WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. – The annual Beatles at the Ridge music festival and symposium will kick off on Friday in downtown Walnut Ridge.
This year’s event, which is free to attend, includes two outdoor stages featuring a variety of music and culminating with a 7:30 p.m. performance on Saturday by Branson’s Liverpool Legends.
The Artists and Authors Symposium opens Friday at noon at The Studio, located on Main Street, with a full lineup Friday evening and Saturday. The Argenta Collection, an exhibit of photographs of The Beatles, will also be on display.
The event will also feature the Rockin’ Wings at the Ridge Cookoff and the Abbey Road Car Show. Both of which provide attendees an opportunity to select the winners.
The Octopus Garden provides inflatables and rides for children, and vendors will offer a variety of food and other wares.
A new addition this year is off-site parking, provided by the Lawrence County Ministerial Alliance. Individuals can park at the parking lot on Highway 67B where Ma & Pa’s Flea Market was most recently located (previously Harps) and ride a shuttle to the festival site. The shuttle will run every 30 minutes throughout the day and evening on Saturday.
In addition, parking for church busses and vans will be provided at the Main Street Church of Christ parking lot, located at 319 East Main Street, just two blocks from the festival site.
The full schedule for the event is as follows:
Friday
Artists & Authors Symposium
The Studio on Main Street
Noon — Doors open.
2:45 p.m. — Dave Bedford shares “The Country and Blue Grass Roots of Beatles Music”
3:30 p.m. — Alan Bernhoft stars as “John Lennon in Concert”
4:30 p.m. — “Meet and Greet” party with Authors/Artists. Cameron Hicks performs “A Hard Day’s Night”
5:30 p.m. — Welcome and Introductions
6 p.m. — Panel of 1964 North American Tour Greats: “Memories of 1964” featuring Ivor Davis, Art Schreiber and John Trusty
7 p.m. — Vivek Tiwary shares his graphic novel, “The Fifth
Beatle”
8 p.m. — Authors in booths for book signings
First National Bank’s Beatles Park Stage
6 p.m. — Deadwood Groove
7:15 p.m. — The Legendary Pacers
Saturday
First National Bank’s Beatles Park Stage
9 a.m. — ATF Martial Arts Board Break
10:45 a.m. — Idle Minds
12:30 p.m. — Bodagus
2:15 p.m. — Drive South
4 p.m. — Lockhouse Orchestra
Artists & Authors Symposium
The Studio on Main Street
8:30 a.m. — Authors and Artists in booths
9:00 a.m. — Cameron Hicks: Beatles Sing Along/Sock Hop
10 a.m. David Bedford shares “The Beatles’ Struggle in Finding The Fourth Beatle”
10:45 a.m. — (at Spider’s Webb Bookstore) Terri Lilley Whitney leads “Beatles Open Mic Poetry Reading”
11 a.m. — Marti Edwards shares “The Day I Met The Beatles”
Noon — Lunch and Learn: Sara Schmidt tells about: “The 1964 North American Beatles Fan Clubs”
1 p.m. — David Bedford introduces his award-winning film, “Looking for Lennon”
1:30 p.m. — “Looking for Lennon” is shown
3:45 p.m. — Authors in booths for book signings
4 p.m. — Ivor Davis reads his children’s book, “Ladies and Gentlemen: Meet the Penguins!”
5 p.m. — Dr. Kit O’Toole: “Top Ten Amazing Aspects of The Beatles’ White Album”
5:45 p.m. — Book release party for Dr. Kit O’Tooles’s “Soul Searching: Buried Treasures of R&B, Soul, Dance, and Hip/Hop”
Cavenaugh Chevrolet’s Rock n’ Roll Hwy Stage
1 p.m. — After Grace
2:15 p.m. — We Are Vessel
3:15 p.m. — Justin Teseniar
4:15 p.m. — JJ Weeks Band
5:45 p.m. — Arkansas Brothers
7:30 p.m. — Liverpool Legends
More detail on the festival can be found online at www.beatlesattheridge.com.
press release by Brett Cooper
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