The Delta Arts Festival, Arkansas’ largest multi-disciplinary arts festival, will be held in downtown Newport, Arkansas on June 4th and 5th.  The festival is four free events combined into one – the Delta Visual Arts Show, the Delta Festival of Books, the Delta Musicians Showcase, and the Delta Silver Screen Film Fest.  Two hundred visual artists will set up at the Delta Visual Arts Show in a five-block area of downtown selling their art with a large number of fine artists, craft artists, and functional artists.  Thirty-five authors will be part of the Delta Festival of Books in two different venues, with authors both selling books and conducting readings from their works on Friday and Saturday.  The Delta Musicians Showcase will feature 31 concert performances on five stages from mid-afternoon Friday through Saturday evening.  The new Delta Silver Screen Film Fest will host 9 film screenings, with 5 short films being screened on Friday, a feature-length highlighted film on Friday night and 3 feature-length films on Saturday.

Downtown Newport will have several downtown restaurants open including:  The Downtown Pie Shop, Frankie’s Place, the Old Gas Station Bar and Grill, and Postmaster Spirits.  Several food trucks will also be set up in a food court area for convenience.  Postmaster Spirits will offer their famous Ghost Tours at the old post office, now turned into a craft distillery.

The Delta Arts Festival also features free workshops that are filled on a first come, first served basis.  Adult art workshops on Drawing Techniques, Watercolor Painting, Smart Phone Photography, and Woodworking Techniques will help build participants’ skills.  Youth art workshops on Sculpting, Painting, Charcoal Drawing, and Drawing Birds will excite and entertain young people at the show.  All supplies for the art workshops are provided by the festival.  A youth music workshop will teach children and teens how to play the harmonica, and the first 20 young people who show up will get a free harmonica.  Adult music workshops will include Excavating a Song for aspiring songwriters and Vocal Techniques for singers.  A filmmaker workshop will be held on Saturday with an accomplished director and screenwriter.  All workshops are free, but space is limited.

Five contests are part of the Delta Arts Festival.  The “This is the Delta” contest features work from the participating visual artists.  The other four workshops are for young people:  The Delta Youth Art Contest, the Delta Youth Poetry Contest, the Delta Youth Short Story Contest, and the Delta Youth Songwriter Contest.

Artists, authors, musicians, and filmmakers are coming from six states and more than 80 Arkansas communities.  Full schedules for concerts, author readings film screenings, contest rules, and a full list of participating artists is available on the website, www.deltaartsfestival.com.

