Beginning Saturday, the Downtown Springdale Alliance will kick off a new series aimed at showing off the best qualities of the city. The Downtown Revival Series will host a ticketed community event on the third weekend of every month through November, each with a different theme or feel.
"We're giving people a reason to come back downtown, and these events will also help us generate revenue that we can put back into the free events," says Misty Murphy, the executive director of the DSA. Saturday's event will be a family-style outdoor dinner created by Le Bouvier food truck chef and owner, Jeff Wetzel. "We wanted something really Springdale, really southern and, of course, chicken."
FAQ
Downtown Street Dinner
WHEN — 6:30 p.m. Saturday
WHERE — Emma Avenue in downtown Springdale
COST — Sold out
INFO — facebook.com/Downto…
FYI
Downtown Fun
Downtown Revival Series — Ticketed events with a different theme each month, third weekend every month through November
Moonlight Movie Nights — Free outdoor movies at 500 E. Meadow Ave., second Friday every month through October
Barn Party — Free community music event on the grounds of the Shiloh Museum, fourth Friday every month
Downtown Yoga and Saturday Spin – Free yoga in Shiloh Square plus a guided bike ride at an easy, family-friendly pace led by Bike Springdale, every Saturday
Coffee & Cars — Free car show in the parking lot across Emma Avenue from Shiloh Square, first Saturday every month —
The meal will include smoked barbecue chicken on a cheddar biscuit with bacon jam, potato salad, apple cole slaw and corn on the cob. Wetzel's take on banana pudding will finish the meal, which guests can of course wash down with sweet tea or lemonade.
"He'll be out there all day smoking the meat, so if you come out to the market, you'll be able to smell the meat cooking and get a 'taste' of what's to come that night," Murphy says. "For this [first event], we really wanted to celebrate Emma Avenue so you can really see all the changes going on around you. We wanted to host an event where you could kind of sit still and look around and have a conversation."
Murphy adds that at each place setting, there will be a photograph of Springdale from sometime in history to stimulate that community conversation about where Springdale's been and where it is heading.
Springdalians can expect similar elements celebrating unique aspects of the city -- such as the food and the history -- in future events. At this, perhaps the city's first community sit-down dinner, guests will also be treated to music from Old Ties, Springdale's own Willi Goehring and Allison Williams.
Before Murphy and Amber Perrodin, the DSA programming director, were recently hired, "there hadn't really been a group in downtown Springdale creating this engaging atmosphere and these welcoming events," Murphy says. "Over the last two weekends, there were more than 8,500 people in downtown for events. That's really exciting because that's something that hasn't happened in Springdale for decades!"
Although the Downtown Street Dinner is already sold out, Murphy assures that the DSA will still be hosting all of their free community activities and encourages those interested to keep an eye on the Facebook page for the future Revival Series events. She says there are ideas floating around for a Tacos and Tequila night and an architecture tour, among other possibilities.
"We have so many wonderful groups investing in downtown, too, and I think that's what making it successful," she says of the revitalization efforts. "We're all creating this really cool synergy that is bringing us all up and making us successful."
NAN What's Up on 05/20/2016