Branching Out

Imagine all the good things about Fayetteville. Now smash them together into one manic weekend, and it provides a good approximation of the Fayetteville Roots Festival, Jerrmy Gawthrop says.

If out-of-town friends came to visit, says Gawthrop, one of the festival's founders, the activities they'd likely enjoy would include the consumption of local food and local beverages and watching local bands at prestigious venues. All of those things happen simultaneously at the ever-growing festival, which returns Thursday and continues through the evening of Sept. 1.

"It just embodies Fayetteville," Gawthrop says.

And that combination will certainly bring out Northwest Arkansas-based fans almost as well as it draws from elsewhere. Bryan Hembree, Gawthrop's partner in the festival, says 31 percent of the festival's audience comes from out of state. Forty-five percent comes from outside Washington and Benton counties, and at least 25 states are represented via visiting fans.

"We wanted to put Fayetteville on a stage," Hembree says. "If that was the target, that was a hit."

It may be one of the targets, but it is far from the only one.

The festival brings in more than a dozen acts representing the best of roots and Americana music. Headlining will be The Wood Brothers on Aug. 30 and Lucinda Williams on Aug. 31. Guests such as Ben Kweller, Hurray for the Riff Raff, Darrell Scott & Tim O'Brien, The Secret Sisters and Jay Farrar will also perform at various times during the festival.

The festival's footprint falls into two distinct zones this year -- near the Fayetteville square during the day and evening hours and then Dickson Street for a late-night version. Much of that division comes as a response to a temporary closure of the Walton Arts Center, the location for the festival's main stage for the past several years. Roots Festival organizers announced about two weeks ago that the main stage would instead be located inside the Fayetteville Town Center.

Moved into the tighter confines of the Town Center, Hembree says there were two options available. The first would have crammed the same number of patrons into the downtown events facility. The second would be to sell fewer tickets. He opted for the latter, which means the festival's mainstage activities almost instantly became sell-outs. As of press time, only tickets for the festival's late-night shows at George's Majestic Lounge remain.

Even so, organizers hope to keep a 50-50 balance between ticketed events and community stages. Those stages will pop up all across Fayetteville -- and for the first time, Bentonville -- during the festival's five-day run. The Fayetteville Public Library will host several free events over the weekend, including a free live version of KUAF 91.3's "Ozarks at Large" daily radio news program. No guests have been announced this year, but past guests during the live segments have included performers from the top rungs of the festival such as Del McCoury Band and Iris Dement.

The festival grows by one day this year when it includes Monday. An afternoon concert at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville features bands such as the Birds of Chicago and Rebecca Loebe. That Labor Day event is free, as is admission to the museum.

Other community events include an open mic-style stage at the Fayetteville Farmers' Market on Aug. 30 and another at Shulertown, the food truck court on Dickson Street.

"We want to interact with the community," Hembree says.

The community, particularly the local farming community, is heavily involved in the festival as well. The festival operates what is called the Farmers of the Festival program, which asks participating farms to donate food. In exchange, the festival's official food vendors all order exclusively from those same farms. And food does play a big role in the festival. Gawthrop calls Thursday's sold-out VIP introductory party "a Labor Day backyard barbecue on steroids" with chef-prepared food, local beverages and top-flight entertainment. Official dinner breaks take place during the main stage events, and volunteers get fed on Aug. 31 at George's.

So, to recap: All the food, all the music, all the community activities.

"They are really seeing Fayetteville," Gawthrop says.