Businesses in Ozark embrace Wakarusa Festival

By Jon Schleuss

Posted: June 7, 2011 at 12:55 p.m.
Updated: June 7, 2011 at 1:42 p.m.

Jon Schleuss
People walk through the Wakarusa 2011 Festival grounds near Ozark, Ark. Friday, June 3, 2011. The large crowd drawn to the area positively impacts the local economy.

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OZARK — For one week the small town of Ozark experiences a fundamental shift in the local economy, indirectly affecting each and every resident of the community.

At the heart of this shift: the Wakarusa Festival at the the Mulberry River Mountain Ranch running June 2-5, 2011.

The festival draws an audience of about 20,000 to a secluded area off Arkansas Highway 23. The large influx of visitors to a town with about 3,500 people also expands local businesses and inspires entrepreneurship within the people.

Some businesses double, quadruple and even make seven times their normal weekend business, said Royce Gattis, chairman of the tourism and economic committees at the Ozark Chamber of Commerce.

Gattis said he spent several weeks last year collecting information from local businesses in Ozark and Altus.

He said that DC Trash Service, the waste management company contracted by the city, made more than $18,000 from last year's festival.

The owners that own the property for the festival paid more than $15,000 in county and state taxes last year, Gattis said.

Those taxes, he said, indirectly help every resident in this community.

Another example Gattis mentioned was the Ozark Animal Hospital, located about 20 minutes from the festival grounds.

Virginia Cary, a vet assistant with the hospital, said they boarded 6 dogs and one cat this year.

Those animals were boarded from out-of-state travelers, she said.

Cary said the hospital has about 20 kennels.

According to notes from a survey Gattis compiled last year, the local Pizza Hut was caught off guard in 2010, understaffed for the event.

Store Manager Julie Hughey said by phone Monday that they were better prepared to handle the demand this year.

"People working the event would call and order 20 to 30 pizzas at a time," she said.

Hughey said last year was the first year they saw an increase in traffic. She attributed this year's business to the festival and to tornado relief efforts underway in the area.

"Employees who usually work 10-15 hours a week are now working 30," she said.

The customers visiting businesses were exceptionally nice, last year's survey noted.

Hughey noted that this week's customers were not the type expected at Ozark's Pizza Hut. She said several had dreadlocks and piercings, but that didn't matter much. They were good tippers and extremely nice, she said.

She didn't have enough information to give an accurate percentage of the climb in revenue but said sales were "way up."

Gattis said the festival has brought out a sense of entrepreneurship in the community. He said one man noticed a void in sales of ice at last year's event and sold ice this year, making thousands of dollars in sales.

Gattis also said local carpenters and an excavation firm were contracted to construct stages and clear debris.

He said students at the local vocational school also were contracted to set up stages, clean up the grounds and clear trails.

"50-60 students got jobs last year," he said expecting a similar result this year.

Gattis said two of the three motels in the area noted that Wakarusa was what put them in the black.

He said one owner couldn't wait for this year's festival.

Panorama of Shakedown Street at the Wakarusa Festival

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