Don’t Miss the 2024 Solar Eclipse

The next Great American Eclipse, a total solar eclipse running diagonally across the US, Texas to Maine, will occur April 8th, 2024. This amazing natural event sweeps right past Beaver Lake, promising one heck of a an amazing natural show over the lake. If you’d to be here, now is the time to make those reservations before we’re all booked up!

Partial and total solar eclipses occur far more often than we realize. In fact, one occurs about every 18 months or so – but you have to be in the right place, at the right time to catch one. Those not in the narrow band directly under the eclipse, known as a “path of totality,” will only see a partial eclipse or, if farther away, nothing at all.

This rarity, coupled with the sheer uniqueness of the event, makes experiencing a solar eclipse a real treat. Especially a total eclipse, like the upcoming one on April, 2024.

Here in Northern Arkansas, we can expect partial coverage of the sun to begin around 12:37pm, with full coverage at 1:54pm. Everything will back to normal by about 3:15pm. That’s nearly three hours, start to finish.

Of course, since Beaver Lake is not directly under the path of totality, we’ll only experience a partial eclipse. We’re not that far away though, so should still be treated to an amazing natural show. One made even better by the view from our Beaver Lake, AR cabins and suites.

2024 Solar Eclipse Over Beaver Lake

As I say above, the 2024 eclipse will occur on April 8th. The eclipse’s path of totality is set to run in a diagonal arc across North America; through Sinaloa, Mexico, up across the US, and out through Newfoundland.

Solar eclipse totalities can last anywhere from only 10 seconds to almost 7 and a half minutes long. The April 2024 eclipse totality will last around 4 minutes long in northern Arkansas. Not bad!

2024 Solar Eclipse path of totality over North America

Arkansas expects somewhere in the neighborhood of 180,000 outside visitors for the eclipse. Of course, most will head for the path of totality. Those interested in less of a circus and more quiet, lakeside views are urged to book now, before we fill up.

Predicting an eclipse is one thing, predicting the weather is another. While I’d love to promise clear skies for this event, I cannot – but at least you’ll be at beautiful Beaver Lake!

If it’s overcast, you can always go hiking, boating, birding, or explore the region. Eureka Springs is right nearby, after all, and much more, too. You can also just kick back somewhere comfortable at the resort and take in those stunning, Beaver Lake views.

Visit www.greatamericaneclipse.com for more information about the upcoming 2024 total solar eclipse over Arkansas.

Ozark Mountain Music Festival 2023

2022 is nearly a memory and that means it’s almost Ozark Mountain Music Festival time! OzMoMuFest 2023 is scheduled for January 19-22. Four days and more than 20 bands serving up heaping helpings of live music. Bluegrass, folk, urban American roots, and more. Don’t miss it!

Heat up the New Year with the premier winter music event of the Ozarks: OzMoMu! The Ozark Mountain Music Festival draws a diverse lineup of musicians and their fans from across the country to Eureka Springs every year. The beloved event is like an outdoor music festival but held indoors at Eureka Springs’ historic Basin Park Hotel.

Performances are scheduled to kickoff Thursday night and continue for four days on multiple stages. A popular Late-Night Jam occurs on Friday and Saturday night at Chelsea’s Corner Cafe & Bar.

One of the best aspects of the festival is that there is no backstage. Consequently, band and audience members share the same space for the event, creating a fun and lively group intimacy between performers and fans. So very unique.

Best of all, Ozark Mountain Music Festival 2023 and Basin Park Hotel are all less than half an hour’s drive from Sugar Ridge Resort! Enjoy hours of mountain music at the festival, then it’s an easy hop back to your Beaver Lake cabin or suite. What fun!

Ozark Mountain Music Festival 2023 Lineup

This year’s headliner is Lindsay Lou, a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has released several critically acclaimed albums. The festival will also see performances by other top artists in the folk, bluegrass, and Americana genres, including:

Marbi
Willy Tea Taylor
The Mighty Pines
The Eagle Rock Gospel Singers
Catfish Seminar
Shakedown Strings
Tyler Gregory
Front Porch
Patti Steel
Eureka Strings
Gary Lawrence
Casey and the Atta Boys
Don & Roy
Ashtyn Barbaree
Haymakers
JP Stringfield
“Icky” Ichniowski
Dusty Rust
Danny Spain Gang
Gravel Yard
Dale Kellison
Doug Myerscough
Grace Stormont
Steve Jones
Good Morning Bedlam

Visit the festival website to learn more and buy tickets. You can also follow this event on Facebook.

The 75th Original Ozark Folk Festival

Celebrate the 75th annual return of America’s longest continuously running folk festival at the Original Ozark Folk Festival! November 10th through the 12th, 2022 at Eureka Springs City Auditorium.

The Original Ozark Folk Festival has been a Eureka Springs tradition since 1947, drawing talented musicians, entertainers, and crowds of Folk and Americana fans every year.

