"Crater fest" might make a comeback next year.

The Diamond Head International Music Festival, also operating as GM Entertainment, has asked the state for permission to hold a two-day music festival at Diamond Head State Monument in 2011 and 2012.

The issue will go before the state Board of Land and Natural Resources on Thursday.

No definite dates have been set for the festivals, according to the state, but they could each draw as many as 7,500 people.

The festival organizers were the first to hold an event in the crater since the 1970s, when so-called "crater fests" were all the rage. Organizers held two recently, one in 2006 and another in 2007. Another was supposed to be held in 2008, but wasn't.

More than 6,000 people attended the most recent crater events. The organizers paid the state a lump sum of $50,000 for use of the crater, along with a percentage of sales from vendors.

If approved by the state Board of Land and Natural Resources, the Diamond Head International Music Festival Inc. would follow the guidelines established in 2004. They include:

• Meeting with the community beforehand and attending neighborhood board meetings;

• Holding the event within the confines of the crater;

• Agreeing to keep the park open to the public from 6 a.m. to noon on the days of the event;

• Paying the state $50,000 or 5 percent of the gross revenues for rental of the Diamond Head crater, whichever is more, for use of the crater, along with a percentage of sales from vendors;

• Providing a site plan, transportation, parking and an access plan, fire plan, security plan and evacuation plan;

• Cleaning up the crater after the event;

• Including Hawaiian entertainment and briefing the public on the cultural and natural significance of the crater.

CORRECTION:?If the Board of Land and Natural Resources approves musical festivals in Diamond Head crater, organizers would pay the state a lump sum of $50,000 or 5 percent of the gross revenues, whichever is more, for use of the crater, along with a percentage of sales from vendors. A previous version of this story inaccurately reported a lump sum had been paid for a past festival.