For folks of a certain age in central Arkansas, the Memorial Day festival downtown--the one called Riverfest--holds all kinds of memories. Fun times with friends, concerts attended, stories made (and sometimes made up). For four decades, people have looked forward to the musical lineups. Heck, the festival made news months before when the lineups were announced.
Then it all went away.
It grew big, shut down streets in downtown, took up space on both sides of the river, split in two (Springfest?), changed weekends and generally became what they're calling a Mammoth Production. Then ticket prices went up. And up.
Still, the shuttering of the festival surprised many. For all the hassle, it was still the capital city's biggest music festival. How could it just shut down the party?
Now, thanks to an outfit called Universal Fairs out of Memphis, it's back, and on the right weekend--this one. And some of us can't wait to see Peter Frampton.
This weekend the new-and-improved RiverFest will feature something for most musical tastes, including Frampton. Tracy Lawrence will be there, along with Frampton. And some other acts that we've never heard of, playing the same venue as Frampton. Did we mention Peter Frampton?
"We've tried to theme our talent to allow people to get a different taste of different music," said the event's director, Jack Daniels. "We're very happy with the lineup."
The papers say that the folks running the show have tried to make the festival more city-friendly by shutting down fewer streets and making it easier for all the businesses downtown. And reducing prices for folks who'd like to bring their kids to the rides. All that is well and good. But the best idea was to move the thing to Memorial Day weekend. Because Frampton plays on Sunday night.
"It's hard to have a rock show on a Sunday night where people have to drag to work the next day," says Mr. Daniels.
Amen, brother.
If the weather will just cooperate, we'll see you there. RiverFest, baby, we love your way.
Editorial on 05/26/2018