Editing Collins, Mississippi (section)

==Arts and culture==
===Annual cultural events===
====Okatoma Festival====
Named after the [[Okatoma Creek]], which flows through the county, the Okatoma Festival is held the first Saturday in May. It is held in downtown Collins, and features carnival rides, vendor booths, and local cuisine. In addition, there is a 5K run held in the morning.

====Mitchell Farms Pumpkin Patch====
On Saturdays and Sundays, from the middle of September to the beginning of November, Mitchell Farms hosts the Mitchell Farms Pumpkin Patch & Maze. The event consists of many attractions, such as wagon rides, corn maze, animal barn, and a goat castle.<ref name="Mitchell Farms Pumpkin Patch & Maze">{{cite web|title=Mitchell Farms Pumpkin Patch & Maze|url=http://www.mitchellfarms-ms.com/mitchell-farms-pumpkin-patch.htm|website=Mitchell Farms|publisher=Mitchell Farms|access-date=November 6, 2015}}</ref>

====Christmas in the Park====
From the day after Thanksgiving to the day after Christmas, the Chamber of Commerce hosts "Christmas in the Park". This is a massive, drive through light display that takes up the entirety of Bettie D. Robertson Memorial Park. All items in the display are donations from local individuals. It features secular and religious aspects of the holiday.

The city has recently come under scrutiny as a result of this display. On October 19, 2015, the [[Freedom from Religion Foundation]] sent a letter to the City of Collins, on behalf of a local citizen, asking for displays of a religious nature to be removed from the Bettie D. Robertson City Park.<ref name="FFRF objects to Miss. park filled with Christian displays">{{cite news|title=FFRF objects to Miss. park filled with Christian displays|url=http://ffrf.org/news/news-releases/item/24542-ffrf-objects-to-miss-park-filled-with-christian-displays|access-date=November 5, 2015|publisher=FFRF|date=October 29, 2015}}</ref> The letter stated that, among other things, permanent displays of 3 Latin crosses, a statue of [[Jesus]] carrying a cross, and a globe with City of Collins displayed above Matthew 8:12 "I am the Light of the World" are unconstitutional and "tremendously un-welcoming to non-Christians".<ref name="Letter of complaint to City of Collins">{{cite web|last1=Cavell|first1=Elizabeth|title=Unconstitutional religious display in city park|url=http://ffrf.org/images/CityofCollinsMS.pdf|website=FFRF.org|access-date=November 5, 2015|ref=3}}</ref> It asks for immediate removal of the displays from Bettie D. Robertson Park. The letter was met with great hostility from the citizens, with some calling for the complainant to leave the county.<ref name="This misrepresentation of church and state">{{cite news|last1=Baer|first1=Holly|title=This misrepresentation of church and state|url=http://thedmonline.com/this-misrepresentation-of-church-and-state/|access-date=November 5, 2015|work=Daily Mississippian|date=November 3, 2015|ref=6|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106035305/http://thedmonline.com/this-misrepresentation-of-church-and-state/|archive-date=November 6, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Tourism===
The city features Grand Paradise Water Park. In addition, Mitchell Farms offers tours of the original farm buildings and event planning services, in addition to seasonal fruits and vegetables. Okatoma Golf club provides an 18-hole course in Oak Hills Subdivision.<ref name="Attractions">{{cite web|title=Attractions - City of Collins|url=http://cityofcollins.com/community/attractions/|website=City of Collins|access-date=November 5, 2015}}</ref>