2011 Melon Spirit Award                      2011 Largest Watermelon – 117.5 lbs – Derral Fennell
Pruett’s Pharmacy                                    2nd Place- 116.5 lbs – Bill Woolsey

Turtle Races – A big hit with the kids!                           2011 Classic Car Show – Kenneth Carter’s Truck

Friday, July 27:

• Parade 6pm
• FREE Gospel Concert in the Park at 7 pm

Saturday, July 28:

• 5K & Kids Fun Run: 7am
• Car Show: 8am -2pm
• Pancake Breakfast: 8am-10am
• Quilt Show: 8am-3pm
• Photography Show: 8am-3pm
• Horseshoe Tournament: 9am
• Turtle Races: 9:30am
• Dash-Hound Races: 10am
• Seed Spitting: 10:30am
• Watermelon Toss: 11am
• Watermelon Eating: 11:30am
• BIG MELON CONTEST: 12 noon
• Watermelon Shootout Contest: 12:30pm
• Car Show Awards: 2pm
• Spelling Bee: 2pm
• Street Dance: 8pm

FREE WATERMELON SLICES 10am – 3pm

Check back for vendor applications.

2011 VALLIANT WATERMELON FESTIVAL

Friday, July 29^th: Parade though downtown Valliant, 6pm

Gospel in the Park, 7pm: featuring amazing talent from local singers and the band Succotash.  Bring a Lawn Chair!

Saturday, July 30^th: 3 Locations of Events & Activities

City Park: Texaco Country Showdown * Big Melon Contest & Auction * Seed Spitting * Watermelon Eating Contest * Dash-Hound Dog Races * Turtle Races * Pony Rides * Sawdust Scramble * Horseshoe Tournament * Rock Climbing Wall * Bungee Trampoline * Bounce House * Vendors

7am Watermelon Crawl—Sanctioned 5K & 1 mile Hot Trot Fun Run

FREE WATERMELON SLICES 10-3—-City Park

Terry Hunt Community Building: Quilt Show * Amateur Photography Contest & Show * Chamber Kitchen * Wood Turning * Spelling Bee * Various Craftsmen & Artists

Blackard Community Garden: Car Show 8am-2pm

Downtown Valliant: Street Dance 8pm until Midnight featuring the band, 2 For Nothing!

VALLIANT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

www.valliantchamber.org

We are no longer accepting 2011 applications.  Please check back in January 2012 for current apps.

The Valliant Watermelon Festival, in its 9th year, is an annual event to be held July 31, 2010 this year. Our mission is to celebrate the diversified agriculture in our four states area corner, including local produce, arts, forestry products and tourism. The Festival features ethnic and cultural entertainment partners such as music, wood working, photography contest, quilt show, crafts and a Friday evening Gospel concert. Saturday night there will be a street dance downtown on Dalton Ave.. Our goals are to provide information and entertainment concerning our cultural, artistic and agricultural area to local neighbors and traveling tourists. Learn from the demonstrations, enjoy the music, feast your eyes on the varied talent and treat yourself with some ice cold drinks, tasty foods and free, ice cold watermelon.

We anticipate an attendance of 5,000 or more with an audience from all age brackets and demographics. The Queen and King Pageants get everyone in the community involved weeks before the festival. Past yearss talent entries ranged from Julia “Watermelon” Child to a local farmer’s poetry about his grandkids and watermelon. The winner has an opportunity to travel to McAllen, Texas for the Texas/Oklahoma Association Queen Contest. Our 2009-2010 Queen was Miss Jessica Pennington from Wright City, OK. There are a host of children’s games, including watermelon eating, seed spitting, weenie dog races, turtle races, a coin sawdust scramble and horseshoe pitching contest.

In addition, this year, we are proud to host the Colgate Country Showdown, the nation’s largest and longest running country music talent search.   The Colgate Country Showdown begins each Spring with over 450 local talent contests sponsored by country music radio stations throughout the US. Winners advance to their respective State competitions held at leading fairs and expositions. Acts then compete for a $1,000 prize, the State Title and the opportunity to advance to one of five Regional Finals. It’s the last step before the prestigious National Final held at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. The audience cheers on the Regional Winners, as they compete for the Grand Prize of $100,000 and the National Title. A uniform judging system is used at all levels of competition to ensure fairness.

We promote the event through newspapers, brochures, posters, mail outs, radio, TV and on our website, valliantchamber.org. Our City Park is clean with handicap parking and restroom facilities available.