SCHEDULE OF ALL EVENTS

DELTA VISUAL ARTS SHOW

Friday, June 4th

Noon – Delta Visual Arts Show Opens

6 pm – Delta Visual Arts Show Closes for the Day

Saturday, June 5th

10:00 am – Delta Visual Arts Show Opens

10:30 am – 4 to 8 YO Workshop | “Building a Wooden Train” | Jeff Blecher

11:00 am – Adult Workshop | “Drawing Techniques” | Peggy Meitzen

11:30 am – 4 to 8 YO Workshop | “Painting Rocks” | Shelia Guinn

12:30 pm – Adult Workshop | “Watercolor” | Dana Johnson

1:15 pm – 9 to13 YO Workshop | “Charcoal Drawing” | Samantha Curl

2:00 pm – Adult Workshop | “IPhone Photography Techniques” | Amy Long

2:30 pm – 9 to 13 YO Workshop | “Drawing Birds” | Anne Ramsey

3:30 pm – Adult Workshop | “Woodworking” | Steve Jones

5:00 pm  – Delta Visual Arts Show Closes

DELTA MUSICIANS SHOWCASE

Friday, June 4th

3:30 pm – Delta Musicians Showcase Opens

3:30 pm – J.R. and the Hymntimes | Gospel Gazebo | Gospel

4:45 pm – Artis Roush | Gospel Gazebo | Country Gospel

5:30 pm – The Gravel Yard Band | Terry Scoggins Stage | Bluegrass

6:45 pm – Pamela Hopkins | Terry Scoggins Stage | Party Country

7:30 pm – MonsterBoy Lives | Old Gas Station | Rock, Blues, Alternative

8:00 pm | Harrisong Trio | Postmaster Spirits | Americana

8:30 pm – Mallory Everett | Frankie’s Place | Country

9:00 pm – Adria Hyde | Old Gas Station | Country, Singer/Songwriter

9:30 pm – Route 358 | Postmaster Spirits | Country, Singer/Songwriter

10:00 pm – Chris Davis | Frankie’s Place | Country, Singer/Songwriter

11:00 – Delta Musicians Showcase Closes for the Evening

Saturday, June 5th

11:00 am – Delta Musicians Showcase Opens

11:00 am – Adult Workshop | 1st Baptist Upstairs | “Excavating a Song” | Effron White

Noon – Nancy Browning | Frankie’s Place | Jazz Saxophone

Noon – Ed Casper | Old Gas Station | Accordion Classics

Noon – Steve Boyster | Postmaster Spirits | Rock, Country, Blues

Noon – Tequila Mockingbird | Terry Scoggins Stage | Rock, Country, Blues

12:30 pm – Youth Workshop | 1st Baptist Upstairs | “Harmonica Basics” | David Ashcroft | Free Harmonica for the First 20

1:00 pm – Adult Workshop | 1st Baptist Upstairs | “Voice Techniques” | Casey Sparks

1:15 pm – Erin Walters | Frankie’s Place | Rock, Country, Blues

1:15 pm – Effron White | Old Gas Station | Country, Singer/Songwriter

1:15 pm – Chains & Lanes | Postmaster Spirits | Rock, Country, Blues

1:15 pm – Queen Anne’s Revenge | Terry Scoggins Stage | Rock, Alternative

2:30 pm – Grateful Impressions of Jerry Garcia | Gospel Gazebo | Grateful Dead Covers

2:30 pm – Danny Rains | Frankie’s Place | Rock, Pop

2:30 pm – John Parks | Old Gas Station | Rock, Country, Blues

2:30 pm – The Chad Marshall Band | Postmaster Spirits | Delta Blues with a Chicago Twist

2:30 pm – Kingdom Falls | Terry Scoggins | Hard Rock

3:45 pm – Chenoa Summers | Gospel Gazebo | Indie Rock

3:45 pm – Mark Edgar Stuart | Frankie’s Place | Singer/Songwriter

3:45 pm – Fonky Donkey | Old Gas Station | Delta Country Blues

3:45 pm – Boots Bailey & the Boys | Postmaster Spirits | Classic Rock, Country

3:45 pm – H3ADCANNON | Terry Scoggins Stage | Electropop, Reggaeton, Rap, Punk Fusion

5:00 pm – Bailey Bigger | Old Gas Station | Folk

5:00 pm – All N Band | Postmaster Spirits | Rock, Country, Blues

5:00 pm – Exit from Dark | Terry Scoggins Stage | Psychedelic Rock

6:00 PM – Delta Musicians Showcase Closes

DELTA FESTIVAL OF BOOKS

Friday, June 4th

Noon – Delta Festival of Books Opens

1:15 pm – Dianne Cox Barnes | The Enemy of Comparison | Christian Devotional

1:30 pm – Mary Cambron-Collard | Family Secrets | Christian Fiction

1:45 pm – Kathy Parish | Redeeming Rose | Christian Fiction

2:00 pm – Dr. Marla Bennett | Sister to Sister | Christian Devotional

2:15 pm – Teresia Duncan | The Good, The Bad, The Ugly | Christian Devotional

2:30 pm – Larry Burchfield | Mid-South Byways | Non-Fiction

2:45 pm – Vicki Olsen | The Duty of Memory | Literary Fiction

3:15 pm – Tom Hale | Hale Yes: Facebook Fun with Tom and Friends | Non-Fiction

3:30 pm – James Babb | Weary Road | Adventure/Mystery

3:45 pm – Gerald Darnell | The Innocent Stranger | Adventure/Mystery

4:00 pm – Haley Deck | Stay Awake with Me: A Mother’s Meditation on Love After Death | Non-Fiction

