The 43rd annual Fordyce on the Cotton Belt Festival is underway with a beauty pageant, carnival rides, lots of music and a walk down memory lane at the Dallas County Museum.
During the weeklong festivities, which started Saturday, food vendors line the downtown thoroughfares and Johnson Brothers Attractions hosts a wide variety of rides for young and old alike. The world’s largest Lego model train display opened to the public along with a large collection of assorted model trains of every gauge and size.
Immediately adjacent to the stages, the train show is open in the Temple Baptist Church Family Life Center throughout the weekend. The train enthusiasts are part of Arkansas Lego Users Group with chapters all across the state.
Thursday night brought nationally acclaimed gospel music talent Mark Bishop to the Dallas County Courthouse stage for an hour-long live performance that was well attended by the community.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The activities will culminate starting Friday at 5 p.m. with Pine Bluff’s own Port City Blues Players launching an evening of top notch musical entertainment. The highly talented blues ensemble will give an hour-long performance followed by the Tina Cossey Band. Cossey and her fellow musicians made it all the way to the semifinals in the 2024 International Blues Challenge held in Memphis this past January.
The highlight of the Friday evening festivities will feature three-time Gammy winner Bobby Rush along with his band performing on the main stage of the courthouse square. This is an all-weather event with a neighboring indoor music room available at 300 Main Street in case of inclement weather.
Friday night will also highlight the Redbug Reunion Rally held in the Fordyce Civic Center beginning at 5 p.m. This is a catered event that will see the 1990 and 1991 AA Championship football teams inducted into the Dallas County Sports Hall of Fame.
The biggest day of the celebration kicks off Saturday at 8 a.m. with the Cotton Belt 5K run. There will be an antique car show, arts and crafts, ping-pong and baggo tournaments throughout the day.
The fun begins in earnest at 11 a.m. with one of the largest parades in the state winding its way down Fourth Street from Beech Grove Baptist Church to turn south on Main and wind up on First Street at the old Cotton Belt Railroad depot one block from the courthouse square.
An afternoon and evening full of completely free musical entertainment starts promptly at noon Saturday with the Big Steam Music Fest Players. This nine-piece group contains a horn section, two guitarists, bass, drums, keyboard and the talented Sarah Bear fronting the band with her powerful vocals and magnetic stage presence. Their one-hour set will be followed by another International Blues Challenge representative, Chad Marshall Band. Marshall will be performing songs from his recent LP release, “Born to Suffer.”
Next up at 3 p.m. are Trey & Jason. This well-known acoustic duo has been appearing together for more than 20 years at every venue and festival around the state.
Local Fordyce singer Sierra Hempstead will present two numbers during the band turnaround to be immediately followed by Tim Hoggard and the Regional Champs taking the stage at 4:15. Hoggard, formerly of the Arkansas Brothers, brings a high energy good time along with world-class harmonica playing and a tight rocking band.
Little Rock based Ben Brenner and Fonky Donkey will launch the fifth hour of nonstop blues, rock and roots music, introducing both old and new original compositions. Billy Jeter and Shine Eye Band will play from 6:45 to 7:45, performing numbers from his Hysteria album, which has appeared in the top ten of Roots Radio charts for an entire year, recently climbing to No. 5 nationally. He’ll also debut new music he is constantly in the process of composing and recording.
The weekend will come to a crescendo with internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter James McMurtry taking the stage at 8 p.m. for a 90-minute show. Along with songs from his latest release, “The Horses and the Hounds,” McMurtry will be playing his classic “Choctaw Bingo.” According to a recent phone conversation with the artist, he has added another verse to the number that wasn’t in the original recording so it now runs a full sixteen minutes.
Along with McMurtry will be Texas singer/songwriter rising star, Betty Soo. Reviewers state of her talents, “She has one of the most gorgeous voices in Texas and is a hell of a guitar player, too.”
One final addition to this year’s festivities includes a 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon Battle of the Bands. The program, held in the FBT Redbug Arena, will feature the Fordyce Red Storm Marching Band, along with other high school bands from around the area.
Part of the extensive Lego model train display includes a replica of the Cotton Belt engine that pulled the ‘Johnny Cash Train’ from Pine Bluff to Fordyce in 1981 when June Carter and Johnny Cash performed a benefit concert to originate the Fordyce on Cotton Belt Festival that is now in its 43rd year. (Special to The Commercial/Richard Ledbetter)