Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Past, Present, Future
Siloam Springs celebrates at Heritage Festival
History buffs will have the chance to explore Siloam Springs’ rich past at the Heritage Festival on Saturday. Beginning at 10 a.m. the Heritage Festival will have historic exhibits, historical performances, all day concerts during the Siloam Springs Music Festival and even a benefit dinner and silent auction from 6 to 8 p.m. at 28 Springs.
This will be the first time the Heritage Festival has been held since 2016. This year’s festival will feature more historic exhibits, fewer vendors and focus on a new partnership model that brings in other nonprofit and community groups who are stewarding a local piece of Siloam Springs culture and history, reveals Rebecca Clendenen, executive director of the Siloam Springs Heritage Foundation.
“The idea is not just to promote and expose the work that they’re doing in our community and that they have done throughout our community history, but the residents will also hopefully see the work that’s being done and get inspired and get involved,” Clendenen says.
One new addition will be the benefit dinner at 28 Springs. The specialty menu for the benefit will feature Ozark Culinary dishes from Siloam Springs native Chef Erin Rowe, as well as a variety of Ozark foods that Chef Kurt Plankenhorn of 28 Springs has created.
Along with the meal, Rowe will provide historical details of the menu items and the Ozarks area at the time.
Tickets for the benefit dinner will be $100 and $125 with a wine pairing, and all proceeds will go toward funding next year’s Heritage Festival.
During the festival, the Freemasons of Key Lodge No. 7 will also have their annual fish fry.
The cost for the Heritage Festival will be minimal, Clendenen assures. The exhibits and re-enactments will be free to view, along with the concert by the Siloam Springs Music Festival.
“That is one of the key objectives of the Heritage Foundation and Heritage Festival committee is to make it accessible,” she says. “The majority of the things that will be happening at the festival are happening for free.”
The Siloam Springs Museum is the main nonprofit that will be involved in the Heritage Festival.
Other participants will include Main Street Siloam Springs and the Siloam Springs Music Festival.
An annual event since at least 1880, the Heritage Festival was started by the Freemasons to celebrate St. John’s Day, and the next year, the town took on organizing the festival because of the large number of people who attended the previous year, Clendenen says.
It’s taken different forms throughout the history of Siloam Springs, but in the last 20 years or so it has been called the Heritage Festival.
“The museum for the last 20 years has been the primary host of the event, and they continue to be the primary host of the event,” Clendenen says.
A lot of work to set up the festival has been done by the Siloam Springs Heritage Foundation, Clendenen adds. The foundation was formed in the summer of 2020 specifically for the production of the Heritage Festival.
“So the idea is there would always be a board member from the museum and also that this organization is viewed as a support system for the museum rather than an alternative,” she concludes.