Ozark Folk Center holds fall festival this weekend

The Ozark Folk Center State Park’s Stringband Music & Arts Festival will be held this Friday, Oct. 15 and Saturday, Oct. 16. The family-friendly festival will be a weekend-long celebration of lively stringband music and handcrafted arts featuring the Ozark’s finest artisans, music prodigies, and live performances by some of the best touring bands that play old-time mountain music, also known as Ozark folk music.

Festival featured acts include old-time music troubadours from the Ohio River Valley, The Tillers on Friday night, and underground sensations from Nashville, Tennessee, the Hogslop String Band, who will perform two sets on Saturday.

Tickets include the cost of admission to the park’s 20 artisan shops, gardens, and music shows at the park’s historic 1,000-seat indoor music venue, Ozark Highlands Theater.

Outdoor acoustic music shows, programs, and artisan demonstrations will occur in the Craft Village from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and feature concerts will take place in the music theater from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, and again from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday.

Due to Arkansas Department of Health COVID-19 guidelines, ticket sales to music shows will be limited to one-third of the theater’s seating capacity. Tickets are $25 for Friday, $35 for Saturday, and $50 for both days. To reserve tickets or learn more, visit OzarkFolkCenter.Ticketleap.com. To book a modern, renovated cabin for the weekend, visit OzarkFolkCenter.com.

The Skillet Restaurant, also located at the state park, will serve buffets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner throughout the festivities on Friday and Saturday. The park’s hilltop restaurant, which is known for its Southern hospitality and down-home cooking, will feature its famous Ozark Settlers buffet for dinner on both nights.

“It’s so refreshing to have live music back at the park after such a long hiatus,” said Ozark Folk Center State Park Music Director Daren Dortin. “It was great to see so many smiling faces in the music theater during our August bluegrass festival and we’re looking forward to welcoming stringband music fans back for this new festival. We have an immensely talented group of local and nationally-touring bands that will be performing Oct. 15 and 16.”

Connect on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and visit ArkansasStateParks.com and ArkansasStateParks.com/media to learn more about this event.