Northwest Arkansas, especially Bentonville, is famous for its rich music festival scene. Each year, various organizers of music festivals in NWA outdo their last year’s effort, and they never disappoint! Which NWA music festivals should you keep an eye on in 2023?
Music festivals in Northwest Arkansas in 2023 include Format, Freshgrass, Momentous, and Home Sweet Home festivals. They’re all organized in Bentonville. Walmart AMP offers numerous concerts of different bands and singers throughout the year.
In this article, I’ll talk about what big music festivals are happening in Northwest Arkansas in 2023 and which ones you need to be aware of.
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1. Format Festival
It was announced a few weeks ago that Format festival is coming back to NWA.
The really cool thing about this year’s festival is that it’s being organized by the creator of Lollapalooza. I’ve been to Lollapalooza in Chicago, and it was a lot of fun.
Format Festival was a great success last year, so you can imagine just how much better it’ll be with the creator of Lollapalooza involved — it’s a brilliant move.
About Format Festival
If you don’t know what Format Festival is, it’s a music festival that incorporates the experimental experience. They had that aspect with Lollapalooza as it doesn’t revolve around music only but instead blends other experimental art forms into the musical experience.
Last year, they had a lot of what I’d call “funky things” to check out because Bentonville is very art-centric. So they included many art installations in the actual festival. Naturally, many people had plenty of fun there.
This year they’re doing it again in the fall of 2023. More specifically, the festival will take place from September 22 through 24! So keep that on your calendar.
People are super excited about Format Festival, and I cannot wait to see what they do to make it even better than last year.
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2. Freshgrass Festival
At number two is an NWA classic: Freshgrass Festival, located in Bentonville. It’ll be held at the Momentary again. It’s a blast to attend Freshgrass because there are multiple venues around. The festival will last from the 19th to the 20th of May this year!
If you’re into bluegrass or indie music or looking for a fun time with your family and friends, definitely check out Fresshgrass.
The cool thing I love about this festival is:
- It’s in Bentonville
- Mountain bikes galore
- It’s right on the 8th Street Market
The 8th Street Market is a fun and cool event space for thousands of people. You can go check out all the art in the actual Momentary. You have all the food right there and there are breweries close by.
So, you really get the whole experience at Freshgrass Festival. It’s part of the community, so it supports all the businesses there, as thousands of people visit the festival each year. It’s well worth getting some tickets, and bringing the family down, whether you live here or not.
3. Momentous Festival
Like Format Festival, Momentous held the first event last year in the Momentary.
This festival is definitely more of a niche music festival as it leans more toward EDM (Electronic Dance Music). Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of EDM, but it’s more “high-energy” EDM — you’ve been warned.
Since it takes place in the Momentary, it’ll involve an artistic side. There’ll be a lot of lasers and smoke — all the things we connect with EDM.
So, if you like EDM, Momentous might be a perfect event for you. Keep an eye out for the tickets, as they haven’t announced the official dates. It was a great success last year, and they’ll bring it back to Bentonville this year.
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Also, I have a 3-day itinerary that can help you decide what activities to do if you’re overwhelmed by everything Northwest Arkansas has to offer.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a foodie, a sports person, a sightseer, or want to spend quality time with your kids; I have something for you. Check out the link below to learn more:
https://www.allthingsnwa.com/3-day-itinerary-northwest-arkansas
4. Home Sweet Home Festival
The fun thing about this festival is that not only is the logo a squirrel with a guitar and a top hat, but it’s executed outstandingly. It’s in its fourth year, and the organizers bring artists from across the country. The artists then go from home to home in Bentonville!
Specifically, they visit 14 homes and play concerts. So you travel around the whole city to see these concerts (if you want to). It’s an interesting and unique concept. Obviously, it’s super fun, but it also builds community.
It’s very homey, and many people from around the area come to these homes. So if you want that kind of familial and friendly experience, definitely check out Home Sweet Home.
It’s not your typical concert experience — that’s for sure. There’s no security patting you down to see if you’re hiding something. It’s more intimate, and you can meet new friends along the way. This year, the festival starts on April 28 and ends on the 29th.
What’s Going On in Fayetteville
Fayetteville has many musical events, but they’re not really music “festivals.” They’re more like community-based events, like Golley Park, for example.
Most of these events happen around the Fayetteville Library and Dixon Street. So this year, Fayetteville doesn’t have a music “festival.” Instead, they’re holding smaller music events all around the city.
Last year, and for many years before, they had the Roots Festival, which was part of Fayetteville for a long time. However, last year, the organizers said they’d pause it, and no one knows its fate.
So the caveat is that a lot of stuff happens in Fayetteville, but not on the festival-level scale. Gulley Park, Dixon Street, the Library, and all sorts of different parks around Fayetteville have music going on year-round.
Got kids? Here is a list of things to do for kids in Fayetteville!
5. Walmart AMP (Arkansas Music Pavilion)
The last thing on our list isn’t necessarily a music festival. It’s the Walmart Amphitheater (AMP). One thing you should keep in mind is that Walmart AMP slowly releases artists’ ticketing systems throughout the year. They usually do it between January and March.
This year, hey have a big lineup as the venue is an outdoor theater capable of holding over 10,000 people.
If we look at what they’re offering so far, they announced the following artists will visit Walmart AMP:
- Luke Bryan
- Dave Matthews Band
- Tyler Childers
- Matchbox Twenty
- Foreigner
- Nickelback
- Eric Church
- Lynyrd Skynyrd & ZZ Top
- Pantera
- Kidz Bop
So, it’ll be fun to see some bands and concerts. You can plan your trip down to NWA to coincide with these concerts.