Get ready for FUN this September!
September in the Arkansas Delta promises to be a month full of music and fun for the entire family!
It’s the 5th annual Legendary Blues Festival in Helena-West Helena on Sept. 3. Enjoy the sounds of blues music along the banks of the Mighty Mississippi. Other activities include a motorcycle rally, the Big Dog BBQ cook-off, a community health fair and a variety of vendors.
One of the most popular events in the Arkansas Delta during this time of the year is, without a doubt, the Labor Day Picnic in Rector. Held at Rector Memorial Park, the event starts at 9 a.m. on Sept. 5 with a parade and lasts throughout the day, featuring carnival rides, pageants, live musical entertainment and great food. One of the really cool aspects of the Rector Labor Day Picnic is that all the proceeds go to the Woodland Heights Cemetery.
Ahhh….there’s something about the Fair! Just thinking about it, I can smell the corn dogs and funnel cakes! Marvell hosts the Tri-County Fair on Sept. 5-10 at the Tri-County Fairgrounds. You’ll find animals and agricultural products, a variety of competitions, and home-craft displays and contests.
The EACC Fine Arts Center in Forrest City welcomes Charley Pride in concert on Sept. 10. A legendary singer, boasting more than 25 country chart toppers, Charley Pride has come a long way from his humble beginnings as a sharecropper’s son on a cotton farm in Sledge, Miss. With boldness, perseverance, and an undeniable musical talent, Charley Pride has managed to parlay a series of fortuitous encounters with Nashville insiders into an amazing legacy of hit singles and tens of millions in record sales. His strong, soothing voice has kept the country vocalist in the hearts of fans for decades.
In September 1964, four young men from Liverpool landed at the Walnut Ridge airport to be transported to a nearby vacation spot, with a planned return to the plane two days later. The schedule was to be kept secret, but word leaked out, and when the Fab Four returned to Walnut Ridge on Sunday, most of the town was waiting. This stop made Walnut Ridge the only town in Arkansas that the Beatles visited. On Sept. 16 and 17, Walnut Ridge hosts the annual Beatles at the Ridge.
The festival celebrates all things Fab Four with a huge Beatles authors and artists symposium, as well as author book signings, live entertainment and vendors. There will also be arts & crafts, games, inflatables in the Octopus Garden, a British car show, and the Rockin’ Wings at the Ridge cook-off, as well as an opportunity to see the Argenta Collection, an amazing exhibit of Beatles photographs. Saturday’s main stage headliners will be the Grammy-nominated Liverpool Legends.
Marianna hosts the 22nd annual Autumn on the Square festival on Sept. 24 in the town’s historic square. The family-friendly festival features live music throughout the day, a pet parade, craft booths, food vendors, pony rides, a mechanical bull and an evening street dance.
Cypress Park in Marked Tree is the site for the Delta Cotton Pickin’ Jubilee on Sept. 24. The day starts off with a pancake breakfast at the Masonic Lodge, followed by a run/walk at 8 a.m. Throughout the day, you’ll find arts and crafts booths, food vendors, games and great live music.