New ‘Roots Food and Spirits’ event to debut during Fayetteville Roots Fest

Photo: Meredith Mashburn

With so much programming scheduled at this year’s Fayetteville’ Roots Festival, it wouldn’t be hard to overlook a really awesome event or two over the course of the five day event.

There’s a ton going on, and each individual event is kind of like finding a diamond in a sackful of other precious gems. Seriously. Look at this schedule. It is sprawling.

With so much to choose from, how can you find an appropriate amount of enthusiasm for all of it without passing out from excitement/exhaustion?

We don’t know the answer to that question, but we do want to try and make sure everyone understands that a new event called Roots Food and Spirits is debuting at this year’s festival, and it has the potential to be one of the most unforgettable of them all.

The event is set for Saturday, Aug. 25 on the grounds of the Pratt Place Inn & Barn, located at 2231 W Markham Rd. in Fayetteville.

At it’s heart, it is an event for foodies. Kind of a food festival inside a music festival, if you will. It’s a celebration of food and drink featuring nationally-renowned chefs creating sample-size dishes at tasting stations and cooking demonstrations. You can hear people who really know about and love food talking about food on the mainstage, or at one of the many booths set up around the grounds. You can forage in the woods with Kent Bonar, an eccentric expert on the flora of Arkansas. You can experience dining in the dark in a “blind tasting” workshop, for example, or try chef-created food and beer and food and cocktail pairings. There’s some music, of course, but this event is mostly about eating and drinking more than anything else. Awesome.

A full schedule for Roots Food & Spirits is here (PDF), featuring the extensive lineup of chefs, speakers, and stations that will be part of the new event with start times and a map to help you navigate all the deliciousness.

Tickets are $50, and last we heard, there were less than 100 available. To purchase, visit therootsfest.org.

Roots Food & Spirits Map