Festivals set for Saturday in Clark County towns

Planning the third annual Arktoberfest in Arkadelphia are Jonathan Gonzales, from left, Shelley Loe, Nikki Chandler and Kris Gravett. The festival will take place from 2-10 p.m. Saturday in downtown Arkadelphia and feature food trucks, artisans, bounce houses, a car show, a motorcycle show, and Arkansas craft beers and wines.
Planning the third annual Arktoberfest in Arkadelphia are Jonathan Gonzales, from left, Shelley Loe, Nikki Chandler and Kris Gravett. The festival will take place from 2-10 p.m. Saturday in downtown Arkadelphia and feature food trucks, artisans, bounce houses, a car show, a motorcycle show, and Arkansas craft beers and wines.

Two festivals are scheduled for Saturday in Clark County — Arktoberfest in Arkadelphia and the Gurdon Forest Festival in Gurdon. Both normally attract crowds from near and far.

The third annual Arktoberfest is scheduled for 2-10 p.m. in downtown Arkadelphia. The event was founded by two friends, Jonathan Gonzales and Bryan DeBusk.

“Bryan and I met at my taco trailer (Little Penguin Tacos) about four years ago,” said Gonzales, who is a native of Gurdon.

“He was in the process of trying to open a restaurant downtown, and I had been trying to get city ordinances on mobile vending changed so I could bring my food truck into town. We struck up our friendship over the woes of starting a business in a small town and the hopes we had for Arkadelphia,” Gonzales said, adding that he is a graduate of Henderson State University, and DeBusk, who is from Heber Springs, is a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University and now a grant writer in Colorado.

“We had several conversations about what we could do to show off the cool stuff going on around the state and bring light to how great our town is. One day, Bryan came in the trailer and with a half-cracked smile asked if I wanted to partner in a festival … even better, a beer festival,” Gonzales said. “Being a big craft-beer fan and starry-eyed at the thought of folks being able to drink good beer on the streets of downtown Arkadelphia, I was a pretty easy sell. We shook hands a few days later and started planning in March 2015 for our first Arktoberfest.

“Although all the documents for the festival just have my name and Bryan’s name on them, Arktoberfest is

definitely a community-owned event. The two of us couldn’t ever have pulled it off without our planning committee — Shelley Loe of the Arkadelphia Chamber of Commerce; Nikki Chandler of the Ross Foundation; Carrie Price of Southern Bancorp; Derek Phillips of the city of Arkadelphia; Brooke Gregory of Southern Bancorp; and Kris Gravett of Gossip Shop Salon and Boutique — or without the support of local businesses and individuals.”

This year’s Arktoberfest will feature Arkansas craft beers and wines; the Arktoberfest Challenge Homebrew Competition sponsored by the Central Arkansas Fermenters; and Arkansas artisans and food trucks, including Frankly Good Food, Little Penguin Tacos, Cajun Sno, Loblolly Creamery and Wok ’n Roll. There will also be bounce houses for the kids and festival games for all.

The Central Arkansas Corvette Club will sponsor a car show from 9 a.m. to noon on Main Street, and the Arktoberfest Show and Shine Motorcycle Show will take place from 2-5 p.m. at the corner of Seventh and Caddo streets. All bikes are welcome in the motorcycle show. There is no entry fee. People’s Choice awards will be given.

Arktoberfest is free to enter; the cost is $20 to taste the adult beverages. Craft-beer passes are available at arktoberfest2017.eventbrite.com.

Live entertainment at Arktoberfest will be provided by Logan Lind, who was born in Norway, grew up in Mena and calls his music “folk/rock with a Scandinavian edge,” and The Big Dam Horns of Little Rock, whose members met while attending Henderson State University in Arkadelphia and play a combination of music styles, including rock, funk, jazz, and rhythm and blues.

The Arktoberfest Zombie Run will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday. The entry fee for the race is $25. Entry forms and more information can be found on the Arktoberfest Facebook page or at arktoberfestzombierun2017.evenbrite.com.

The 37th annual Gurdon Forest Festival offers food, entertainment and family fun, said Angela Harper, assistant to the mayor and committee co-chairwoman of the festival with Heather Noland. The event will feature vendors, crafts, games, rides and live music in downtown Gurdon.

Harper is also a member of the Gurdon Community Development and Entertainment Club, which sponsors the event. She said the purpose of the festival is to honor the local timber industry and bring the community together.

“Everyone has a good time,” she said. “It’s like a reunion; everybody comes home for the Gurdon Forest Festival.”

The festival will begin with a pancake breakfast from 7-10 a.m. at the Central Arkansas Development Council Gurdon Senior Activity Center, 410 Main St.

“We will serve pancakes, hash browns, sausage and cinnamon rolls,” said Royce Ann Barbaree, site manager. “The cost is $7.

“We are excited to be part of the Gurdon Forest Festival. We are hoping for a big crowd. We hope everybody will come out and support the festival. If you come to our breakfast, you will not go away hungry.”

The Clark County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee will sponsor a pumpkin-painting contest at 9:30 a.m., which will be followed by the festival parade at 10. Tommy Terrific will present a Halloween-themed magic show at 11. Grand-opening ceremonies will begin at noon, featuring the Gurdon High School Band. Members of the Gurdon Forest Festival Royalty, who were chosen during a pageant Oct. 14, will be introduced. Winners include Baby Miss Nyla Morse, Teeny Miss Paris McClure, Tiny Miss Presley Jackson, Little Miss Stella Childres, Petite Miss Railey Ellis, Junior Miss Gabbi Gibson, Princess Makenzie Russell and Queen Kira Accor.

The kiddie fun land will open following the grand-opening ceremonies; all kids will ride free.

Other events during the day include a cute-kid contest, a log-loader contest, a kids’ treasure hunt, a kids’ costume contest and a best logging photo contest. Antique tractors and cars will also be exhibited.

Local entertainment will begin about 1:30 p.m., following a live auction sponsored by the Gurdon Community Development and Entertainment Club, set to begin around 12:30. Live music will continue with two bands — California Connection at 4:30 and the Black Dog Band at 7.

A treasure hunt for adults will begin Monday, with the grand prize being $500. Clues will be posted on Facebook and on the downtown marquee.

Members of Hoo-Hoo International, a fraternal organization made up of people interested in the welfare and promotion of the forest-products industry, will be in Gurdon on Saturday for an annual meeting. Many of them will participate in festival activities. The International Hoo-Hoo Headquarters and Museum is in downtown Gurdon.

For more information on the Gurdon Forest Festival, call Harper at Gurdon City Hall at (870) 353-2514. Information is also available on Facebook.

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