Um. In case you didn’t know, Block Avenue knows how to plan a party.
More than 30 local businesses have come together to create the first-ever Block Street Block Party, set for Sunday, May 22 from 1 to 8 p.m. on Block Avenue. The full details of the festival are still in the works, but the preliminary lineup of activities reads like some kind of funky-Fayetteville collective-unconscious dream come true.
Four music stages, two outdoor beer gardens (pending ABC approval), and a whole bunch of (awesome) weirdness in general are on tap for what is intended to celebrate the stretch of road lined with some of the true bastions of funkiness left in Fayetteville.
“We wanted something to celebrate the unique, eccentric, amazing community of people and businesses that we have here on Block Street,” said Hannah Withers, owner of Little Bread Company and one of the event organizers. “It really is going to be a community festival for the community.”
The party will kick off with a ribbon cutting to recognize the recently completed street renovations on Block Avenue. After that, organizers are planning to block off the entire street and fill it with a diverse lineup of art, music, and other activities.
The music plans call for an acoustic/roots stage and local art show at the Shirkey house, a DJ/electronic stage at the corner of Spring Street, a local musician stage outside Tables & Ale, and an indie/underground stage organized by The Lightbulb Club.
There will be a waiter/waitress race hosted by Hugo’s, a back-in parking demonstration by the Fayetteville Pedicab Company, yarn-bombing, cookie decorating contests, and sidewalk chalk drawing competitions.
But wait, there’s more. Also in the works are a tie-die booth, a flash mob, hula hooping, puppet shows, African dancers, a Parisian market, face painting for kids, trunk shows, and a Tibetan prayer-flag workshop.
The idea for the event was born during the recent Block Avenue enhancement project.
“It really came from separate, low-key conversations during the construction,” Withers said. “We said, ‘We should throw a party when this is all over,’ and the more we talked about it, the more it became like lighting the fuse to a powder keg. Everyone jumped in and wanted to participate.”
Proceeds from the beer gardens will benefit local non-profit organizations, and several community groups will set up booths and fundraisers during the event.
Vendor space on Block Avenue during the festival will cost $40 to $75, and applications are now available at blockstreetbusinesses.com.
More details, including the full music lineup and a schedule of events, will be released in the coming weeks.
For now, hope for good weather on May 22, and get ready for a Block party.
No Name Kicker, a local NWA band is interested in partnering and providing live music for the Block Street Block Party on May 22nd. How could we obtain information and or a spot for this event. Thank you for your time in reading this.
Thank you,
Nathan H, Roten
Dustin, do you know who we might contact about offering/donating our musical services?
I got in touch with some folks, nevahmind!
The Fayetteville Poetry Slam group would love to be a part of this. Who would we need to get in contact with?
We’re looking at a regular three ring circus up in here! Blockstreetbusinesses@gmail.com is a good, general email contact. We’ve got lots of different people working on music, vending, and marketing. From that email, we can send you in the right direction……
Great idea, I will be there if at all possible.
This sounds amazing!! Go Block Street!!
Block Street culture is back! This sounds so cool, Block party. I remember bands used to play in front of Dark Star Visuals and what was then Arsaga’s On Block Street (now Little Bread Company, their patio, and fancy new pay parking spots). D
You all did a marvelous job of dancing around the Block Street versus Block Avenue issue in this story. Though it sounds better as Block Street — and for a while the city had one end of the avenue marked as a street while the other was an avenue — it is indeed an avenue as you have it. Reading this made me smile. We have to do the same.
Cheers!