RISON - This year’s Rison In The Fall proved to be its largest in the festival’s history bringing in more entertainment and vendors with crowds estimated to be over a thousand throughout the day and a few hundred staying through the evening’s concerts headlined by Julie Roberts.
Roberts made a grand return to Rison after performing at the festival last year to surprise the crowd with an early release of her new album, “Ain’t In No Hurry,” which will be available worldwide Oct. 28.
“Rison got it first,” said Douglas Boultinghouse, lead organizer of the festival. “It was an honor for our town to be the first place she shared this new music.” Boultinghouse said the album is a monumental project for the star, but for himself too, having served as the creative art director and designer on the album.
Energetic fans sang along with Roberts’ hits “Wake Up Older” and “Break Down Here,” but were taken aback by the rousing new song “Devil’s Pool,” a cowrite with the late legend Waylon Jennings. During her show, Roberts shared the story of being given the chorus of the song Jennings did not complete before his death in 2002, and how she finished writing it with his son Shooter Jennings.
Roberts was not the only one with a surprise. Rison’s Mayor Charles Roberts presented the singer with the city's first official “Key to the City” to thank her for promoting the town of Rison and wanting to return. (See related photo on page 3 of this week’s issue.)
“I loved coming back to the great town of Rison, and playing (continued from page 1) the Rison In the Fall festival,' she shared on Facebook to her followers. 'It was so much fun playing my new songs and surprising everyone with my new album. Thank you Mayor Roberts for giving me a key to your great city.'
Roberts’ set closed out a full afternoon of music and activities. Arkansas’ own Erin Enderlin also took the stage to perform, making her debut in Rison.
“With Julie coming to town before, people knew they were getting a great show,” Boultinghouse said. “But most were new to Erin and her music… and she’s what I considered my surprise this year.”
Enderlin wowed the crowd earlier in the day with a special tribute to Cleveland County native Johnny Cash in FBT Park alongside Cash sculptor Kevin Kresse, then followed it up with a full set later in the evening.
“I lost count of the number of people that came up to me blown away by her vocals and her songwriting skills,” Boultinghouse said. “Getting her here this year with Julie was a real treat.”
Mayor Roberts expressed his wishes to see Enderlin come back in the future to headline.
“She was fantastic,” he said. Two regional acts also made their debuts at Rison in the Fall this year. The Austin-Hendricks Band and Vintage performed covers of classic rock and country songs. The four acts made this the largest entertainment lineup the festival has featured, which also included appearances from local talent from the Cleveland County Community Theater.
The festival even included a larger production this year featuring a state-of-the-art stage provided by Rock City Wraps of Little Rock.
“I’m already putting feelers out to artists for next year,” said Boultinghouse, noting that potential acts are contingent upon a budget set by sponsorships and donations from businesses and individuals.
In a special thank you letter posted to the festival’s social media accounts, Boultinghouse said: “I have to thank our sponsors again, and many times more. Without you being so generous and supportive, none of the work I or my team of volunteers do would be possible. It takes a lot to pull this off and you so graciously give funding to our organization (Rison Shine) so we can give it back to our town. I am so thankful for each of you and hope that we have made you proud with what we are accomplishing in Rison. I hope you will continue to support us each year to make this festival continue to grow. I've heard from so many out-of-town people who came to the event and were blown away by our town. With your continued support, I hope to keep bringing more and more people to Rison!”
The music front was not the only successful part of the festival. The Rison Paws for a Cause Dog Pageant brought in awareness and fundraising for the local animal rescue - which resulted in someone starting the process to adopt Bambi, the dog featured in last week’s issue of the Herald as one of the animals in the shelter for the longest amount of time.
The seven food trucks saw tremendous success. Boultinghouse said he heard rave reviews about vendors like Lucy Mae’s Southern Foods and Taco Shellz. Tamika Ridgle, owner of Lucy Mae’s, said she was “overjoyed” by the feedback. Local vendor Big Red’s Feed Trough even sold out of food during the event. Local restaurants in the downtown area also saw a boost in traffic, such as Main Street Cafe, which saw a steady stream of customers throughout the day.
The festival’s record number of 37 vendors also found success with many already requesting their booths for 2023.
“This was a fantastic festival,” said Melinda McKnight of Cleveland County Cares and Double M Firearms. “It just gets bigger and better every year.”
Rita Morrison with Rison United Methodist Church’s Wesleyanna group echoed those sentiments, “We would love to have the same place next year!”
Boultinghouse said he is ready to get to work on next year and looks forward to working with his team to raise the bar even more.
“I’ve already met with Mayor Roberts, festival founder Roy Phillips and Rison Shine leader Celeste Beatty… and wheels are turning,” he said.