Blog

Aug 16, 2023

Rison In The Fall Expands Race, Dog Pageant for October

RISON - With this year's Rison in the Fall Festival just over a month away, organizer Douglas Boultinghouse is announcing two activities for the Rison Shine-hosted festival set for Saturday, Oct. 7.

RISON - With this year's Rison in the Fall Festival just over a month away, organizer Douglas Boultinghouse is announcing two activities for the Rison Shine-hosted festival set for Saturday, Oct. 7.

Race to Rison in the Fall

The Race to Rison in the Fall will kick off the morning at 7 a.m. at Access Medical Clinic on Main Street, which is sponsoring the race.

"While last year's race was a run/walk, the race team has added in a bike ride for this year," Boultinghouse said.

Rison Shine Member Stacy Walz and Access APRN Lauren Leopard are leading the charge on the race, which will consist of a 5K run, 1-mile walk and a 20mile bike ride with a poker twist.

Registration for the three parts of the race will open next week.

Boultinghouse noted the early start time for the race will allow for the event to wrap up just before vendor set up begins at 10:30 a.m.

Dog Pageant

The annual Rison Paws for a Cause Dog Pageant will return for its fourth year, officially opening the festival at 1 p.m.

According to Rhonda Fletcher, coordinator for the local animal rescue, pageant entry forms will be available online the first week of September.

"Over the past three years, this pageant which brings awareness to the rescue that leads to adoptions, has become the biggest highlight of the festival next to our evening concerts," Boultinghouse said.

Other Activities

Rison Shine is working with local churches and groups to organize additional activities for the festival that should be announced over the next couple of weeks.

Entertainment

GRAMMY and Academy of Country Music Award-nominated David Nail will headline this year's free concerts.

The multi-platinum star will take the Rise Up Rison stage at 8 p.m. to perform his hits "Whatever She's Got," "Let It Rain, "Red Light" and more, plus debuting new music live.

Prior to Nail, Arkansas Country Music Award-winning group Midnight South and Delta Blues Trio Chad Marshall Band will perform.

The Cleveland County Community Theater is also expected to host a talent showcase.

"We're still fine-tuning the schedule and figuring out arrival and soundcheck times, but will reveal an official schedule of (continued from page 1) performances closer to October," Boultinghouse said.

Vendors

The festival is set to have a variety of vendors and food trucks at this year's event.

"We quickly filled all of our food truck spaces this year," Boultinghouse said. He said even with adding in additional spaces for 10x10 booths on Main and Third Streets, those are close to filling up as well, noting there are only 15 vendor spaces left.

"I expect those spaces to fill up over the next month," he said.

Vendor spaces are open to anyone with products to sell, or any business or organization wishing to do outreach. The cost is $50 per booth.

Vendor forms are available at www.clevelandcountyarkansas.com

Volunteers Needed

Rison Shine is seeking volunteers to help the festival run smoothly. Volunteers are needed for Friday, Oct. 6 and Saturday, Oct. 7 for tasks such as decorating, selling t-shirts, monitoring trash cans, directing traffic, assisting with the race, etc.

Anyone interested in volunteering for an hour or two on either day is encouraged to fill out the Google form at the link below: https://forms.gle/8wHQW9zcsJoCC6vJ8A volunteer meeting/dinner has also been set for Tuesday, Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. at the Veterans Building in Rison.

For more information, contact Boultinghouse at (870) 5102433 or Rison Shine President Celeste Beatty at (501) 9099441.