El Dorado A&P hears multiple reports from funding grants
The El Dorado Advertising and Promotion Commission heard reports Monday on several local events that the group is supporting this year.
Each year, the A&P commission accepts applications for and approves requests for proposals to provide financial assistance that will help advertise and promote events in El Dorado.
The commission draws its revenue from a 3% lodging tax.
A portion of tax collections is used to help promote events that are expected to draw out-of-town visitors and generate overnight stays in local hotels.
In January, A&P commissioners approved a dozen RFPs totaling $288,500.
Groups who receive funding from the A&P commission must provide a post-event evaluation, per the terms of the commission’s RFP application.
Part of the $2,500 that was awarded this year to the South Arkansas Arts Center supported the promotion of the 2024 El Dorado Film Festival, which was held Feb. 8 - 11.
On Monday, Laura Allen, executive director of the SAAC, reminded commissioners that the festival returned this year after a three-year hiatus.
Allen said the EFF was last held during the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic in October of 2020.
“We had a very strange festival, where we all sat in pods, so it was really a building year for this festival,” Allen said.
She explained that the event was a blend of “films, entertainment and nightlife” and drew a wide range of participants and attendees to town.
“We had a little over 100 guests, which for our first year back, was really more than we were hoping for,” Allen told commissioners.
She said 40 of the guests were filmmakers from New York, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Texas and Louisiana.
Sixty-four percent of ticketholders came from outside El Dorado and “made enthusiastic use of all our nightlife and restaurants and hotels.”
Allen also shared that 42 films have already been submitted for the 2025 EFF.
SAAC plans to use a part of the $2,500 A&P award to promote its summer production of Mary Poppins. Auditions are scheduled for May 29 and 30.
Beth Brumley, executive director of Main Street El Dorado, discussed events that were held over “back-toback weekends” at the end of April and in early May.
The seventh annual Airstreams on the Square was held April 25 - 28 and Mayhaw on Main followed on May 4.
Both events were presented by MSE, along with the Arkansas Razorback Airstream Club and South Arkansas Historical Preservation Society, respectively.
Airstreams is part of a nationwide campaign to stage Main Street/urban camping events to promote the RV
lifestyle and help stimulate economic development and vitality in small-town America.
The event is typically held in the fall but MSE and ARAC scheduled the 2024 event for the spring because ARAC members plan to attend the 67th annual Airstream Club International Rally, which is set for Oct. 5 - 10 in Missouri.
More than two dozen RVs began rolling into town on April 25 and camped out around the Union County Courthouse Square.
A slate of public and private activities with free admission, including live music and games, were hosted during the multi-day Airstreams on the Square.
Grill Wars: Chili Cookoff was also held on April 27.
Mayhaw on Main, formerly known as May on Main, was held in conjunction with the SAHPS’s annual Mayhaw Festival.
Mayhaw on Main was held on the Union County Courthouse Square within a twoblock radius of the Mayhaw Festival, which is centered each year around the Newton House Museum, 510 North Jackson Ave.
For the third consecutive year, MSE and the SAHPS teamed up for the two events to provide a day of family-friendly activities in downtown El Dorado.
Both events are supported by the A&P commission.
MSE received $100,000 from the commission to promote its 2024 events, including Mayhaw on Main, and the SAHPS was awarded $5,000 for the 2024 Mayhaw Festival.
Referring to Airstreams and Mayhaw on Main, Brumley said Monday, “They both were, in our thoughts, very successful.”
Brumley said she spotted some A&P members downtown on May 4, adding, “I think the traffic from the Mayhaw Festival to downtown is continuing to grow year after year and it was a good turnout.”
She said MSE is still tallying numbers for the pair of events and she expects to present a more detailed report — including estimated crowd sizes, as captured by Placer.ai software — at a later date.
Placer uses cellular phone data to count the number of people within a designated radius.
Now that MSE has two of its “biggest events of the year” under its belt (MSE also presented Shamrockin’ on the Square, a St. Patrick’s Day celebration in March), the group will next prepare for a steak cookoff in July, said Brumley.
Joanna Benson, marketing manager for the Murphy Arts District, reported that free activities were presented for children at the MAD Playscape while area schools were closed for the week of spring break in late March.
Benson said the activities were presented in partnership with the Dirt Friends Garden Group, HealthWorks Fitness Center, the SAHPS, SAAC and first responders from the El Dorado Fire Department.
She said the event ended on the night of March 28 with a glow dance party that attracted more than 400 children. “We had no idea what to expect, so that was extremely surprising, to say the least, and went very well and it just showed that it’s true that people want kids’ activities in this town,” Benson said.
MAD also announced Monday the kick-off for MAD MOVIE MONDAY 2024. The event begins on June 3 and will run each Monday through July 22.
Area families are invited to watch free movies that are shown outdoors in the MAD Amphitheater. Admission is free. Benson said MM is presented by South Arkansas Regional Hospital, with additional support from LSB Industries.
On Thursday and Saturday, performances by Rodney Carrington and Blippi: The Wonderful World Tour, are slated at MAD, respectively.
For more information, visit www.eldomad.com or call 870-444-3007.
Like, MSE, MAD also received $100,000 from the A&P commission to help promote events throughout 2024.