Top 5 cultural stories — No. 2: Wakarusa

Editor’s note: With the days, weeks and months seemingly passing faster than ever, it can be difficult to remember what happened yesterday much less the past six months. To that end, The City Wire will review the top 5 Fort Smith regional stories of the first half of 2009 in the following categories: Business/economy, political, and cultural. Link here for the top business stories, and link here for the top political stories (the list of stories are at the bottom of each linked story).

A nationally popular music festival previously held in Lawrence, Kan., moved its venue to Mulberry Mountain north of Ozark It’s possible the economic impact of the Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival was greater than $10 million.

The sixth annual Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival was held on Mulberry Mountain near Ozark, June 4-7. From its inception in 2004 until 2008, the June festival was held just outside of Lawrence, Kan.

With previous ticket figures reaching above 20,000, the festival’s move to the area is anticipated to have a large economic impact on the River Valley. An estimate on the impact the festival had on the Lawrence area was slated in the $8 million to $10 million range. Wakarusa officials estimated 10,000-15,000 concert goers are expected each day. There were visitors converging on the area from all directions as tickets were sold in every state in the U.S. This was sure to have an effect on a wide area around Ozark as provisions and gas are purchased for the long weekend of music.

Peter Lewis, the cultural writer for The City Wire noted the following in his review of Wakarusa:
A sense of happiness among festival-goers seemed to be triggered by the bright, sunny weather that covered the mountaintop over the weekend. To have had better weather might have been an impossible task, even for Mother Nature.

This sentiment was echoed by Aaron Alt, a restaurant manager from central Texas and Wakarusa veteran: “Last year was just awful. There were tornadoes, canceled shows. … Everything has just been perfect here so far.”

Despite the several hour drive to the Ozarks (versus the 30-minute drive outside of town), even folks from Lawrence preferred the new location over the old. One such resident, Mike, a cabinetry worker who has attended every Wakarusa, admitted that “it’s so much better here.” When pressed about the level of cleanliness given the large audience, he confessed that he had been impressed with even that aspect of the festival experience. Workers were visible between each set picking up any pieces of garbage left by irresponsible attendees.

Natalie Alexander of Greenwood won the nationwide Wakarusa poster contest. Alexander, who works for Fort Smith-based Riverside Furniture in Web support and design, received two VIP passes to Wakarusa for her winning entry.