WORDS & PHOTO / MARTY SHUTTER

The Valley of the Vapors music festival in Hot Springs kicked off on Thursday, March 13.  This is the festival’s 10th year, with over 2000 artists having performed or been hosted in by the festival in the previous 9 years.

Hosted by LowKey arts, the brainchild of Bill Solleder, the festival runs until March 18th. It makes use of LowKey’s fantastic space on the north side of Hot Springs and is set in the wildly unique Hot Springs National Park.   This year’s line-up includes German indie rockers Fenster, Swiss band Disco Doom, and Oxford, MS, group Water Liars.  The fest has hosted bands such as The Black Bells, Maps & Atlases, Jeffrey Lewis, Lucero, Murder By Death, Monotonix, Brave Combo, Quintron, James Husband, The Queers, Tumbledown, A Place To Bury Strangers, Lost In The Trees, and Pink Spiders to name a few.

This year the festival is host to 40 bands from six countries.  A pass for the entire festival is $35 and includes a shirt.

And this year Valley of the Vapors is partnering with The National Park Service to host Trail shows. Trail Shows will have a musician and trail guide leading a group of hikers on a 1 or 2 mile walk into Hot Springs National Park for an unplugged, acoustic performance among the trees, birds and squirrels.

Additional venues include former bathhouses and the famous, one-time brothel, Maxines.  Workshops and art installations round out the week of art and music.

Visit: ValleyoftheVapors.com

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