There is no admission fee and watermelon slices are provided free.

If you are interested in participating as a vendor please click here for information and click here for an application.

If you would like to participate in our Parade please download our Parade Entry Form.

Photography Contest Rules

Photography Entries will be on display at the James B. Ray Community Center.

Robert Lairson, Photography Chairperson, has announced the rules for the Watermelon Festival Photography Contest.

The required theme is watermelon or life on the farm. All entries may be of (1) people, (2) animals, (3) flowers, (4) still life or (5) scenic.  Entries must be framed 8 x 10 or 11 x 14 and suitable for hanging. Entries without proper hangers will not be judged or displayed. Contestant’s name, address, phone, and category must be printed on the entry form and the back of the framed photo. There will also be a special judging for youth entries. Numbers will be assigned upon entry.  Maximum of two entries per category. Deadline for entries is 4 PM on Thursday, July 29, 2010.

For each category the prizes are: 1st Place – $25.00, 2nd Place – $15.00, 3rd Place – $10.00, and Overall Best of Show – $25.00.

Early entries may be taken to Lairson Imaging (9 Dalton St) or the Valliant Chamber of Commerce & Agriculture office (16 Dalton St).  Entries will be released July 31 at 4 p.m.

For more information, contact Robert Lairson at 933-4152, or the Valliant Chamber of Commerce at 933-5050.

Robert Lairson, Photography Chairperson

BIG THANKS to a grant from the OKLAHOMA ARTS COUNCIL.

Pageant – July 29, 2010, 6 PM, Valliant High School Auditorium

Gospel Singing – July 30, 2010, 7 PM, Valliant City Park

5K Run – July 31, 2010, 7 AM – Valliant City Park

“Watermelon Mania” Parade – July 31, 2010, 9 AM

Watermelon Festival Activities, Colgate Country Showdown, & Classic Car Show

July 31, 2010, 10 AM – 4 PM, Valliant City Park & Mattie Terry Community Building

Softball Tournament – July 31, 2010, 9 AM, City Softball Field behind Doc’s In & Out

Street Dance with Neal Billy & The Straight Shot Band

July 31, 8 PM till Midnight, Downtown Valliant

All forms are available at the Chamber Office

5K “Watermelon Crawl”

Download a 5K Entry Form Here. (Adobe Acrobat PDF File)

Car Show

Download a Car Show Entry Form Here. (Adobe Acrobat PDF File)

Colgate Country Showdown

Download a Colgate Country Showdown Entry Form Here. (Adobe Acrobat PDF File)

Pageant

Download a Pageant Contestant Packet Here. (Adobe Acrobat PDF File)

Parade “Watermelon Mania”

Download a Parade Entry Form Here. (Adobe Acrobat PDF File)

Photography Contest

Download a Photography Contest Entry Form Here. (Adobe Acrobat PDF File)

Download the Photography Contest Rules Here. (Adobe Acrobat PDF File)

Quilt Show

Download a Quilt Show Entry Form Here. (Adobe Acrobat PDF File)

Softball Tournament

Download a Softball Tournament Flyer Here. (Adobe Acrobat PDF File)

Turtle Race

Download a Turtle Race Entry Form Here. (Adobe Acrobat PDF File)

Vendors

Download a Vendor Application Here. (Adobe Acrobat PDF File)

We are no longer accepting applications from food vendors for 2010.

Locally grown produce with 10% from out of area. The Valliant Market is famous for their super good watermelon and cantaloupe. Also, fresh eggs, jellies, aprons, hot pads, caps, dew rags, cutting boards, cane fishing poles, bedding plants, hanging baskets, woodworking and garden trellis. Friendly farmers, sales people and other customers all eager to visit with you when you arrive!

Daily Availability Announcements on KKBI 106.1 of Broken Bow
and KBEL 96.7 of Idabel.

The Market was established in 2003 with a grant from the Oklahoma Farmers’ Market and continued with a grant from Little Dixie Community Action Agency for the 2004 season.  The Valliant Area Farmers’ Market has been self supporting for several years.  The 2009 Farmers’ Market season was very successful.

Directions: The Valliant Area Farmers’ Market is located on the north side of Hwy. 70 west in Valliant at the corner of Beauchamp Street.

Valliant Area Farmers’ Market
PO Box 396
Highway 70 West (on the north side of the highway west of Milner’s Hardware and Outfitters)
Valliant, OK 74764