Festival season is in full swing in El Dorado and three local organizations are presenting events this weekend to appeal to families and blues and Southern soul lovers and hopefully, encourage out-of-town visitors to spend the day and night in El Dorado.
Soul Fest
Mr. Mike's Productions will kick off the weekend Friday with Soul Fest, a celebration of two genres of music that are closely related and uniquely southern.
Promoter Michael Jackson has said the musical lineup is so big for the 22nd annual festival, the event will be expanded to two days at the Union County Fairgrounds, 1430 E. 19th.
For part 1 of Soul Fest on Friday, gates open at 5 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m.
Headliners for the first night of Soul Fest are King George, LJ Echols, Avail Hollywood, Rodnae Da Boss and El Dorado's own Benito Glosson, "The Teddy Bear of Southern Soul".
The show will be hosted by 2 Legit and DJs Big Daddy in Da Mixx and Banks will also entertain the crowd.
General admission is $40 through Thursday and $50 at the gate.
Blues and Southern soul fans are in for an even bigger musical lineup on Saturday.
The schedule will be bumped up to accommodate a larger slate of performers that include Wendell B, Marcellus The Singer, the PC Band, Roi Chip Anthony, Sassy D, Lil CJ, Ghetto Cowboy and Suga.
Host 2 Legit will return for Part 2. DJs Big Daddy and The Godfather are part of the lineup for the second day of Soul Fest.
Photo and vendor booths will be onsite both nights.
Tickets for the Saturday night leg of Soul Fest are $30 in advance and $40 at the gate.
To purchase tickets, including VIP tickets, or for more information, call promoter Michael Jackson at 870-866-7441. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.eventbrite.com
Main Street El Dorado and the South Arkansas Historical Preservation Society are teaming up to offer two festivals in one on earlier in the day on Saturday with May on Main and the Mayhaw Festival, respectively.
Admission is free for both events and some activities are paid.
Mayhaw Festival
The 31st annual Mayhaw Festival is set from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday in the area of Jackson Avenue and Faulkner Street near the Newton House Museum.
The day will kick off with the Mayhawlin' 5K Run. The schedule for the "competitive, yet family-friendly race" is 8 - 10 a.m. and includes categories for children and adults.
Registration is $30 until noon Friday and the price will increase to $40. Participants may sign up on the day of the race.
The Mayhaw Festival will include live music, a car show, food trucks, Newton House tours, a biscuit breakfast, vendors, Mac & Cheese Cook-off and, of course, Mayhaw jelly for sale.
Slots are still available for the car show and cook-off.
The car show will take place from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. The registration fee is $20 for the first vehicle and $10 for the second.
Teams for the Mac & Cheese Cook-off may sign up for $20.
For more information about the Mayhaw Festival or to volunteer, visit www.soarkhistory.com, send an email to [email protected] or visit the SAHPS Facebook page.
Steve Biernacki, executive director of the SAHPS, previously encouraged area residents, particularly families with children, to attend the Mayhaw Festival and take part in a variety of activities and entertainment.
Festival organizers are working to continue to grow the event and are aiming for a larger turnout than last year, Biernacki said.
Earlier this year, he reported that participation in the Mayhaw Festival increased last year, with 75 vendors and a crowd of 7,000 - 8,000 people, compared to 52 vendors and a crowd of about 4,500 in 2021.
"The car show was the biggest it's ever been. You could see it. It was a sea of humanity," Biernacki said of the 2022 festival.
For more information about the Mayhaw Festival or to volunteer, visit www.soarkhistory.com, send an email to [email protected] or visit the SAHPS Facebook page.
May on Main
Beth Brumley, executive director of the Main Street El Dorado, said the group is "super excited" to once again present May on Main in conjunction with the Mayhaw Festival.
"The two festivals together give everyone a full day of fun, food, music, shopping and another reason to experience our beautiful downtown with all it has to offer," said Brumley said.
The third annual May on Main will get rolling at 11 a.m. in the area of Jefferson, Elm and Washington streets in downtown El Dorado, a couple of blocks west of the Mayhaw Festival perimeter.
The MSE and the SAHPS have said that the cross-promotion of both events has worked out well over the past two years. MSE introduced May on Main in 2021.
New this year will be train rides that will shuttle attendees between the two festival sites.
Brumley said riders may board the Queen City Rides Carnival Street Train at the intersection of Main Street and South Washington Avenue and head over to the Mayhaw Festival.
The train will also pick up "passengers" at the Mayhaw Festival and ferry them back to the boarding site.
The rides are free and will run from 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
From 1 until 7 p.m., Randall Clark Farms will provide horse-and-carriage rides around downtown for a small fee.
Food vendors will be onsite, offering corn dogs, funnel cakes, snow cones and crawfish and shrimp plates, which will be sold for $25 each and come with potatoes and corn, as a fundraiser for MSE. There will also be a beer garden.
Brumley said the one-day festival will be jampacked with plenty of other activities and games, with a focus on children.
The children's Fun Zone will include archery, a petting zoo, rock-climbing wall, Big Wheel races, Gellyball Shooting Sports and a Baggo tournament.
Some activities -- Gellyball, the Baggo tournament -- will come with a small fee and others, including archery, the rock-climbing wall and petting zoo are free.
Brumley said attendees will be able to purchase food to feed the animals in the petting zoo.
The Minions and Woody and Jessy -- the latter two are characters from the "Toy Story" movie franchise -- will also be on hand to pose for photos with children.
Big Wheel races for children will begin at 2 p.m. Registration will start at 1 p.m. on Jefferson Avenue. There is no entry fee for the races.
Registration is $10 for the Baggo tournament. Sign-ups begin at 1 p.m. and the tournament starts at 2 p.m. Prizes and adult and children's divisions will be based on participation, organizers said.
Live music will begin at 12:30 p.m. with performances by Erick Meadows, Joel Woollen and Cavin Kemble.
At 4:30 p.m., a sneak peek of The South Arkansas Arts Center's summer production of "Newsies" will precede a performance of Showdown at Sunset, the long-running historical re-enactment of a deadly gunfight that took place in 1902 on the downtown square between the Tucker and Parnell families.
The events will take place on the east (Jefferson Avenue) side of the Union County Courthouse. Showdown will serve as a lead-in to MSE's summer events.
For more information, call the MSE office at 870-862-4747 or visit the group's Facebook page or website at www.mainstreeteldorado.org.