Greenwood kicks off 1st crawfish fest
The festival is free of charge and runs through Saturday. Gates opened at 5 p.m. Wednesday and will open at 5 p.m. today, 11 a.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday. Each weekday will feature food trucks, carnival rides, carnival games and live music from a different group.
GREENWOOD — The first River Valley Crawfish Festival kicked off Wednesday with food trucks, carnival rides and live music from local band Moonshine & Cookies.
“It’s a real beautiful day and we hope everybody comes out,” said carnival owner Debbie Wells-Johnson.
The festival is free of charge and runs through Saturday. Gates opened at 5 p.m. Wednesday and will open at 5 p.m. today, 11 a.m. Friday and 10 a.m. Saturday. Each weekday will feature food trucks, carnival rides, carnival games and live music from a different group.
Saturday will feature a 5k race and crawfish eating contest in addition to the other festivities.
The final day will also feature three musical performances as opposed to the singular concerts performed the first three days.
The winner of the crawfish eating contest will get a trophy and a T-shirt.
Winners of the 5k will also get a T-shirt and medals for first, second and third place in each age group.
The inaugural event is taking place at the Sebastian County Fairgrounds and is put on by the Sebastian County Fair Association, a nonprofit organization with the goal of educating others about agriculture and the arts.
The Fair Association had been inventing new events to use the 26-acre fairgrounds.
Association President Randy Mitchell said the concept of this event came from his friend and carnival owner, Kenneth Johnson.
“Kenneth Johnson with Johnson Brothers’ Amusement approached me last year at the fair and said, ‘What do you think about doing something in the spring — a crawfish festival,’ so I said it sounded like a good deal. We discussed it with the board and now here we are,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said 100% of the profits will go back into the community.
The main benefactors of fair events are the local agriculture school clubs that show their animals at the county fair and win scholarships.
“Pretty much everything we do goes into either keeping up the fairgrounds or back into scholarships for the kids,” Mitchell said.