BATESVILLE — A year after hosting its first Southern Food Festival, Main Street Batesville will do it again Saturday.
The festival marked the conclusion of the downtown revitalization streetscape process, said Shannon Haney, Main Street Batesville executive director.
“We wanted to do something to celebrate that,” Haney said. “We put together the Southern Food Festival. It just went over really well. It was a lot of fun, so we decided to give it a go again this year.”
The festival will start at 10 a.m., an hour earlier than last year, and will continue until 3 p.m.
“It’s going to work basically the same way,” Haney said. “We invited our local restaurants and food trucks to participate and cook up some sort of Southern dish that they love. We sell punch cards so people can buy them, and that allows them to go around and sample a little bit of everything.”
Punch cards are $10 and provide five samples from food vendors, as well as a cup of homemade lemonade.
“We have a lemonade stand that we use at the Independence County Fair, so we set that up for the food festival and make freshly squeezed lemonade,” Haney said. “So you get lemonade and five samples. It’s a good, fun day.”
Haney said 10 food vendors participated last year, and she expects around the same number this year.
“Not everyone buys the punch card,” Haney said. “Some people know what they want and just go get it. Some people just come out to walk around and enjoy the day.
“We think we had about 2,500 people based on sales last year.”
Four blocks on Main Street will be closed for the Southern Food Festival.
“Last year, we had Broad Street closed off, but this year, we’ll have to leave that one open because that’s the only street in town that goes over the railroad, so we can’t close that one in case of an emergency,” Haney said. “Generally, the four main blocks are closed so you can just roam and sample and visit the vendors.”
Parking will be available at the churches and in the parking lots off the adjacent College and Water streets, according to the Main Street Batesville website.
Haney said the festival will feature activities for children, including a bounce house and train rides, and there will be circus performers.
“It’s a laid-back atmosphere,” she said. “We have a music stage with a couple of performers coming in.”
The music lineup includes the 106th Army Band at 10 a.m.,
the Hamburger Cows from Little Rock at 11 a.m. and Sarah Cecil of Little Rock at 1 p.m.
“Sarah has played our farmers market before,” Haney said. “She’s 16, and she’s just outstanding.”
The Southern Food Festival is sponsored by PECO/John Herbert Hickman Foundation, FutureFuel Chemical Co., Batesville Poultry Equipment and Keller’s Bounce Houses.
For more information about the event, visit www.mainstreetbatesville.org.
Staff writer Mark Buffalo can be reached at (501) 399-3676 or mbuffalo@arkansasonline.com.