BATESVILLE — For the 76th consecutive year, the White River Water Carnival will continue in Batesville, with this year’s event set for Sept. 7.
The carnival, sponsored by the Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce, will take place in Riverside Park, next to the White River. Events will start at 10 a.m. with the River City Cruisers Car Show.
“The event is completely free,” said Kyle Christopher, tourism director for the Batesville Chamber. “The event features one of the largest car shows in the region.”
Other activities include food trucks open for business, vendors selling items, a kids zone, a giant water slide, the Summer Olympic Yard Games and the Smokin’ on the White BBQ Championship, starting at 11 a.m.
The Ski and Wake Show is set for 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.,
and the 76th annual White River Carnival Parade will begin at 5 p.m. Other activities include a cornhole tournament at 6 p.m. and a frozen-custard-eating contest at 6:30 p.m.
Christopher said the barbecue contest is sanctioned by the Memphis Barbecue Network and the Kansas City Barbecue Society. The prize money includes $12,000.
“We’ll have professional teams come in from all over the place,” Christopher said. “We are also bringing in one of the largest inflatable water slides in America from Oklahoma. It will be set up at Riverside Park for kids and adults to enjoy.”
“All the focus has been put on the river.”
Team Aquafly, a professional hydroflight team based in Austin, Texas, will give demonstrations at noon, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., and at 8:30 p.m. with an LED light show.
“In between shows, anybody and everybody can register and go out on the river and do it themselves,” Christopher said of taking a hydroflight. “They’ll have folks who will strap you in and give you all the necessary equipment, and you can go try it yourself.”
Christopher said having an opportunity to do something like a hydroflight doesn’t happen that often in Arkansas.
“You usually see these things at resorts or at some sort of exotic location,” he said.
Christopher said the chamber is striving to place the emphasis of the carnival back on the water.
“The primary focus of the Water Carnival at the beginning — it faded over time and I’m bringing it back — was the water,” he said. “Riverside Park is one of the best locations on the White River in the entire state. You are able to walk right down to the water’s edge at Riverside Park.
Christopher said the main reason the White River Water Carnival has survived for so long is because of its community support.
“That is from both patrons coming to the event and supporting it and, most importantly, local sponsors,” he said. “The chamber of commerce has put this on — not for all 76 years; it’s changed hands a few times — but community businesses have supported this event to keep it free with new attractions coming.”
Batesville Mayor Rick Elumbaugh said he believes the carnival may be one of the longest continuous festivals in the state.
“It always brings a crowd,” he said. “That’s huge for our economy. It never hurts when people come in here as tourists. [The carnival] will have one of the finest car shows in the state. You always look forward to that. It’s kind of a unique thing to do. And there is always the crowd favorite — the funnel cake.”
Christopher said one group — the Friends of the Water Carnival — is important to the success of its members.
“It’s just made up of small businesses and community leaders who give to this fund that we’re able to pull from and put this event on,” he said. “Without those sponsors and support, obviously, there’s no way an event like this could have taken place for so long.”
For more information about the White River Water Carnival, go to www.whiteriverwatercarnival.com.
Staff writer Mark Buffalo can be reached at (501) 399-3676 or mbuffalo@arkansasonline.com.