Friday, Aug. 23

Amy Helm / Courtesy

It’s Fayetteville Roots Festival week, and that means there’s music pretty much everywhere you look in town this weekend.

One of the highlights of the festival each year is the live recording of radio program Ozarks at Large on Friday at noon at Fayetteville Public Library. Local radio personality Kyle Kellams will conduct interviews with festival artists, and several of them will perform a few songs. It starts at noon, and it’s free to attend, but space is a bit limited. Better get there early.

On the Fayetteville Roots Fest festival mainstage on Friday night, you might see an unofficial tribute to The Band, with several artists connected to the legendary group set to perform. Levon Helm’s daughter Amy Helm will perform at 6:10 p.m., The Cate Brothers, long time Fayetteville favorites and friends of the band, are on the bill at 7:35 p.m., and Ronnie Hawkins of Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks fame will get an award at 8:35 p.m. On top of all that, you also get to see the amazing Mavis Staples to cap the night. We are predicting some magic.

Some other local favorites, bluegrass bands Big Smith and Arkansauce will begin a two-night stand at George’s Majestic Lounge on Friday night at around 10 p.m. If it’s not already sold out, it probably will be, so grab some tickets if you’re planning to head down to that one.

There are a couple chances to see some free shows in town Friday night as well. Local country artist Dylan Earl will play at Maxine’s Friday night, and there’s no cover there. He has a brand new record out. Over at Kingfish, several local ladies will perform together in a “The Women of Roots Fest” concert at the venue. As we mentioned, also free.

In non-roots festival options, you could check out TheatreSquared’s new space with their new show, Shakespeare in Love this weekend. Here’s a schedule and ticket info.

On top of all that, the Washington County Fair is in town. Here’s more on that.

You can also check out The Smashing Pumpkins, and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds at the Walmart AMP up in Rogers.

There’s even more below. Good luck choosing.

Full list:

Saturday, Aug. 24

Hiss Golden Messenger / Courtesy

A new hot air balloon festival is set to make its debut in Fayetteville this weekend. It’s called Soar NWA, and it begins early at 7 a.m. and runs throughout the event with live music, games, speakers, balloon rides (tethered and otherwise, weather permitting), and tons more at Drake Field. Here’s the schedule.

Wanna show off your mini-golf skills? The annual Putt for Paws tourney and fundraiser for Humane Society of the Ozarks is taking place at Foghorns/Gator Golf Saturday morning. Here’s more info about that.

There’s a festival inside a festival happening on Saturday at Pratt Place Inn on Saturday. It’s called Roots Food and Sprits, and will feature tasting stations with food prepared by some world class chefs, beer and spirit pairings, and of course music. Headliners include Darrell Scott, Bonnie Paine (of Elephant Revival) & Friends, and Nashville-based bluegrass outfit, The Travelin’ McCourys.

On the festival main stage at the Fayetteville Town Center on Saturday night, you can check out Ana Egge, Smokey & The Mirror and The Sentimentals’ collaboration The Denmark Project, Rhiannon Giddens & Francisco Turrisi, The Milk Carton Kids, and Hiss Golden Messenger.

Late night, you could see Big Smith and Arkansauce at George’s again, Austin band The Deer are playing a free show at Maxine’s, and if you’ve already got tickets, you can squeeze into the sold-out intimate Hearbreak House show with Raina Rose, Joe Purdy, and John Fullbright.

Click around below for more, or check out the full Fayetteville Roots Festival schedule here.

Full list:

Sunday, Aug. 25

Rising Appalachia / Courtesy

Maxine’s Tap Room has a magical little Roots Festival tradition where they host a brunch at the bar, serve up some mimosas, and host an early afternoon show. This year, they’ll have a performance with Skinny Gypsies with brunch by local food truck Persephone on Wheels. A little bit late on, they’ll host a Neil Young Tribute show at 2:30 p.m. with performances by Fritz Hutchison, Jamie Lou Connolly, Jennie & Chooch, Randall Shreve, Shannon Wurst, Skype Pollard, and others. That night, they have another show featuring “Fayetteville Family Band,” an all-star group featuring Dana Louse, Noah Richmond’s Little Monster, plus others.

On the festival mainstage on Sunday, you can see Her Crooked Heart, Eliza Gilkyson, Los Texmaniacs, Darrell Scott Bluegrass Band, and Rising Appalachia. We’ve heard you still may even be able to get a ticket to this one, which is crazy. Here’s where to check into that.

There’s also a Roots Festival-related show at

Local band the Jackson Jennings 5 will celebrate the release of their new album on Sunday at Kingfish.

Have an awesome weekend, everyone.