By Jacie Sellars, Staff Writer
The City of Arkadelphia will present their fourth annual Festival of the Arts on Oct. 11-12, featuring art vendors, live music and food trucks. The festival will take place in downtown Arkadelphia on the 11th from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on the 12th from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.
According to Emma Brown, Director of Communications for the City of Arkadelphia, Festival of the Arts began after the pandemic when the city was looking for a way to promote fun and safe community. An initial idea for an art show grew into a weekend event that included live performers and food trucks.
“It became this melting pot of music, food and art, celebrating the best of the best in Arkansas,” Brown said.
The first Arkadelphia Festival of the Arts received early recognition, inspiring city officials to make the event an annual tradition.
“Our first year was in 2021, and in that year we won the Arkansas Festival and Events Association’s Best New Festival or Event,” Brown said. “That set the tone for what this event was going to turn into, and every year it’s gotten better as we learn something new.”
The festival will feature local artists showcasing and selling their work on Artist Row across from Town Hall. Attendees can expect many different mediums of art, including painting, graphic design, quilts, soaps and face painting. Artists come from across the state with a variety of backgrounds.
“On Artist Row, you will see people who are 20 and people who are 76,” Brown said. “That’s what makes it so cool- you are seeing different levels of expertise and different areas of interest. There really is something for everybody at this event.”
The festival will also offer interactive opportunities through art workshops and live demonstrations. One notable demonstrator is Daniel Casey, a bladesmith who has been featured on the History Channel. The art workshops will teach a variety of artistic techniques, including painting, songwriting and knitting.
While browsing the artwork, those attending the event will have plenty of food options. According to Brown, this is the first year that a food truck competition will be introduced to the festival. Attendees can vote for their favorite truck using a QR code. Food choices include tacos, burgers, cajun food and rolled ice cream.
In the evenings, the festival will host several concerts. Redferrin, a Nashville country artist, will headline the event. Other notable musicians include Mac Royals, a finalist on NBC’s The Voice, and Deepwood Mac, a Fleetwood Mac cover band.
“The festival committee does a great job of finding up-and-coming artists where you know their songs, even if you don’t know their name yet,” Brown said.
The wide variety of entertainment at the Arkadelphia Festival of the Arts makes for an ideal event for all ages, including college students. Ouachita junior Sarah Kate McAnelly said that she has enjoyed the event in previous years.
“I love the Festival of Arts,” McAnelly said. “Being able to hear people talk about their passion while showing their art is so interesting. I love learning about different art styles and creating a bond with other people in Arkadelphia.”
Halle Mann, Special Events Manager for the City of Arkadelphia, expressed similar ideas about attending the festival.
“You have everything you need at one event- the art, the food and the music,” Mann said. “What more could you ask for?”
Overall, city officials hope to use the Festival of the Arts to make Arkadelphia an arts destination for the local community and the surrounding region.
“We’ve heard people say that there’s nothing to do in Arkadelphia, and we are trying to change that,” Brown said. “Arkadelphia is in the middle of everything. We have always said that we are perfectly positioned on I-30 to do events like this. We are an hour from Little Rock and Texarkana, and can serve as a midpoint for both.”
To view a complete schedule of the Festival of the Arts, you can visit the official website.
