I lived in Bentonville from 2002 to 2006 and return often to visit family and friends. It's been…read moreinteresting to see this town develop and grow as a result of Walmart and the people who moved here to work for Walmart or who work for vendors and suppliers that service Walmart. I could go with the "I remember when this was all farmland" but let's just say that this is the most cosmopolitan small city in the "Flyover States." Downtown Bentonville has pubs and bars and restaurants and retail shopping. This year, they have an ice skating rink with an actual Zamboni. There is public art and free modern parking decks and a world-class art museum (that's free to visit!). I learned that Bentonville is a mountain biking capital thanks to the investment of the Walton family to build trails throughout Northwest Arkansas. And tiny XNA that used to be Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport is now Northwest Arkansas NATIONAL Airport with regular commercial service to far away hubs including MSP and PHX and LGA and even FLL and MIA! The former US Highway 71 that was upgraded to Interstate 540 is now Interstate 49 and it connects I-40 with I-44 from Fort Smith to Joplin. Amazing! This evening, I had a chance to walk around the Bentonville Square which is all lit up for Christmas. What a great little city and well worth a visit! [Review 2331 of 2024 - 381 in Arkansas - 23345 overall]

The city reminds me the downtown in Gilmore Girls series, you will travel back at 50. The plaza is…read morereally beautiful at Christmas time. The lights are wonderful! You will see the first Walmart store. There is a museum to visit, and many cool restaurants!

This market is just revving up for the summer and I can already tell it's gonna be great. Has a…read moregreat combo of shaded seating to relax and eat and also outdoor play areas. A wide variety of vendors for produce, prepared food, and crafts. Live music too!

Before this market moved indoors there were more vendors. Now the market is ok - you can find…read moresomething you need such as veggies, fruit, organic breads, etc.. The best thing of being indoors is that your out of the sun. Suggest to check it out for yourself so that you can have your own opinion. Ef Out!

We were excited to attend the Arkansas Brewgrass Festival in Rogers. How can you go wrong, mixing…read morelocal brew with local bluegrass music? I tell you how. Run out of beer. Which is what happened at this festival. This was really a bust in many ways. The event advertised family events including a "Bouncy House". The "bouncy house" was there, but it was not inflated. Seriously, it was flat, on the ground. Kids were running around on top of the un-inflated attraction with confused looks on there faces. Of course, running out of beer for a beer festival was our biggest issue. An attendant explained that attendance was nearly double expected. It was not all that crowded, and we attend a couple of hours into the event which was scheduled for about 8 hours, so a better explanation might have been simply that they did not plan very well for this event. Icing on the cake was that we left fifteen minutes after arriving, after spending our time in a beer line then finding out they had no beer and the attendee declined to refund our admission. If was just two of us, only $5 each. Not that big of a deal. I might have laughed off the beer shortage if they hadn't charged us $10 to find out. I can't say much for the music as we did not hang out and listen. The group playing for the few minutes we attended certainly had that sound of "local folks getting together and jamming some bluegrass." (I like that sound...) My recommendation: When this event comes up again, go to a local restaurant or club instead. Beer will be cheaper (festival beer - before running out - was $4 for an approx 12 oz dixie cup), If you do go, ask questions at the gate before paying. Questions like "do you have beer" and "is someone going to inflate the bouncy house?". Bring lawn chairs - there is no place to sit. Bring your beer mug in case you don't like dixie cups. Not sure they would allow it, but toting a cooler of beer would bee a grand idea - and would have made you a hero at this year's event. ****UPDATE**** After emailing one of the event leaders, I was provided a refund of our $10. With this in mind, we'll try again next time this event is held. Although we did not enjoy the event, I appreciate that the expense was corrected.

What a great local festival! It had mostly Mexican food. More food stations than I could try. Also…read moredifferent other ethnic food tents. Live music under a big tent with a car show in the parking lot. I can't wait for the next one.

We came to this for the second time. Last year it was hot as hell. This year its drizzly and…read morechilly. But this year we got to meet John Cena. And get our picture taken with him. What a super cool dude. So nice. He was there to talk about his partnership with Fit Ops. Which is an organization that helps Military Veterans become certified fitness trainers. As a Veteran myself, I think that is awesome. What a great opportunity for Veterans. And what a positive impact John is having on Veterans and their families. We were hoping to see Geena Davis. Well my husband was really hoping to see her. But we didn't get the chance. We still had a great time. Got tons of free stuff and I also got to try a product on camera that might be used in a commercial. So all in all, we had a Great time.

Amazing!!! Fun!!! Lots of free samples. Friendly people. Not near as crowded this year because they…read morelaid it out better. We had a GREAT time. Well worth the time to be there and enjoy the attractions, films and you might meet a star or two!

Fun filled free event for the whole family!…read more If you haven't been before keep your eyes peeled as you approach the venue (we drove straight by a couple of times as we missed the small sign). Parking is aplenty. $5 donation gets you a closer spot, otherwise you'll park one field over (be careful there are ticks). The bands started playing at 8:30 am helping all get into the festive spirit. While late registrants were accepted for the cook off you needed to arrive at 7:30am which we sadly missed. Samples of quail sausage, pork sausage, mango salsa, and more. Want something more ordinary? No worries, there were corn dogs, funnel cakes, pizza, sodas and shave ice. While we did snag some squirrel gumbo before leaving many of the other teams were still cookin'. Driving out of the venue it was wild to see how backed up the cars were (at least 30). So glad we arrived early!

First time at Squirrel Fest. Checked this out because a favorite band was playing & to show some of…read morethe traditional South to a friend who was visiting from CO. The scene: Bentonville Co Quail Grounds- music was playing, the Quail Barn was open (want to buy a rifle? they're there), food (squirrel & non-squirrel) was cooking, raffles for huge smokers, a Sherp all terrain vehicle which you could climb into (see photo) beer tents (Lost Forty), attendees drinking beer at 9am, people dressed up as squirrels, a shaved ice vendor with a dill pickle option, t-shirts for sale, alligator on a stick, a pig being roasted on a spit & traditional fair food like corn dogs, funnel cakes, etc. Since the competitors started cooking at 7:30, most of the food would not be ready until noon. That's when people started showing up & is also when we left. We did try the squirrel gumbo (figured it was the safest bet) & unknowingly ate a squirrel and turkey slider. Oh, $5 parking which we were told goes to a charity. If you don't pay the $5, you can park for free but of course, further away. When we were leaving at noon, the lot was almost filled & cars were backed up on the road. One of the vendors expected around 400 people to attend. Not sure if that's the approximate # but it gives you an idea of the size. They did block an entrance to the tents by the parking area (not sure why, because it's a free event in the middle of nowhere) which made it inconvenient to get to the lot. Very interesting day, for sure.

A great, free, art location. That hosts various artists throughout the year. They also have a large…read moreoutdoor space where they do events as well

Easy parking in the gravel lot. Came late on a Friday night and it wasn't very busy. Cute gift…read moreshop. We came during the rock and roll exhibit and saw lots of great art. Would come more often if we lived in the area. Great free experience but didn't last us a long time as they have limited space.