[title subtitle=”words: Dwain Hebda
images: courtesy venues”][/title]
Summertime means loading up the family wagon and trekking to take in various sights and attractions around the nation. Last year, Arkansas again welcomed millions of visitors who dropped nearly eight billion in tourism spending in the process, according to the latest available annual report by Arkansas Parks and Tourism.
An interesting trend in the tourism game is the rise of the “staycation”; traveling and vacationing within one’s state. Arkansas is so diverse in topography and attractions it makes for the ideal staycation environment.
But whether you’re a native or coming from across the state line, there’s one attraction that appeals to everybody and that’s a diversity of community festivals and events to suit every taste. The following are three of the more unique to be had in The Natural State.
121st TONTITOWN GRAPE FESTIVAL
August 6-10
Tontitown, Arkansas
154 East Henri De Tonti Blvd.
479.361.2615
tontitowngrapefestival.com
Voted the top fair and festival of Northwest Arkansas, the Tontitown Grape Festival celebrates one hundred and twenty-one years of good food, family entertainment and celebrating the region’s Italian heritage.
This year’s event runs five days and features a carnival midway and free live entertainment, plus a grape stomp on Tuesday and Wednesday and the world-famous spaghetti dinner on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It’s so good, they’ll dish up more than six thousand pounds of noodles and sauce over three days. A 5K road race on Saturday as well and arts and crafts and crowning of Miss Concordia round out the attractions.
The Tontitown story began in Genoa, Italy, from which groups of locals immigrated to the U.S. seeking a better way of life. In 1897, Father Pietro Bandini began assembling in America what he envisioned as an enclave for these families. He purchased land near present-day Springdale from a local farmer, William Woods, who found the ground too rocky for cultivation. Father Bandini snapped up the land for two to three dollars an acre and sent word back to the old country.
In January 1898, the Giovanni Battista Bariola family arrived at the Italian colony, soon to be followed by forty more families. They named the spot for Henri de Tonti, the first Italian to set foot in Arkansas years before as chief lieutenant of French explorer LaSalle’s party. That summer, the Tontitown families held a celebration to mark the first harvest in their new home. From that modest meal and Mass of thanksgiving, the seeds were sown for the modern festival.
Father Bandini continued to play an integral role in the growth and development of the area, first by incorporating Tontitown in 1909 and then serving as its first mayor. By the time of his death in 1917, the city was thriving as a center both of Italian heritage and the Catholic faith. St. Joseph Church was the center of life for many of Tontitown’s residents. In fact, the resident Sisters of Mercy not only taught in the parochial school, but with the establishment of the public-school system in the 1930s, taught there as well.
The festival grew right along with the parish and the town. By the 1930s the event included carnival booths, dances and now and again a pageant. Constants throughout the years have been the wonderful food and the local wine. As modern conveniences have steadily come to the area, the festival has remained a steadfast and beloved event.
43rdHOPE WATERMELON FESTIVAL
August 8-10
101 West 2nd Street
Hope, Arkansas
870.777.3640
hopemelonfest.com
Long before it was known as the birthplace of a certain Arkansas-bred president of the United States, Hope, Arkansas’s claim to fame was watermelon. The city started building its reputation on the bulbous green fruit back in the 1920s, as a one-day Chamber of Commerce event.
The old-timey festivals offered fewer entertainment options, but still drew an impressive twenty thousand visitors by train to whom vendors hawked ice-cold watermelon slices. A Watermelon Queen and a large parade were added highlights of the early events.
The event went on hiatus thanks to the Great Depression, only to be revived in the 1970s and it’s been going strong ever since. Awaiting the anticipated fifty thousand visitors to the 2019 event will be one hundred-fifty artisans and crafters from six states and dozens of food options, from midway-style delicacies to down-home fare served by local civic clubs.
This year’s Hope Watermelon festival will feature numerous activities including live music, Watermelon Idol talent contest, a 5K, a dog show and a baggo tournament. And no true watermelon festival would be complete without the Watermelon Olympics, eating contests and, of course, seed-spitting contest, all of which take a place of honor in Hope.
Attendees also get to help weigh in on the running debate about which community grows the best watermelons in Arkansas. In the 1980s, Cave City launched its own festival – held each July – billed as featuring “the world’s sweetest watermelons.” Hope merely sniffs good-naturedly at such claims, pointing to longevity and the mammoth size of its produce – some tipping the scales at two hundred pounds – as their claim to melon fame.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP CHUCK WAGON RACES
Aug. 29 – Sept. 2
2848 Shake Rag Rd
Clinton, Arkansas
501.745.8407
chuckwagonraces.com
Channel your inner cowpoke by attending one of the wildest events you’ve ever seen, the National Championship Chuck Wagon Races. What started out as a means of entertaining a few friends back in the 1980s – eight chuckwagons the first year to be exact – has grown into a competition of more than one hundred fifty teams in five different divisions and spectators numbering twenty thousand.
The action happens at the Bar of Ranch, where Dan and Peggy Eoff cooked up the idea of racing chuckwagons some years ago. Prizes have grown along with the participation – winners take home silver buckles and a share of $25,000 in prizes.
For the uninitiated, the race has only a few rules. Teams include a driver, cook and outrider, the latter two starting on the ground. At the signal, the cook loads the stove and gets into the wagon and at the gun, the outrider loads a tent into the wagon and mounts a horse. The outrider must pass the wagon before it crosses the finish line, intact with tent, stove and the two other team members to get an official time. Four teams start at once so spooked animals are common, making the event tougher than it looks.
Another unique event is the Snowy River race, a horse race held on downhill trails that end with a plunge into the Little Red River.
Other entertainment and attractions have been added to the four-day event over the years including musical concerts each night following the races, ranch rodeo events, trail rides, cattle and horse drives and karaoke. Gate admission covers everything but souvenirs – check out the merchandise available from a wide range of Western merchandise vendors – and you can even camp on premises at no additional charge.
