Black Diamond Days (Archived photo)
Music, rides, food, and games are in store this weekend for the annual Black Diamond Days festival. The three-day event kicks off tonight and runs through Sunday evening.
Headlining the grandstand stage under the beer tent this year is Buffalo Road on Friday evening, Joe Frew and BorderLine on Saturday and then Scott and Karl on Sunday with an afternoon performance by the Heritage Community Band at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Armbands for the carnival rides will be available Friday evening from 6 to 10 p.m. and again on Sunday after the 36th annual parade from 4 to 8 p.m. The carnival matinee is available Saturday afternoon between 1 and 4:30 p.m. with all rides requiring one less ticket for admission.
The Miss Black Diamond Days and Junior Miss pageants highlight the festival Friday evening with a 6:30 start time. The pageants feature seven ladies vying for the Miss crown and seven younger ladies vying for the Junior Miss crown. The pageant is being held at the Ben-Gil Elementary School gym this year with the winners being introduced at the grandstand in front of United Community Bank immediately following the event.
The pageant is being held at the Ben-Gil Elementary School gym this year
A community worship service at the grandstand kicks off the festival on Sunday morning with an 11:30 start time. Following the worship service, the Heritage Community Band will start playing at 1 p.m. and parade organizers will start registering parade entries at 1:30 p.m. The annual parade featuring a an expanded lineup this year will begin at 3 p.m. with the parade route starting on Macoupin Street by Casey’s.
The parade route starts by heading south down Macoupin Street until Walnut street where the parade turns right toward Ageless. The parade then continues south down Madison for three blocks until Route 4 where the route turns left toward East Pine Street. After going by Shell and Randy’s Market, the parade turns left on Montgomery Street for the final three blocks before ending near the police station.
Following the parade, the armband special is available until 8 p.m. and Scott and Karl will be playing music at the grandstand starting at 4:30 p.m. and playing until 8:30 p.m. when the festival comes to an end.
View the entire Black Diamond Days’ lineup here.
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