Spotlight: Smackover Oil Town Festival

Take a walk down memory lane and learn about the rich history of the Smackover oil industry at the 46th annual Oil Town Festival to be held June 15-17.

The first Oil Town Festival was held in 1971, by the Smackover Chamber of Commerce and the Lion’s Club to celebrate the rich history of the town’s once booming oil industry and the oil discovery well, Richardson No. 1.

It was held in Kennedy Park, in the Smackover downtown area. The celebration was marked by a cake walk, one radio station on remote and a street dance. Through the years, The festival has grown in size and events and has had to change location to accommodate that growth.

The family-friendly festival is now held at Tennyson Park and the event is jam-packed full of contests such as Watermelon Eating, Tug-O-War, Horseshoe Throwing, Drill Bit Toss, Rod Wrenching and Pipe Tote contests, to demonstrate the skills needed for oil field work.

Tournaments for the 46th annual festival feature the Bunco, Oil Ball 3-on-3 Basketball and arm wrestling tournaments. Races include the popular 5K Oil-Run, begun by Smackover State Bank in 1978, the turtle race and the World Famous Duck Race.

According to the Smackover Chamber of Commerce website, “We are not exactly sure how it became world-famous, but it is great fun to watch, in anticipation, as your duck races down No Name Creek toward race founder, Jerry Langley, who personally retrieves the winning ducks from the water. Even the last duck wins a prize in this race.”

Continuing on with the happy atmosphere, Oil Town features free musical entertainment every night at the amphitheater in Tennyson Park.

The J.T. Stocks Gospel Night kicks off the

concerts and featured local church talent as well as big name gospel groups like Master’s Voice. Master’s Voice was formed in 1995 and have spent its careers bring an evangelistic approach to their singing and preaching to all that will listen.

Friday and Saturday nights feature up and coming bands from around our area and state, with Ace’s Wild and Blackstrap Molasses will be performing on Friday night.

Ace’s Wild is made up of four musicians from completely different backgrounds that were brought together with the common goal of making music their own way. Blackstrap Molasses is a homegrown El Dorado group who plays something for everybody. The band’s play lists include rock, blues and country music.

The headliners for Saturday are Corey Jackson and Milton Patton.

Cory Jackson was born and raised in Jonesboro and has been working toward achieving his dream since he was 12 years old. With encouragement from his grandfather, he began taking a more serious approach to singing and song writing in his teens.

He’s right at home on stage. His energetic presence and pleasant personality creates an unforgettable connection with each and every member of the audience.

Milton Patton grew up in Forrest City, a small town near the Mississippi Delta, where he listened to blues music and R&B tunes.

An aspiring singer, Patton decided to pursue a different musical path after hearing a song on the radio by country superstar Brad Paisley. As Patton was driving to work one day, emotionally distraught after a recent painful breakup with a girlfriend, he listened to Paisley’s hit song “Whiskey Lullaby.”

Patton used ‘Whiskey Lullaby’ as an audition song in 2013 for the television reality show “America’s Got Talent.” After making it through initial auditions in Austin and New Orleans, he was given the opportunity to sing on national television before judges Howard Stern, Heidi Klum, former Spice Girl Mel B and Howie Mandel.

Smackover Merchants gather together to give away great prizes in the merchant drawings. The City of Smackover gets involved with much pre-festival preparation in the city and park, in addition to helping with security and sanitation.

Arts and crafts vendors will be at the event to feature their handy work and sell their goods. Grill teams will come from around the state to participate in the festival’s rib cook-off.

It’s truly a community event where everyone works together to insure that the event’s a success.

The calendar of events for the weekend is as follows:

Thursday, June 15

• 2:00 p.m. …. Vendors Setup

• 6:00 p.m. …. Bunko Tournament

Concerts

• 7:00 p.m. …. The Burns Family

• 8:00 p.m. …. Master Voice

Friday, June 16

• 12:00 p.m. …. Vendors Setup

• 5:00 p.m. …. Horseshoe Registration (Ages 8-16)

• 5:30 p.m. …. Horseshoe Ages 8-10

• 6:00 p.m. …. Horseshoe Ages 11-16

• 6:00 p.m. …. Lion’s Club Bingo (Above Library)

Concerts

• 7:00 p.m. …. Black Strap Molasses

• 9:00 p.m. …. Aces Wild

Saturday, June 17

• 7:00 a.m. …. Rib Cookoff

• 8:30 a.m. …. 3 on 3 Basketball (High School Gym)

• 9:00 a.m. …. Car Show

• 9:30 a.m. …. Drill Bit Throwing Contest

• 10:00 a.m. …. Kids Corner | Water Slides

• 10:00 a.m. …. Turtle Race

• 11:00 a.m. …. Rod Wrenching Contest (Ages 17 & Up)

• 11:30 a.m. …. Egg Toss

• 12:00 a.m. …. Tug o’ War

• 12:30 a.m. …. Pipe Tote

• 2:00 p.m. …. Arm Wrestling

• 4:00 p.m. …. Adult Horseshoe Registration

• 5:00 p.m. …. Adult Horseshoe Contest

• 6:00 p.m. …. Duck Race

• 6:30 p.m. …. Winners Announcement

Concerts

• 7:00 p.m. …. Cory Jackson

• 9:00 p.m. …. Milton Patton

For more information for any events, please contact the Smackover Chamber of Commerce from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at 870-725-3521.

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