Folk Art and Four Days of Music Take Over Eureka Springs This September

Eureka Springs has been throwing this party since before your grandparents’ record collections existed, and the hills around it still fill up with fiddles, banjos and folk art every September.

THE DEETS

The Mainstage Lineup

Head to the Historic Auditorium on Friday and Saturday nights for the festival’s headline sets. You can catch Rainbow Girls at 7:30 PM Friday, followed by Steve Poltz at 8:30 PM. Saturday brings Beat Root Revival at 7:30 PM and James McMurtry and the Martial Law Review at 8:30 PM.

Thursday opens the festival in the same room, with Hedgehoppers and Still on the Hill playing at 6 PM, followed by the Barefoot Ball at 7:30 PM featuring Chucky Waggs and His Company of Raggs alongside Ponder the Albatross.

Basin Spring Park Turns Into a Stage of Its Own

Friday and Saturday, you’ll find a rotating cast of performers in Basin Spring Park from morning through early evening, including Jesse Dean, The Mountain Gypsies, Mountain Alice, Shannon Wurst, The Shandies, Patti Steel, March to August, Sophia Clark, Meadow Makers and The Creek Rocks Band. Sunday keeps the music going with Carolina Mendoza, Red Dirt Rangers and Matt Axton & Bad Moon.

Saturday afternoon also brings a folk dance workshop and a community square dance, both led by Steve Green and the Old 78s, plus a folk percussion class you can join in the Auditorium basement.

Meet the Makers at the Folk Fair

The Ozark Folk Art Fair sets up in Basin Spring Park across all three days, and you can wander through booths from local artists and craftspeople between sets. Lisa Crews Potter brings decades of pottery experience, from historical techniques she picked up teaching in Missouri and Arkansas to sculptural pieces inspired by nature. Jason and Lorrie Davis of New World Drums & Woodcraft build hand-crafted drums and woodturned pieces out of their Eureka Springs workshop. Silversmith Dee Caiazza works one-of-a-kind stones into wearable art, and fiber artist Vicki Hardcastle, who also owns the Hardcastle Folk Art Shop in Berryville, shows off her felted sculptures.

Why This One’s Different

This is the festival’s 79th year, and organizers are putting extra focus on Ozark heritage with regional music, dance and arts. Follow the festival online to be the first to hear about updates before the weekend arrives.