4:15 pm – Annie England Noblin | Maps for the Getaway | Romance

4:30 pm – Patricia Blake | “Til Shiloh Come: War Comes to America | Romance

4:45 pm – Bonnie Best | Olivia’s Thankful Day | Children’s

5:00 pm – Mandy Lawson | Party Central | Romance

6:00 pm – Delta Festival of Books Closes for the Day

Saturday, June 5th

10:00 am – Delta Festival of Books Opens for the Day

10:30 am – George Jared | An Novel Wait | Non-Fiction

10:45 am – Kat Robinson | A Bite of Arkansas: A Cookbook of the Natural State | Non-Fiction

11:00 am – Cindy Smith | Southern As I See It | Non-Fiction Humor

11:15 am – Charles Graham | No Back Doors: The Charles Graham Story | Christian Non-Fiction

11:30 am – Tayla Boerner | Gene, Everywhere | Southern Fiction

11:45 am – Becky Williams | Sowing the Seeds of Justice: Courage, Persistence and Faith of African American Women in the Delta | Non-Fiction

12:15 pm – Rhona Weaver | A Noble Calling: An FBI Yellowstone Adventure | Mystery/Crime

1:00 pm – S.R. Crawley | One Shoe | Fiction

1:15 pm – Catherine Buercklin | A Social Distance | Poetry

1:30 pm – R.J. Looney | A Crow’s Breakfast: Poems from the Low Road | Poetry

2:15 pm – Carol Kick | The Little Ones | Children’s

2:30 pm – Donna Nelson | I Want to Ride a Hippopotamus | Children’s

2:45 pm – Patty Snipes | The Little Cloud That Couldn’t Rain | Children’s

3:00 pm – Rebecca Ann Ivy | Baby Bear’s Sleepy Time Adventure | Children’s

3:15 pm – Rachel Shankles | The McLain Street Gang: Growing Up in Newport and Hootie’s Baby | Children’s

3:30 pm – Delta Youth Poetry Contest

4:15 pm – Delta Youth Short Story Contest

5:00 pm – Delta Festival of Books Closes

DELTA SILVER SCREEN FILM FEST CURATED BY THE ARKANSAS CINEMA SOCIETY

Friday, June 4th

1:30 pm – Opening

2:15 pm – “A Promising Voice,” Director Obed Lamy, Fayetteville- Short Film, Documentary, G

2:45 pm –  “Becoming Riley Benton,” Director Chase Hartsell, Hot Springs – Short Film Documentary, G

3:15 pm –  “The Bench,” Director Bronson Crabtree, Little Rock – Short Film, Fiction, G

3:45 pm – “Going Viral,” Director Joshua Carperrin Woodard, Jonesboro – Short Film, Fiction, PG-13

4:15 pm –  “Pillow,” Directors Joshua H. Miller and Miles B. Miller, Little Rock – Short Film, Fiction, PG-13

4:45 pm – Panel Q&A with Short Filmmakers – Chase Hartsell, Joshua Woodard, and Obed Lamy.

7:30 pm –  FESTIVAL FEATURE FILM SCREENING “Antiquities,” Director Daniel Campbell, Haskell – Feature Length Film, PG (featuring Newport’s own Mary Steenburgen and filmed in North Little Rock)

9:30 pm – Delta Silver Screen Film Festival Closes for the Evening

Saturday, June 5th

10:00 am – Delta Silver Screen Film Fest Opens for the Day

10:10 am – Welcome to the Delta Silver Screen Film Fest by Host to Be Announced

10:30 am – “Men and Women of Distinction: Mike Beebe,” Directed by Kathryn Tucker, Little Rock – Feature Film, Documentary, G

12:30 pm – “Make Room for Pie,” Directed by Larry Foley, Fayetteville and Written by Kat Robinson, Little Rock – Feature Length Film, Documentary, G

12:30 pm – Filmmaker Workshop with Director James Cotten, Fort Smith, Los Angeles, CA and Writer Amber Lindley, Springdale.  (Space available on a first come first served basis)

2:30 pm – “The Painted Woman,” Directed by James Cotten, Fort Smith, Los Angeles, CA and Written by Amber Lindley, Springdale

4:30 pm – Panel Q&A with Writer Kat Robinson, Director James Cotton, and Writer Amber Lindley.

5:00 pm – Delta Silver Screen Film Fest Closes

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