Donny and Janice Russell haven’t been to Riverfest since 2002. That year, the sweltering heat and rain made the Russells’ Riverfest experience hot, wet and uncomfortable. But Saturday, more than 10 years later, the Benton couple is back.
“The cool weather is what brought us out,” Janice Russell said.
The Russells weren’t the only ones persuaded to come by the weather. Milder temperatures attracted large numbers to the festival, which opened at 11 a.m. Saturday and was already teeming by noon.
Janice Russell said she was enjoying her return.
“Every year, it seems like it gets better,” she said. “Better music, better talent.”
Families, friends, vendors, volunteers and performers milled about the festival grounds throughout the afternoon, eating greasy food and buying colorful souvenirs. Children slid down a hill on broken-down cardboard boxes and ran through the water at the Peabody Playground & Water Park. People lounged in shady areas. Dozens sought shelter from the sun in the Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center.
Amanda Moore, a Riverfest information point person, said this year’s tightened security was paying off as of Saturday afternoon.
“It’s actually been a very smooth day,” she said.
On Friday night, a couple of lost children were quickly reunited with their families, Moore said, but no other problems were reported.
“It’s been incredible we don’t have anything bad to report,” she said.
Twins Millicent Anderson and Zoretta Finley and their children were among the first to arrive Saturday, right at 11 a.m. The sisters said they’ve been coming for the past five years. They planned to stay all day Saturday and come back today.
“This is our start to summer,” Anderson said.
She said Riverfest allowed her to read and relax while keeping an eye on her children, ages 6 and 8, who played in the KidZone Area.
On the Yarnell’s KidZone Stage, a musical group of young sisters played its first of two scheduled performances for the weekend. REAL Entertaining featured the VanderVates - Rebecca, 14, Emily, 12, Abigail, 11, and Lydia, 9, each of whom plays several instruments. The girls learned to play at their church, said their mother, Kellie VanderVate.
The girls left the stage flushed from the heat. They said the Microsoft Surface tablet they were reading their music from went dark on stage, and they ended up playing by memory, something they’ve never done before. They’ll perform again at 6:15 p.m. today. The girls often play at the River Market Farmers Market, too.
John Hooker, a senior atLISA Academy North, said he was attending Riverfest for the second time. Last year, he saw Mutemath’s drummer crowdsurfing and playing the drums simultaneously, and he helped clean up after Snoop Dogg’s show. This year, his hopes included avoiding a sunburn. He and his friends were looking forward to seeing Peter Frampton today.
Gordon Bagby and Jim Key manned a 3,000-gallon glass tank just outside the nature center that was filled with about 20 fish species native to Arkansas. Bagby, an education coordinator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, said the tank was popular - almost 200 people had stopped by during the first hour of Riverfest on Saturday.
“It always attracts attention,” he said.
Key, a fisheries technician, said the tank was the biggest the commission had. He said the tank travels to about 20 events a year, including a yearly stop at Riverfest.
“These fish are pretty worldly,” he said.
With crowds expected to grow in the evening hours and the festival likely to get louder on the nearby Miller Lite/Arkansas Federal Credit Union Stage, Key said Saturday afternoon not to worry about the fish in their glass tank. The noise won’t bother them, he said.
“These fish have seen it all,” Key said.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 16 on 05/26/2013