Fayetteville Roots Fest / Photo: Clayton Taylor
Fayetteville Roots Festival officials have revealed the dates for the 2022 version of the festival, and announced another 3-day event is in the works.
The festival will take place Aug. 25-27 at three venues in downtown Fayetteville this year, including the Fayetteville Town Center, Fayetteville Public Library, and the Roots HQ on the Avenue outdoor space on the square.
Pratt Place Inn & Barn on Markham Hill, the site of the 2021 event, is currently undergoing renovations, which necessitated the change to the three downtown venues. As the festival website points out, however, the change will allow for three main stages, all within a walkable four block area downtown.
This year’s event will utilize the new event center inside the Fayetteville Public Library for a new indoor stage with seated and standing options. The Fayetteville Town Center will include indoor, primarily seated sections, and the Roots HQ will be outdoors with table seating and an area for standing/dancing.
In addition, officials also announced a new three-day event called Roots HQ on the Avenue. The event, which will be modeled similarly to the street concerts held during the pandemic outside the Fayetteville Roots Headquarters on the square the last couple years, will take place June 17-19. There will be 6 artists scheduled to perform at the new three-day event, and the lineup is set to be released in January. In addition to the music, the shows will also include chef-curated food and craft bar selections available for purchase. Tickets to this new event range from $45-$135, and are also already on sale.
Arial view of an ‘On the Avenue’ concert from last year / Photo: Courtesy, Fayetteville Roots Festival
Roots festival officials have also announced a handful of intimate concerts planned for their headquarters for the early part of 2022, including two shows by the Bill Frisell Trio featuring Thomas Moran and Rudy Royston on January 22, the return of NWA expat and songwriter Joe Purdy on Feb. 1, and a Canadian songwriter Leif Vollebeck performance set for March 23. Purdy announced his tour earlier this week, and according to his website, will be joined in Fayetteville by songwriter Earl Buck. Roots HQ is located on the southest corner of the Fayetteville Square, in a historic 1880’s building that was once home to the Guisinger Music House. Tickets to the HQ shows are available here.
The lineup for Fayetteville Roots Festival is set to be announced early next spring, and will include over 20 artists.
Past performers at the festival include John Prine, Gillian Welch, Guy Clark, Iron & Wine, Lucinda Williams, Hiss Golden Messenger, Watchhouse, Shovels & Rope, Turnpike Troubadours, American Aquarium, The Wood Brothers, Josh Ritter, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, John Moreland, Gregory Alan Isakov, Birds of Chicago, Del McCoury Band, and many, many others.
The event is still several months away, but plans for COVID-19 safety are already in place. Under current conditions, officials said, proof of vaccination will be required for entry for all festival venues.
It will be the 12th annual installment of the festival. Tickets currently available range from $178 for a two day pass to $299 for a three-day VIP pass.
For tickets, and more info, visit fayettevilleroots.org.
