New Wind Festival to be held at Wishing Spring Gallery

A new event at the Wishing Spring Art Gallery is focused on kids. The first Wishing Spring Wind Festival will feature kites, face paint and food.

The event will be held behind Wishing Spring Gallery, at 8826 W. McNelly Road in Bella Vista, and is scheduled for 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Saturday, May 6. That’s the same weekend of the spring craft fairs, and the gallery’s own Art on the Creek event.

Kids of all ages are welcome.

“The plan is to draw in some people who don’t already know the gallery,” Elaine Reinke said. “If the kids stop for the kite flying, their parents will see the gallery and maybe do some shopping.

“Artists will still set up along the creek.”

There will also be a chance for kids to make kites out of freezer paper and decorate it themselves. After the kite-decorating contest, kids can go the field behind the gallery for a kite-flying contest. The contests will be held three times throughout the day.

Store bought kites are welcome, but original designs are encouraged.

Art Club members will make some kites ahead of time so families can buy one and fly it in the contest. The pre-made kites will probably be made out of the thin plastic that is sold as tablecloths.

“We can provide everything except for the string,” Reinke said. Kite string can be expensive so she’s asking participants to bring their own. If there are people there who forget their string, the art club will off a spool of thread on a dowel.

“It works pretty well,” she said.

Reinke tested the proposed kites with her granddaughters. One flew up 150 feet until it ran out of string.

“You don’t really need a strong wind,” she said, “once you know how to fly a kite.”

There will also be hay rides, face painting and some kids crafts in the studio behind the gallery. A woman will demonstrate how to make a pinwheel, and kids can participate in making Origami. There will also be a touch-and-explore table, as well as a bouncy house.

Storyteller Miss Sarah will be on hand from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., as well as a children’s author. The animal shelter also plans to bring some adoptable pets.

There will be food trucks in the parking lot, and as always, all vendors will be showcasing handmade items.

Because the event is planned around the spring Arts and Crafts Show, it won’t be postponed by rain, and there will be plenty to do inside, if necessary.

Wishing Spring Art Gallery is on McNelly Road (Benton County 40), just east of its intersection with U.S. Highway 71.