SEARCY — When people are walking around at a festival, buying merchandise and wrangling children, it is often the little things that jump out as great gestures of service — for instance, having a cool, shaded place to change a child’s diaper.
Searcy’s annual Get Down Downtown provides a way for members of the community to come out to have fun and support each other. Hal Stroupe, minister of education and administration at First Baptist Church of Searcy, said the church has pitched in year after year by providing a safe, sanitary place for parents to change their children’s diapers. It may not be something that many people think of or need, but he said the church has received thanks from parents every year.
“Our facility is kind of in the center of everything on Saturday [of the event],” Stroupe said. “It’s simple, but it’s just so that parents don’t have to put a blanket on the ground in Spring Park or on the sidewalk to change their kids’ diapers.”
The spirit of community coming together is exactly what Amy Burton, executive director of Main Street Searcy, said she was looking for when she helped start Get Down Downtown seven years ago.
“Searcy did not have the one big community festival that so many other cities had,” she said. “We just did it for the benefit of the community.”
This year’s Get Down Downtown will take place Friday and Saturday in historic downtown Searcy. The two-day festival will include music, vendors and food. Burton said it is important for her to balance the new with the old, and she has had several faithful vendors participate every year because the people hope to see them.
“I’ve loved to watch so many regular festivalgoers that look for and expect certain things,” Burton said. “We work hard to add things, but there are some things that they are excited to find again from previous years.”
Overall, Burton said, she is proud that organizers have kept Get Down Downtown a free-admission event, thanks to sponsors. This year, BHP Billiton is the presenting festival sponsor, the stage on the courthouse square is the Ritter Communications Stage, and the kids’ area and stage are presented by Southwestern Energy.
“It’s great for the community,” Burton said of the free-admission status of the festival. “It’s about quality of life. It gives people a reason to come to downtown Searcy. Our hope is that people come down downtown and find things that they might want to visit later on.”
Get Down Downtown will feature several live performances this year, including Matthew Huff at 6:30 p.m Saturday, followed by Deana Carter at 8 p.m., on the Ritter Communications Stage.
Aside from the music, vendors and activities throughout the festival, on Saturday, there will also be a Robbins Sanford Grand Hall Bridal Fair from 2-7 p.m., the third annual Get Down Downtown Car Show from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and demonstrations by hula-hoop dancer Katie Sunshine at 11 a.m. on the Southwestern Energy Stage and at 3 p.m. in front of the Ritter Communications Stage.
For more information about Get Down Downtown, including links to the full schedule, visit www.facebook.com/MainStreetSearcy.