when eight pageants debuted at the annual downtown festival.

The pageant offers seven different age-group categories for girls, and four for boys — 12-23 months, 2-3 years, 4-6 years and 7-9 years for boys and girls, and then girls only for 10-12 years, 13-15 years and 16-19 years for Miss Diamond Daze.

Pageant director Deree Stafford says sponsors have stepped up this year, “which means more cash prizes and titles.”

Hot dog-eating contest

Another big hit for Diamond Daze when it was added to the lineup in 2024 is a hot dog-eating contest sponsored by Chet’s Dairy Freeze.

“That was a lot of fun last year. I wasn’t really sure about it, I’ve seen it on TV, but it was fun, because you knew some of the people up there eating,” Green says. “There’s a limited number of spots, so people are encouraged to sign up before the contest. There’s prize money and bragging rights on the line. It was a lot of fun to watch last year.”

Why a hot dog-eating contest? “They do this in other places. It’s something that Chet’s Dairy Freeze has done in other places, and we appreciate Destry [Graham] and Chet’s Dairy Freeze for sponsoring that event. It lines up well with Diamond Daze.” The contest is at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Stage Park.

But when quickly eating hot dog after hot dog after hot dog sometimes results in unintended occurrences, “I want to watch it and I don’t want to watch it at the same time. It’s kind of one of those things like a car wreck — you want to look, but you don’t want to look,” Green jokes.

At the Nathan’s Hot Dog world championships in New York City, 16-time champion Joey Chestnut owns the record for devouring 83 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes. And it’s not uncommon for contestants to dip the hot dogs in water for lubricant in their power eating. “You’re doing it to be champion,” Green notes, acknowledging contestants are worried more about winning rather than the taste. “It will bring people to watch. It’s Americana. And I think people will be talking about it — ‘Did you see the Chet’s hot dog-eating contest? Did you see how many he ate?’ It brings excitement. It’s something to see.”

Winner of the inaugural hot dog eating competition was Jason Janway representing U.S. Lime Company. He devoured 14 hot dogs in 15 minutes. He then turned around and donated his cash prize to Help in Crisis, and U.S. Lime donated an additional $100 to the organization whose mission is to create a safe and supportive environment for survivors of domestic violence and their children.

“It was a neat deal,” Green said of Janway’s donation. “He was being community-minded.”

Children’s zone

The popular children’s zone returns on Choctaw Avenue between Oak and Elm streets. “Our committee has made sure, along with some of the city departments, that it’ll be a safe place for the kids, well protected. Looking forward to a great time with the kids,” Green says. Among the attractions are bounce houses and snow cones — “it’s going to be a good time.”

Car show

“We had a bunch of entries last year. Everybody likes the car show,” Green recalls. “Of course we recognize that we’re in competition with the Steel Horse Rally (in Fort Smith). People get to pick and choose if they want to come here, if they want to go there — there’s actually the opportunity for people to go to both if they want. There’s enough time during the day.

“If it’s pretty weather, we’ll have a good car show. If it’s rainy at all, the guys will not come out. They don’t like to bring their cars out into the rain and bad weather. Reece Bush is the chairperson of that and does a great job and works his tail off to make that thing happen.”

The car show will “extend a block farther this year towards Elm in front of the courthouse, so we’re hopefully going to have two blocks full of cars.” Green adds that “everybody — car show entrants, vendors and swap meet — enters off of Wheeler Avenue going west on Chickasaw.”

New this year is a swap meet. “The thing we’re really excited about on the car show this year is the swap meet that goes along with the car show,” Green says. “So if you’re looking for a 1967 hubcap for your Mustang, hopefully we’ll have somebody here that has that. They can trade parts, find parts for cars. There’ll be vendors as well.”

Green says the swap meet will be in the parking lot east of the courthouse, as well as at the abstract office. The car show is on Chickasaw Avenue, with entry from Wheeler Avenue.

The car show also offers activities for children, Green says.

Barbecue

“Sallisaw Main Street, of course, would love to have more groups enter barbecue teams, because that’s a really good event. People are excited about that,” Green says of the cookoff located on the lawn of the Stanley Tubbs Memorial Library. “All those different groups, they set up there in the streets on Cherokee that night and cook all night long. Then they’ll start serving plates at 11 o’clock Saturday, and I tell you, it’s good eating. You can eat ’til you pass out. It’s a bargain; drinks included. Then bring your plate back across Cherokee and listen to music if you want to or go shopping.

“Main Street is a whole other organization that’s doing their thing within Diamond Daze,” Green explains. He says Main Street helps with Diamond Daze, and then in October, the chamber helps with Main Street Fall Festival and the chili cookoff.

Wings Run

“That is a Cherokee Nation-sponsored event, and it’s a 5K. There’s also a Fun Run as well,” Green says of the Saturday morning event at the Old School Rotunda on Creek Avenue. “We wanted it to be a Wings race from the start, because the Cherokee Nation has hundreds of runners.”

Wings is a program designed to promote the importance and awareness of regular physical activity, health education and nutrition for a healthier lifestyle. The program is free and open to the public. You must reside in the Cherokee Nation service area to be a member, “but you can also participate if you’re not a member.”

“We’re excited about the opportunities and what it brings, and we’re looking forward to it.”

3-on-3 basketball and stick ball

3-on-3 basketball returns and stick ball makes its debut at Sallisaw Middle School.

“Stick ball is brand new this year. It’s going to be north of the middle school campus. They’re limited to eight teams only. They start playing at 10 o’clock Saturday. There’s competition throughout the day. It lasts all day. It’s part of our cultural community initiative. We’re excited about it. People need to go out and watch that,” Green says.

“They’ve got some younger age groups on the 3-on-3. This brings in kids and adults and families from all over, that want to come in and play 3-on-3. The winners will be well-compensated — bragging rights, T-shirts.”

Farmers’ market

“The farmers’ market will be going that weekend,” Green points out. “It’s a big weekend for them. It’s just all right here within walking distance. 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.”

Masonic pancake breakfast

“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,” Green says. “That’s another organization that gives back to the community, so we advertise that for them as well. The money they make, that put it right back into the community. They’re very philanthropic with their money. They just work to be helping people.”

Big Toy Museum

A year ago, Larry Crowe hosted the grand opening of the Big Toy Museum to coincide with Diamond Daze. The museum is an ongoing labor of love for Crowe, who admits the museum will never be finished because he’s continually adding to it. Crowe has moved about 60 cars into the old middle school on South Main Street at Creek Avenue. The museum will be open Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. “That’s a fantastic museum,” Green says. “People need to visit it.”

Citywide garage sale

“The citywide garage sale is not really a Diamond Daze thing, but we promote it that weekend, and, man, people love it. They think it’s the best weekend of the whole year to do garage sales. We’ve had a lot of people say they’ve sold hundreds of dollars at their garage sale that weekend,” Green says. “You’ll see people driving around town, unfortunately, holding their newspaper up in front of their face, looking at the map instead of looking where they’re going.”

How it all began

The first Diamond Daze was in 2006 at the Sallisaw Municipal Airport, which included a fly-in, car show, motorcycle show, mini-tractor pull, fishing tournament and a carnival. But Green was told “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 the Covid. We couldn’t do it, they couldn’t let us do it,” Green says.

This is the 19th festival — it would have been the 20th, 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. “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.