Toad Suck Daze
Encyclopedia
Toad Suck Daze is an annual community music, arts, and food festival in Conway, Arkansas
. It takes place every year in downtown Conway and has been celebrated for over twenty-five years.
at Toad Suck Park near the Toad Suck Ferry Lock and Dam, the festival was moved to the downtown location in 1990 due to flooding at the river, and it has remained in the downtown area ever since. The festival is run by volunteers from Conway and Faulkner County, including the local police and fire departments.
s traveled the Arkansas River
. When the water was not deep enough, the steamboats tied up where the Toad Suck Ferry Lock and Dam now spans the river near Conway. While captain and crew waited, they loitered over refreshments at the local tavern. People living nearby commented, "They suck on the bottle 'til they swell up like toads."
Conway, Arkansas
Conway is the county seat of Faulkner County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 58,908 at the 2010 census, making Conway the seventh most populous city in Arkansas. It is a principal city of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area which had...
. It takes place every year in downtown Conway and has been celebrated for over twenty-five years.
Overview
The Toad Suck Daze festival attracts an estimated 160,000 visitors each year. Notable attractions at the event include music, arts and crafts, a variety of food, carnival rides, and toad races. For these races, visitors enter toads that they have brought from home or that were bred in the community for this purpose. The festival raises money to give educational scholarships to Faulkner County citizens. Over the past 28 years, the Toad Suck Daze committee has given over in scholarships and toward scholarship endowments.History
First organized in 1982, the festival is held annually in downtown Conway, Arkansas, during the first weekend in May. Originally held in Toad SuckToad Suck, Arkansas
Toad Suck is an unincorporated community in Perry County, Arkansas, United States. It is the location of Bigelow Rosenwald School, which is located at the junction of Arkansas Highway 60 and Bethel AME Road and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.It is also the location of the...
at Toad Suck Park near the Toad Suck Ferry Lock and Dam, the festival was moved to the downtown location in 1990 due to flooding at the river, and it has remained in the downtown area ever since. The festival is run by volunteers from Conway and Faulkner County, including the local police and fire departments.
Name origin
The legend behind Toad Suck refers to the time when steamboatSteamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
s traveled the Arkansas River
Arkansas River
The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. The Arkansas generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's initial basin starts in the Western United States in Colorado, specifically the Arkansas...
. When the water was not deep enough, the steamboats tied up where the Toad Suck Ferry Lock and Dam now spans the river near Conway. While captain and crew waited, they loitered over refreshments at the local tavern. People living nearby commented, "They suck on the bottle 'til they swell up like toads."
External links
- Downtown Conway guide
- Toad Suck Daze official website