Smackover Oil Town Festival is June 18-20!

The Smackover Oil Town Festival is June 18-20 in Smackover! This is the 44th year for the annual festival that celebrates the oil boom heritage of the town. This part of the state was transformed by oil and the discovery of it in 1922. It gave birth to one of the wildest oil booms in history.

SmackoverOilTownFestival

During the festival, there will be live music throughout the event, which takes place at Tennyson Park, including music by Riverbilly, Lainey Wilson, Cummins Prison Band, The McMillians, Windstorm, Terry Lynn Moore and the Gable Bradley Band. Also on the festival lineup are events such as a watermelon eating contest, a 5K, a turtle race, a drill bit throwing contest, a rod wrenching contest, and arm wrestling contest, a duck race, a rib-cook off, and more.

Historic photo of Smackover found inside Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources.

Also in town is the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources, which preserves the state’s oil history. The museum opened in 1986 and, although it represents all of Arkansas’s natural resources, it is dedicated to the pioneers of south Arkansas’s oil industries. The museum is located at 3853 Smackover Highway. Smackover is also home to the only center of the road traffic light in the state. So be on the lookout for that in town.  For more details on the festival call 870-725-3521 or visit smakcoverar.com.