When Bella Vista Mayor Peter Christie wanted to form an arts council for the city last year to bring more cultural events to Bella Vista, Dave Barfield wondered if the new art council would include the performing arts as well as the visual arts. Mayor Christie liked the idea and almost 10 months later, the council, along with the Bella Vista Foundation and the Bella Vista POA, are hosting their first music event: the Hot Dam Blues Festival.
"I started trying to conceptualize an event like a festival, and I thought a blues festival around the time of the fireworks display would be a good opportunity to piggyback on the other event," says Barfield, who is the chairman of the Hot Dam Blues Committee. Holding the event in conjunction with the already established and well-attended Bella Vista fireworks display will allow the arts council to "be able to generate some synergy."
FAQ
Hot Dam Blues Festival
WHEN — 5-9 p.m. Sunday
WHERE — Below Loc Lomond Dam in Bella Vista
COST — Free
INFO — bellavistafoundatio…
Barfield says he and Mayor Christie share a common interest in promoting live music and other performance events for the city, so he hopes the festival will provide momentum for expansion. Having more music festivals with different genres throughout the year is Barfield's long-term goal, but blues felt like a natural choice for the first event.
"You can almost trace the history of our country through blues music," he says. "It goes back to the slaves in the fields -- they were taught hymns. The Africans combined the lyrics of the hymns with the rhythms of their ancient chants, and all of that evolved into blues music. That is America's only contribution to the world of music. You could literally say blues music is in the DNA of modern music. What better music to celebrate at the celebration of the birth of our nation?"
Blankets and lawn chairs are welcome, and food and drinks will be available for purchase, plus Bentonville Brewing Co. will have a beer garden on site for a refreshing drink for the grownups.
"How did we get the name?" Barfield asks. "By combining the fact that it will be held below Loch Lomond Dam, and it's going to be in July, so it'll be hot -- and the music will be hot, too!"
NAN What's Up on 07/01/2016