Memorial Day Weekend 08: Riverfest

When I say “Little,” you say…

Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

“Little…”

This is the shout you would have heard coming from our Verizon Wireless setup this weekend had you been at the Riverfest here in Little Rock. Riverfest is an annual music, food, and arts festival held on two sides of the Arkansas River during Memorial Day weekend. It is the largest festival in Arkansas according to the official website and according to our event contacts there was a record number of people in attendance. Could it have been Chaka Khan or Z.Z. Top bringing in all those folks? Maybe it was aroma from all the BBQ, shrimp, and funnel cake luring them towards the river bank. Do I dare say it was the ringing of one of our event site cell phones pulling in a crowd?

T-L: Riverfest flags on poles seen around the park. T-R: Wooden roses for sale. B-L: Quapaw carving. B-R: Gator head as seen at Capt’n Dave’s across from our event site. Photos: Adrienne C. Wilson

This weekend officially made for the longest week of my life. Tornado sirens in Roswell, lame birthday and the humidity and rain from this weekend is a lot to soak in one week. Not to mention the everyday sort of stuff one must endure. By the end of each day my feet were on fire, throbbing and stinking. I couldn’t stand myself. My feet couldn’t stand me. I felt like I couldn’t stand anymore. And these aren’t complaints. I am just speaking on behalf of my feet. You know how chatty they can get. After all they are the ones taking me on all these great adventures. Like, I was saying though I was at Riverfest as a vendor and not for leisure. My co-worker and I worked with other VzW staff and we had some day-staffers help out as well. Overall I’d say we were pretty successful in making everyone have fun with the exception of Capt’n Dave and his crew. They probably wanted to walk us right off a plank into the river because of the large crowds we kept drawing in. Oops! Sorry. That’s my job. Like most other events we gave out free goodies and engaged with consumers and had dance contests and saw many freaks and weirdos.

We even had a chance to get in a photo-op with a NBA star! Well I didn’t, but my co-worker did. I didn’t even know who the guy was and since I don’t watch basketball AT ALL for all I know the entire NBA could have walked by without my knowing. Here’s a picture of him and Joe Johnson who happens to be from Arkansas. I had to call my co-worker just now to get his name again and I’m placing the picture here because he is famous so I’m obligated or something, right? I’m such a snob. Geez. Okay, so famous B-ball player at the Riverfest shot is what I was saying…

Germ and Joe Johnson. Photo: Adrienne C. Wilson

I opted to have my photo taken with the Riverfest creature. And just when I thought it was all about me, me, me – some kid jumped in and tried to steal my shine, so I covered his face with a pink square. His parents would probably appreciate that anyway. Photo: Germany Mayfield

To say the least festivals are pretty great places to be to watch people and to be watched. There were some scary people, confused people, young people, old people, middle-aged people, people who should have put more thought into their outfit, people who should have had on more clothing and so forth. Everyone kept talking about one guy who was walking around with the official Riverfest buttons hanging off from his nipple rings. I finally decided to ask him what that fashion statement was all about and whether it was painful. He said it hurt a little, but he liked the shock value. Poor guy.

And then there was a guy (very scary in fact) who had the two teardrops tattooed by his eye. Germany pointed out that he had murdered two people. I’ve heard this before so that wasn’t new news, but he didn’t have a shirt on and so I saw every tat on his flesh from the waist up. There was a rather large one of what looked like a mom and daughter. I hope those teardrops weren’t from them. GULPS. Isn’t something how the imagination gets away from you?

Lastly there was some 18 1/2 year old boy who attempted getting my number so we could talk sometime. Um, yeah – I don’t think so. He and his pals were something else and asked to have their picture taken. I warned them that I would post their picture on my site and so you can see it below beneath the fireworks. I noticed only through my viewfinder that several of them were wearing a lot of green. I decided to act naive and ask why all the green? I wanted to see where the young men’s heads were at… One of them said…
“I don’t know about them, but Paru…” Or something of that nature. It didn’t sound familiar or like a frat or even a church group, but I decided to play dumb more. Here’s my response, “so what’s that?” They told me to forget about it which told me it wasn’t anything too amazing, but if it were a local gang I hope this young men decide to drop it sooner than later and opt for a variety of colors and prints in their wardrobe. A friend of mine warned me that they were still bangin’ in Little Rock and to be careful. I guess – now I know.

I did meet some pretty awesome people too. Weirdos just tend to stick out. Shout outs to John Mcgauhy from Memphis and Zee from Columbia, S.C.

Here’s some shots from the fireworks over the Arkansas River and some taken in my rear view as the crowd begins to call it a night and head out.

All photos: Adrienne C. Wilson

Hope you all had an interesting Memorial Day weekend and a safe one too. May we remember all those lost in service and to those still out there on the line and in the battlefield. GET HOME SAFE!

Strength.