Prairie Grove Clothesline Fair Celebrates 75 Years With Music and Dancing

You can hear the Clothesline Fair before you see it. Music warming up on the bandstand, vendors setting up their booths. Prairie Grove throws its doors open for the 75th year of this hometown tradition, and the whole town turns into one long block party.

THE DEETS

📅 Saturday, September 5, 2026 – Monday, September 7, 2026
🕑 Event Schedule:

Saturday, September 5

• 6:30 to 10 AM | Pancake breakfast at the Prairie Grove Masonic Lodge
• 8 AM to 5 PM | Fairgrounds opens
• 9 AM | Parade down Mock and Buchanan Streets
• 11:30 AM | Dead Horse Mountain Band Performance
• 12:30 PM | Noncompetitive square dancing
• 2 PM | Jackson Martin Performance
• 6 PM | Competitive square dance

Sunday, September 6

• 8 AM to 5 PM | Fairgrounds opens
• 10 AM | Brickfields Performance

Monday, September 7

• 7 AM | Clothesline Fair 5K starts and ends at the Battlefield Park Museum
• 8 AM to 3 PM | Fairgrounds opens
• 11:30 AM | Tuesday Ark Performance
• 12:30 PM | Noncompetitive Square Dancing
• 6 PM | Competitive Square Dance Finals

🎟️ Admission is free for the fair, performances, and dance competitions | Parking is $5 per vehicle at the Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park lots
🔗 More info

Watch a Record Number of Square Dancers Take the Floor

This year’s square dance turnout set a record. Ninety-three groups signed up to perform, taking part in noncompetitive rounds anyone can join and judged rounds for dancers chasing a trophy. Grab a spot at the amphitheater and watch the routines sharpen up as the weekend goes on.

The Bandstand Never Goes Quiet

Center Stage keeps music going the entire weekend. Pack a blanket and find a patch of grass. The lineup will carry you from one craft booth to the next, and the full set times are up in The Deets.

Fuel Up at the Masonic Lodge Pancake Breakfast

Before you tackle the fairgrounds, the Prairie Grove Masonic Lodge serves up a full country breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and gravy, coffee, and orange juice. Every plate sold helps fund the Masonic Scholarship for graduating seniors at Prairie Grove and Farmington high schools.

Wave at the Volunteers Along the Parade Route

You don’t need to sign up ahead of time to watch or join the parade lineup. Floats gather at the high school lot, and organizers ask riders to decorate ahead of time since there’s no room to set up on-site. Volunteers in safety vests keep everything moving, so give them a smile and a thank you as they wave you into place.

Shop 230 Vendor Booths

The craft fair spreads out with about 230 vendor booths this year. Food trucks line the grounds all weekend, so you won’t have to leave the fair to eat between sets.

Run the Clothesline Fair 5K

If you want to start the morning with a run, the Clothesline Fair 5K is free to enter, with no registration fee required. Two Nineteen Boutique will have shirts for sale if you want one to remember the day.

Wander Main Street While You’re Downtown

Historic Main Street Prairie Grove is worth a stroll on its own. Antique shops and boutiques fill the storefronts, and you’ll find local eateries too.

The Clothesline Fair runs on neighbors showing up for each other, one booth and one dance step at a time. Show up for whichever part pulls you in first, and stick around for the rest.