Feature image above: Heather Baker and Rachel Reynolds
The interpretation of “folk” as “community” will be celebrated at a festival local officials hope to place central Arkansas on the industry map.
Up to 40,000 are expected in North Little Rock’s Argenta Arts District for the inaugural Arkansas Folklife Festival.
The free event — the “People’s 250” — runs Friday through Sunday, June 26-28, at Riverfront Park on the north side of the Arkansas River. A kickoff reception for sponsors and local dignitaries kicked things off Thursday night at the historic Baker House in Argenta. AY Media Group is a presenting sponsor of the festival.
Heather Baker and Marty Ryall
The weekend will be filled with live music, dance, food, crafts and more — even purple hull pea shelling, all celebrating the various fabrics that make up the folk tapestry. Southern rocker Lucinda Williams, the three-time Grammy winner whose father, Miller, was the poet laureate of Arkansas and a professor at the University of Arkansas, will headline the musical acts Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. Legendary bluesman Bobby Rush headlines Friday’s card at 8:30 p.m.
Festival director Rachel Reynolds said potential attendees should not let the name fool them — folk music is a part of it, but the festival is about the true meaning of community, which is at the root of everything in the folk genre. “Folk” is much more than Woodie Guthrie; it’s the fabric of life through which disparate communities reach across cultural boundaries to unify and realize they’re not so different after all.
“Once you understand it, you’re like, ‘It’s everywhere,’” she said. “It’s everywhere you go. You see things that can be considered folk life.”
Reynolds said she prepared for the event by traveling across Arkansas and asking locals what they believe makes their communities special.
Heather Baker and Adrienne Collins
“The answers came in the form of stories, recipes, songs, dances, quilts, family traditions and memories,” she said. “They came from farmers and musicians, artists and elders, faith leaders and cooks, newcomers and lifelong Arkansans. Being allowed the gift of spending 10 months talking with Arkansans in every corner of the state, and we collected that data and ran it, and that’s what’s actually programmed the festival. You listen to the people. This really has been built by Arkansans.”
Reynolds described “culturesheds” as watersheds for culture.
Elyse Cullen, Heather Baker, Rachel Reynolds and Stacy Kirkpatrick
“Just as rivers connect communities across a landscape, culturesheds help us understand how people, traditions, stories, foods, music and livelihoods flow across Arkansas. They’re not county lines or political boundaries. They’re shaped by lived experience.”
Karen Trevino, president and CEO of North Little Rock Tourism, said that in addition to the celebration of culture, the event will open up Argenta to new visitors and showcase all the activity brewing on the north shore.
Heather Baker, Karen Trevino and Ryan Parker
“We’re very excited because we’re going to have the opportunity to fill our hotel rooms, fill up our restaurants and to show central Arkansas and anybody coming into central Arkansas what North Little Rock has to offer,” she said. “But it’s also just so fabulous because there’s so many genres and so much that’s tied into this, it’s going to be something for everyone. I’m very excited that we’re going to reach all different parts of our community that maybe don’t get seen a lot. This is something for them, and there’s something for everyone.”
Reynolds said she was surprised to discover how much Arkansans had in common, and that’s what the festival will celebrate. She expected to discover multiple cultural identities in Arkansas, but found something else instead.
“Everywhere we went, people talked about gathering around food, music, family traditions, faith communities and caring for one another,” she said. “Catfish showed up everywhere. Quilts showed up everywhere. Dance showed up everywhere. What emerged wasn’t separate, unconnected identities of Arkansas. It was one incredible patchwork, and that patchwork became the blueprint for this inaugural Arkansas Folklife Festival.”
Stacy Kirkpatrick, co-owner of the Baker House, said Argenta is gearing up for a big weekend.
Ryan Parker, Heather Baker, Stacy and Greg Kirkpatrick
“Anything that we can do to incorporate all of our area businesses and bring ’em together to support something like the Folk Festival is a really big deal, and we want to include everybody so that we can all be a part of the success and drive the people down here for it,” she said.
Ruth and Scott Landers, Mark Carter
Scott Landers, North Little Rock native and owner of ATG USA, which christened its Argenta headquarters in 2022, said the potential economic impact of the festival on Argenta, and by extension, central Arkansas, is great. Cities that have done things like this have become a tourism destination for music
“I’ve looked at some of the studies around what the impact is in the tourism, and I don’t think we can really fathom what it’s going to do for the area,” he said. “The impact is measured in millions of dollars. The impact down here in Argenta, it’s going to continue to help the community to thrive. I really can envision a day when there’s a music event going on down here every single weekend when we have the smaller bands here on a daily basis, and it becomes a destination.”
READ ALSO: Arkansas Folklife Festival Announces Full Music Lineup for June 26-28 Celebration