The annual festival is much more than a simple multi-day concert. The festival’s main aim is keeping the traditional folk music and traditions of the Ozarks alive.

Many performers come to the festival with homemade instruments. Either treasured heirlooms or results of their own craftsmanship. In fact, a good part of the festival’s attraction, after the music of course, are all the artisans selling genuine, Ozark folk masterpieces.

This year marks the 3-day event’s 75th anniversary and, as such, promises to be more exciting than ever. It also marks the first return to a full and centered festival after a few years of pandemic precautions.

2022 promises a return to a more traditional festival. There will be scheduled concerts at the City Auditorium, free concerts in Basin Spring Park, and a variety of other events, performances, and impromptu jam sessions all around town.

You’ll also be able to peruse the offerings at the Ozark ‘Folk Faire’ in the Auditorium Basement, 10am to 3pm, all 3 days. Here, local musicians, artisans, and museums will showcase their wares and ties to the history and future of folk in the Ozarks.

Perhaps best of all, Sugar Ridge Resort is less than a half hour’s drive from all the Folk Festival fun in downtown Eureka Springs!

Spend your day enjoying the music and other folk traditions of the Ozarks, then it’s just a quick drive back to the comforts of your Beaver Lake cabin or lake view suite. Perfect!

Original Ozark Folk Festival 2022

Front Porch at Original Ozark Folk Festival

This year’s festival is scheduled for November 10th through the 12th, at the Eureka Springs City Auditorium. Nearby Basin Spring Park will be a site of free concerts and jam sessions throughout the weekend.

Thursday, November 10
11am – Skye Pollard & Family Holler
12:30pm – Sprungbilly
2pm – Willi Carlisle
4:30pm to 7:30pm – Barefoot Ball at the City Auditorium with Willi Carlisle, Chucky Waggs & The Company of Raggs
5:30pm – The Hedgehoppers with musical guest Danny Spain

Friday, November 11
11am – Jesse Dean
12:30pm – Front Porch
2pm – Shannon Wurst
4:30pm to 7pm – Shinyribs & Rachel Ammons at the City Auditorium

Saturday, November 12
11am – Dandelion Heart
12:50pm – Brian Martin
2pm – Ozark Mountain Rhombus

Visit the Ozark Folk Festival’s Facebook event page for more details and tickets.

Don’t Miss War Eagle Craft Fair 2022!

War Eagle Craft Fair 2022 at War Eagle Mill

Whether your a fan of hand crafted goods, looking to do some early holiday shopping, or just want to spend a fun out and about, War Eagle Craft Fair is for you. The four-day event is Arkansas’ single largest arts and crafts show with over 300 artisans in attendance. October 13th through the 16th, 2022.

There’s never a bad time to visit the Beaver Lake/Eureka Springs area but autumn may be one of the best. Cooler temps, smaller crowds, and all the stunning fall foliage colors. Add to that the number of fun, end-of-season events. Harvest festivals, Oktberfest, and the mother of all craft shows, the War Eagle Craft Fair.

The annual War Eagle Craft Fair is really three craft fairs folded into one. There’s the War Eagle Mill Fall Arts and Crafts Fair, The Sharps’ Show, and War Eagle Fair. The four-day event features more than 300 artisans and draws an estimated 130,000 people, with annual sales exceeding $1 million.

The event is held the 3rd weekend of October, every year, and considered one of the very best craft shows in the country. Attending artisans undergo strict screenings to ensure that their offerings meet the high standards of the enduring Ozark tradition. You’ll find no third rate kitsch and imported gew-gaws at this craft fair!

War Eagle Craft Fair 2022

Visitors to the fair will see handmade arts and crafts of all kinds. Wood carvings, stoneware, paintings, fiber arts, jewelry, blown glass, and much more.

With three shows and 300+ vendors to peruse, you’re going to be here a good while. You may want to take along some snacks or even a picnic lunch – but you don’t have to. War Eagle Mill is also home to the Bean Palace Café, offering reasonably priced, full country breakfasts and lunch specials. Perfect!

Other amenities include parking assistants, permanent restrooms, and a free Fairbook listing all the exhibitors. All this plus you’re on a historic farm, rimmed by the beautiful Ozarks.

This year’s fair is scheduled for October 13th through the 16th, 2022. Historic War Eagle Mill, site of the craft fair, is located at 11045 War Eagle Road in Rogers, AR. This is less than an hour from our Beaver Lake cabins and suites. Spend the day perusing all the fine offerings at the Craft Fair, then a scenic drive back to your cabin at Sugar Ridge Resort.

Once you’re back, feel free to share your purchases with us, if you like. Each year, a few guests do a “show and tell” after the fair. We inevitably see something that has us running down to the fair, ourselves. What fun!

Visit the craft fair website for more information. You can also follow the fair on Facebook.