Busy June likely to flood area hotels, restaurants

If regional streets, restaurants, shops and hotels seem more busy and crowded in June, there is a good reason for it. Correction: There are several good reasons for it.

The reasons are the Wakarusa Music Festival (June 4-7), the Fort Smith Classic (June 15-21), The Blues Festival (June 26-27), Jehovah’s Witness Convention (first three weekends in June), and several softball tournaments in Fort Smith and Van Buren in early and late June — just to name a few of the bigger events.

And all that follows the Old Fort Days Futurity and Rodeo, which brings thousands of people to the area May 16-30.

“It’s a lot for a month,” said Ramona Moon, convention sales director for the Fort Smith Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Classic understatement.

Wakarusa will bring up to 15,000 people to the region.

The Fort Smith Classic — both the associated concerts and the golf fans — post estimated attendance between 30,000 and 35,000, with about 25% of those coming from outside the area, said Classic Director Patricia Brown.

The Jehovah’s Witness will bring about 28,000 — stretched out over the last weekend in May and the first three weekends in June — to the area.

The softball tournaments — one at Ben Geren Park in Sebastian County and another at the Field of Dreams in Van Buren — also will bring thousands of visitors to the area.

Moon said hotel rooms in Alma, Fort Smith, Roland and Van Buren are filling quickly.

“We still have some guest room availability in the Fort Smith area for the last weekend of May and the first 3 weekends in June. However, 85% of the area hotels (Alma, Fort Smith, Roland and Van Buren) are 90% filled over these weekends,” Moon explained in an e-mail. “All guest rooms and suites with two beds and the capacity to comfortably accommodate a family are filled at 98% occupancy. The available room types during these four weekends are those with king and single beds and smoking rooms.”