COUNTRY ARTIST DAVID NAIL CLOSES OUT FESTIVAL - Grammy-nominated country music artist David Nail closed out the final performance of the day before a large crowd at the Rison in the Fall Festival Saturday night in downtown Rison. The festival featured three concerts as well as a Talent Showcase presented by the Cleveland County Community Theater. The Chad Marshall Band, a blues group, opened the concert series followed by Midnight South, which was the Arkansas Country Music Association's Vocal Group of the Year. (Photo by Douglas Boultinghouse)
RISON - This past Saturday's Rison in the Fall Festival brought the largest crowd the festival has seen in decades, if not in history, according to Festival Director Douglas Boultinghouse who puts on the festival with his team of Rison Shine Community Development, Inc. members.
"So many people stopped us throughout the day to express their appreciation for reviving the festival that was starting to die off years ago.," he said.
Estimated counts of attendees were well over 2,000 throughout the day.
Boultinghouse attributes the rise in attendance to an expanded vendor market, enhanced stage with better sound and lights, and four stellar performances on the Rise Up Rison Main Stage. This year's performers included a rousing showcase from the Cleveland County Community Theater, delta blues trio Chad Marshall Band, country rockers Midnight South, and it all culminated with a jam-packed set from GRAMMY and Academy of Country Music Award-nominated star David Nail.
He said the mix of entertainment brought rave reviews from attendees for each artist, as everyone brought something different to the stage.
"My goal has been to raise the bar each year," he said, noting the gradual growth he's made of the festival since taking it over in 2019. Past performers have included Twitty and Lynn, Julie Roberts, Erin Enderlin, Vintage and the Austin-Hendricks Band.
"We were very fortunate David Nail answered the call to headline this year," he said.
He said he plans to continue this growth next year and is already connecting with potential headliners to set a budget for the 2024 event. Ultimately who he is able to contract depends on the amount of funding secured through sponsorships.
"This is not a cheap production," he said. "It takes anywhere from $30-40k per year to make this happen, and none of it would be possible without the generous support of our festival sponsors."
Boultinghouse said what he appreciates most about the sponsorships is that no sponsorship is too small. "If it takes several sponsors giving smaller amounts, that just shows that that many people want to see this continue."
"I have attended many music festivals in other towns in Arkansas and other states," he said. "I saw the attendance and revenue it brings into those towns, and thought to myself, 'Why can't Rison have something like this?', so I started making phone calls and turned Rison in the Fall into something bigger." The festival takes a year of planning from Boultinghouse and the Rison Shine team in securing those sponsorships, scheduling the entertainment, organizing the vendors and more.
"There is no way I could pull this off without the help of Roy Phillips, who helped found the festival, and our Rison Shine officers Celeste Beatty and Kristy Strother," he said. "The four of us, and more than a dozen volunteers, worked tirelessly throughout the day to make sure everything ran smoothly."
Boultinghouse said his team also received compliments on the quality and quantity of the vendors set up this year. With 40 street vendors and eight food trucks, we had record numbers this year.
"It's kind of funny because I have gotten a bit of backlash from some trucks who inquire about setting up that we have too many food trucks and no one will succeed," he said. "But when the majority of the trucks and other vendors here sell out of food, and the ones that don't sell out stay open until after the concerts are over... that tells me we're doing something right."
Shelley Montez of Taco Shellz spent her second year at the festival Saturday and sold out, informing attendees on her social media that "Rison in the Fall never disappoints us!"
Boultinghouse says the success of the vendors has his team considering making some tweaks to the schedule next year to allow more selling times for the vendors, and also potentially start the concerts earlier in the day.
He said the festival setup makes it tricky, because the street vendors must unload in their spaces and remove vehicles by a certain time in order for the food trucks to cap off the two streets of the festival at a specific time.
"We want to give the vendors plenty of time to set up, but also do not want to wear them out before the concerts begin by starting too early," he said.
Unfortunately Boultinghouse said there are logistics to set up that those not directly involved may not understand. For example, for most food trucks, it takes an hour to an hour-and-a-half to set up and begin food prep to start selling. At the same time, he said some street vendors have expressed concerns about starting earlier, and if that would mean they could leave earlier because of the earlier start.
"There are definitely things we want to try and build on and make even better next year," he said. "But we also do not want to inconvenience some vendors to make things better for others. Ultimately we want our vendors to be able to stay set up through the concerts, and if they start too early, they are often too tired to do that."
Boultinghouse said many people have expressed their wishes for the BBQ Cook Off to return.
"I know that was a historic part of what Rison in the Fall used to be," he said. "And we want to bring that tradition back with a purpose, but not as part of the fall festival."
Attendance history showed that with the festival operating primarily as the BBQ contest, the crowds were no longer coming like they once were.
"When something isn't working, you have to try something different," which is what Boultinghouse said he was asked to do in 2019. "At this point, the festival has outgrown the BBQ Cook Off in the timing and space requirements. We logistically cannot fit it in."
He said Rison Shine plans to make the Cook Off a standalone event in the spring that will also serve as a fundraiser to help the fall festival continue its growth. Also returning will be the beauty pageant, to be called the Miss Rison Shine Pageant. The event is currently set for April 6, 2024.
"We have a few other fun counterparts to both the pageant and the contest that we will be announcing at the first of the year," he said. "This will give Rison Shine two major events each year."
Boultinghouse said he talked with past participants of the contest and they all seem thrilled about doing it in the spring. Rison Mayor Charles Roberts is on board to help organize the contest as he has done in the past.
"2024 is going to be a big year for Rison Shine and our events," he said.
If anyone is interested in sponsoring the 2024 festival, they can contact Boultinghouse at (870) 510-2433.