The City of Checotah is gearing up for the greatest Fourth of July Freedom Fest celebration the community has ever seen. There will be plenty of sights and sounds to see this year during their allday event.

Registration starts at 9 a.m. on July 4 at the Checotah Sports Complex for Cornhole, 3V3 Basketball and Pickleball signups. Tournaments for Cornhole and 3V3 Basketball begins at 10 a.m. to see who goes home with bragging rights this year. Then at 11 a.m. the Pickleball tournament will commence as will the Kids’ Fishing Derby down by the pond.

There will be a short break for everyone to get a bite to eat for lunch and enjoy all the vendors, food trucks and live music. Then at 1 p.m. the Cardboard Boat Race will challenge the highly skilled to the not-soskilled competitor as spectator will get a good laugh out of how quickly boats made from cardboard sink like the Titanic as competitors like Margaret Casey hang on for dear life and remember Rose’s famous line “Jack…Jack…Jack, I’ll never let go.”

Golfer get your game on because at 1:30 p.m. the Hole in One competition kicks off with a crowd favorite, the Kid’s Tractor Pull beginning at 2 p.m.

Get your galoshes on and get ready for some sloppy fun during the Mud Run at 3 p.m. Participants will literally go through muck and mire to find money in the mud which will be sponsored by Peoples National Bank this year.

At 4 p.m. bring your lawn chair to watch races around the track. This year races will consist of Kids Power Wheel Races, Wheelbarrow Races and Wheelchair Races. This is another fun event you don’t want to miss.

Finally at 9:45 p.m. Freedom Fest Fireworks will set off from the baseball fields. Spectators are asked to park a safe distance away from the fields in the parking lot area and in the outer fields. The City also requests no fireworks to be set off at the Sports Complex for the safety of the city workers and the public.