ADA, OK – Chickasaw heritage, culture and traditions will be celebrated throughout the Chickasaw Nation during the 2025 Chickasaw Annual Meeting and Festival from Friday, Sept. 26 to Saturday, Oct. 4. Chickasaws from across the country attend the weeklong event, which is highlighted by Chickasaw Nation Governor Bill Anoatubby’s State of the Nation Address, set for 9:00am, Oct. 4, at the Aiitafama’ Ishto (large meeting place) on the grounds of the Capitol in Tishomingo, OK.
The tradition of the Chickasaw Annual Meeting began 65 years ago in 1960, when more than 100 Chickasaws gathered at Seeley Chapel near Connerville, OK, to discuss the state of the tribe and a vision for the future. Annually, the Chickasaw Nation pays tribute to this historic event by celebrating Chickasaw pride and progress during the Chickasaw Annual Meeting and Festival.
This year marks the 65th Chickasaw Annual Meeting and 37th Chickasaw Festival. The event will feature the coronation of tribal princesses, stickball games, a 5K and one-mile fun run, archery, senior and junior Olympics, golf, horseshoes, and pickleball and cornhole tournaments. Venues in the Tishomingo, Ada and Sulphur areas will host numerous activities throughout the week, including a traditional cornstalk shoot, coed softball tournaments, a golf tournament, museum tours and cultural evening.
Three young ladies will also be crowned Chickasaw Princess, Chickasaw Junior Princess, and Little Miss Chickasaw during the Chickasaw Princess Pageant at 6:00pm on Monday, Sept. 29 at the Hallie Brown Ford Fine Arts Center on the campus of East Central University in Ada, OK. The Chickasaw Cultural Evening will take place from from 4:00-8:00pm, Thursday, Oct. 2, at the Chickasaw Cultural Center in Sulphur, OK.
The 2025 Southeastern Art Show and Market (SEASAM) and SEASAM Youth will be Oct. 3-4 from 9:00am to 5:00pm on Chickasaw Capitol Grounds in Tishomingo. The competition art show and market feature adult and youth artists from federally recognized Southeastern tribes.
The area surrounding the Chickasaw Nation Historic Capitol Building is a hub of activity during the annual event. Attendees can learn to play stickball, try archery and tour historic Chickasaw Nation buildings. Arts and crafts vendors, a health fair, a parade, entertainment, storytelling, food trucks and children’s activities are also planned.
A complete list of events, locations and schedules is available online at AnnualMeeting.Chickasaw.net.
