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What is the origin of Conway's Toad Suck Daze?

The first weekend of May every year nearly 100,000 people flock to Toad Suck Daze in Conway— but how did this springtime tradition start?

CONWAY, Ark. — Every year during the first weekend of May, nearly 100,000 people “hop” to Toad Suck Daze in Conway.

Since its origin in 1982, the festival has been a recurring springtime tradition in Faulkner County. 

It began on the banks of the Arkansas River in a nearby township named “Toad Suck” before moving to its current location in downtown Conway 30 years ago.

But what in the world does “Toad Suck” actually mean?

According to the Toad Suck Daze website, steamboats traveled the Arkansas River when the water was at the right depth. 

When it wasn’t the right depth, the captains and their crew tied up to wait where the Toad Suck Lock and Dam now spans the river. 

While they waited, they drank up at the local tavern to the dismay of the folks living nearby who said, “They suck on the bottle ‘til they swell up like toads!” Hence the name Toad Suck. 

The tavern is now gone, but the legend still lives on at Toad Suck Daze.

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