Festival in works for Bowie knife bladesmith

WASHINGTON — A festival to celebrate James Black, the bladesmith who forged the first Bowie knife for Jim Bowie and to promote a variety of Arkansas heritage crafts and trades, is being organized.

The Inaugural James Black’s Bowie Heritage Festival is scheduled for April 23 at several venues throughout the south Arkansas town of Washington from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., including the James Black School of Bladesmithing and Historic Trades, the W.P.A. Gymnasium, Washington Pavilion and the midway area near the 1874 Hempstead County Courthouse. The festival is coming together through a partnership with the University of Arkansas Hope Texarkana Foundation and Historic Washington State Park.

Special guests at the festival will include History Channel’s Forged in Fire judge, and edged weapons combat specialist, Doug Marcaida and Forged in Fire judge, Mastersmith James Neilson. Marcaida and Neilson will judge a Bowie Knife cutting competition, facilitate a workshop and conduct demonstrations.

Three former Forged in Fire champions will participate in the festival: Ricardo Vilar of Nashville, Shawn Ellis of Mountain View, and Allen Newberry of Lowell. Many other reputable bladesmiths will also be on hand, showcasing their knives and telling the stories behind each blade. Re- enactors will narrate the story of Jim Bowie’s travels and the importance of the Bowie Knife.

Folk artisans will contribute to the festival by displaying and selling heritage crafts. Exhibits and workshops, period music, a knife show, and a knife cutting competition organized by National Living Treasure and Mastersmith Jerry Fisk and former Forged in Fire champion Ricardo Vilar, both of Nashville, Arkansas, will also be features of the festival. Lin Rhea, Resident Mastersmith at the Historic Arkansas Museum, will exhibit and demonstrate his bladesmith skills at the festival.

In addition to showing their handmade crafts, knife makers and craft vendors will teach techniques and discuss the educational value of their trades. Several Arkansas “Living Treasures” will attend with their art and be recognized for their contributions to Arkansas traditional folk arts or crafts.

J. R. Cook, an Arkansas “Living Treasure” from Nashville, will tell how bladesmithing became a part of his life.