Homegrown Festival to bring the spirit of fall to Siloam Springs
The event will feature more than 70 artisans and lots of children’s events.
Local craftsmen and artisans, along with downtown businesses, will be in the spotlight during Main Street Siloam Springs’ Homegrown Festival on Saturday.
The event, to be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 8, in conjunction with the Farmers Market, will give community members a chance to enjoy the fall season with their families, according to Kelsey Howard, executive director of Main Street Siloam Springs. It will include more than 70 vendors selling locally handmade goods and vintage items, food trucks, live music, kayaking on Sager Creek and kids activities.
“We’re just really excited just about the festive spirit of downtown,” said Howard. “We always have such a beautiful and vibrant community feel to downtown.”
The number of vendors participating in the Homegrown Festival has doubled since last year. The number does not include Farmers Market vendors, Howard said. Because of the growth, the festival will extend from Broadway Street down East Main Street, and to the Farmers Market in City Park. Most of the vendors are from Northwest Arkansas, and either sell handmade items or curated vintage goods, she said.
Local brick and mortar businesses will also be showcased during Homegrown Festival, Howard said. As visitors walk and meander through the festival, they will be able to follow fun chalk designs and arrows that point them to downtown businesses that can be enjoyed every day, she said.
Howard is especially looking forward to the kids’ day activities during the festival. Local organizations and non-profits have come together to sponsor family
oriented activities throughout the event. Highlights include free pumpkin decorating sponsored by the Benton County Master Gardeners, a free bounce house sponsored by the Farmers Market and Main Street Siloam Springs, free seed planting sponsored by The Garden in Siloam Springs, watercolor note card making sponsored by Friendship Community Care and a leaf-pressing activity sponsored by Ability Tree.
Children will also get the chance to learn about Native American rock paintings, or pictographs, in Arkansas, and try their hand at making their own pictographs at the Siloam Springs Museum booth. The booth will also feature old-fashioned children’s games and activities.
“We’re focusing on making sure we have events and activities that are engaging and imaginative for kids and families together,” Howard said.
For all those who have looked at Sager Creek with “impish wonder” and wondered what it would be like to get on the water in a boat, the Homegrown Festival will offer kayaking this year, Howard said.
Another highlight of the event will be the live music in Twin Springs Park throughout the event, featuring solar powered sound equipment by Richter Solar Energy. Musicians will include Two Cents’ Worth, Traci Rae Letellier, The Sons of Otis Malone, Walter Schmidt, Willi Carlisle and Allison Williams and Route 358.
“There are just so many reasons to come (to the Homegrown Festival) this year,” Howard said. “Downtown Siloam Springs is a vibrant, cozy and quaint place to go because of beautiful historic buildings and because the downtown businesses give it so much life. We are thrilled to showcase to community and visitors the life that is in our downtown businesses and in the historic district.”
For more information about the festival, and a complete list of vendors, activities and musicians visit www.mainstreetsiloam.org/homegrownfestival.