Downtown Texarkana has completely changed in the last few years. Businesses have boomed, event areas have been redesigned, and most importantly the community of businesses downtown have come together to create an atmosphere of fun and safety for our local Texarkana community. One of the best events that has come to the downtown area in the last few years, has been the Fall Festival that began just last year. It was hosted, created and designed by the incredible team at Crossties Event Center. “Last year, we hosted the First Annual Fall Festival Downtown. We had businesses set up shop around Broad Street, games, food, fun and even trick or treating for the kiddos. We saw almost 3,000 people come downtown last year, and we were completely unprepared for the overwhelming amount of community support!” said Raleigh Andrews of Crossties Event Center.
This year, the 2nd Annual Fall Festival will be held on Saturday, October 30th from 1-5pm at 324 Broad St. Texarkana, Arkansas, but the festivities will begin on the 28th with the Johnson Brothers Amusement Carnival coming down from Little Rock, AR. “I believe, fingers crossed, that we will have more than 150 businesses setting up booths along the street. It is completely FREE for vendors to sign up with us to secure a spot on the street. Each business will need to bring their own candy for kiddos to come by and trick-or-treat, but they can also promote their businesses and make sales to the huge crowd of community supporters!” said Andrews.
“Our goal with the Fall Festival is quite literally, to bring our community together. We want kids to come down in costumes so they can trick-or-treat around the downtown businesses that are setting up shop for the event. We want everyone to come down, have a great time, experience the downtown boom, as well as try out some of the incredible vendors, and food trucks that will be participating in the festival!” said Andrews. “The one thing we want everyone to know is that we are doing this to continue to support our downtown community and its continued growth. We want to show off the growth we have seen downtown, and for the community to see just how incredible it has become. Local businesses are working diligently together to provide an area downtown for the community to feel safe, and to have places for the community to enjoy. This event is just another way in which we can continue to share the amazing changes that have come to the downtown area of Texarkana,” sand Andrews.
During the Fall Festival, guests will be able to experience games, trick or treating, local vendors, photo booths, pumpkin paintings, food trucks, a dog costume contest, a pie eating contest, and a carnival experience for the whole family to enjoy. “We will also be having a dunking booth for City Officials! That means some of our very own Texarkana officials will be up for dunking! This includes Officer Les Munn, some members of the city council and so many more! It’s going to be a lot of fun, and a great way for the community to come together to rally behind the growth of Downtown Texarkana,” said Andrews.
The Fall Festival, during the day from 1-5PM is a completely free event to get into. “Come on down Texarkana. Bring your kiddos dressed in costumes, and even your dogs (on a leash). We are hoping to see upwards of maybe 3,000 people coming down to see us this year! We cannot wait to show off the local businesses that are coming down to set up shop, and we are excited to see how the community responds to this event. It’s going to be so much fun for the community, and we can’t wait to see you all there!” said Andrews.
If you have a local business and you want to sign up for a vendor spot on Broad Street, please email Raleigh.andrews@yahoo.com to secure a location for the fall festival. Vendors do not have a fee to set up, all you need to do is bring candy for trick-or-treaters (expect a lot).
