Jacksonville’s Marquee Summer Event is a Cannot-Miss Party with Everybody Invited

Photos courtesy of the City of Jacksonville

Putting on a civic event does not happen overnight — but in the case of Jacksonville’s annual FestiVille, it may include working overnight.

In fact, count on it.

“The real fun of it doesn’t start until the night before,” said Jacksonville Mayor Jeff Elmore. “The park staff, some of them are out there pretty much all night.”

So it goes with the FestiVille, which, over 12 years, has bloomed into a full-on family-friendly party right in the heart of the Pulaski County city. The 13th iteration of the FestiVille will take place on Labor Day Weekend, Saturday, Sept. 5, and once again, Jacksonville’s Main Street will host the celebration. Like any such summer gathering, FestiVille will be packed with food trucks for everyone’s enjoyment. Also planned is live music, a petting zoo, water slides, a dedicated kids area, a 5K run/walk through Jacksonville’s Paradise Park and so much more.

For the 2026 iteration, FestiVille’s live music will be headlined by country music artist Ryan Daniel — and it is hard to find someone who would be a better fit. Daniel was raised in Arkansas and would later go on to a decade-long stint in the Air Force, primarily as a munitions specialist. With the good vibes continuing from America’s 250th birthday celebration in July, it is hard to think of a better place to be than the home of the Little Rock Air Force Base.

For the Jacksonville Parks and Recreation Department, along with other city departments, FestiVille is the culmination of a year’s worth of elbow grease. In the days leading up to Labor Day, that effort gets cranked up to the max as parks department employees descend on Main Street to make finishing touches and triple check that everything will be in working order.

There are no shortcuts in the process.

“Some show up at 2 in the morning,” Elmore said. “Some show up at 4 in the morning. They all start early, so they work hard — very hard.”

It is, by all intents and purposes, a good problem to have and the people who run the city know that. Even before the first FestiVille kicked off a decade ago, Jacksonville leaders were plugging away at building an annual city get-together. Like any good idea, finding exactly what works and what does not took some time.

“It’s changed identities through the years,” Elmore said. “Decades ago, it was, like, Mums and Muscadines, then the Wing Ding Festival and so forth.”

The fact remains that FestiVille is the result of trial and error that spanned a number of years. For years, the event was held at Dupree Park. The facility in and of itself was fine. What was not fine was the weather — as just about anyone in Arkansas can attest, the best way to ensure summer rainstorms is to hold an outdoor event. Even if FestiVille kicked off on a sunny day, rains the night before would occasionally turn the park into a sopping, humid mess.

“Weather was constantly an issue,” Elmore said. “Even if it was a bright and sunny day, if it had rained the day before, it made for not the best place.”

Also, while the Dupree Park facilities were adequate, the location could feel a bit isolated, and out-of-towners were sometimes unsure about where to go.

Main Street offers no such issues.

“We walk off Main Street, basically from the Firestone station all the way down to the other side of First Arkansas Bank & Trust, so it’s a huge stretch,” Elmore said. “We block off all the access roads on the sides, and it’s just a giant party here in town.”

As the event has grown, so have the numbers, as families from all over central Arkansas and beyond have made their way to Jacksonville. Better yet, the move to Main Street allowed for many of the city’s businesses to get in on the fun.

“It kind of centralizes that event for us in the community,” said Emily Stonecipher, events and marketing manager. “Every year around this time, we do make an effort to get some of the businesses down on Main Street involved, as well. It’s on a Saturday, so some of those businesses do take advantage of the foot traffic down there in that area.”

That can mean doing sales specifically tied to FestiVille or just adding weekend hours to absorb the influx of ready-made customers.

“It’s just taking advantage of the amount of people that this event brings in,” Stonecipher said, “and we love that.”

Part of the love fest comes from watching as all facets of the city come together to put on a show. Though considered a project by parks and recreation, FestiVille is the result of an all-hands-on-deck mentality from the entire city, from City Hall and downtown businesses to the army of parks workers laboring behind the scenes to make sure everything goes off without a hitch.

Not every city has the sort of synergy and team-first attitude needed to put on a large community event, but the FestiVille has become a shining example of what can happen when all players pull in the same direction.

“Jacksonville is a supportive community, it’s a resilient community, and it’s a community that’s there to help one another no matter what,” said Emily Sundermeier, communications director. “Everybody knows whenever it’s FestiVille, all the city departments come together, and it’s all hands on deck.”

It all comes down to ownership. For all involved, the yearly festivities are a reminder of what can happen when a city puts its best foot forward. It is also about teamwork and the pride that comes from working toward a goal without once questioning what it takes to get there. When it comes to putting on FestiVille, there are no shortcuts.

“There’s no simple moment that hits you,” Sundemeier said. “It’s really the moments leading up to it. Everybody’s tired. Everybody is exhausted. It’s this sense of knowing we are all working hard to put this on for everybody, but once it’s here, it’s just like, wow.”

The best part? Everyone who works so hard to put FestiVille on gets to bask in the satisfaction of a job well done — for 24 whole hours.

“I can tell you this,” Elmore said. “I know they start working on next year’s event the Monday morning after.”

SEE THE FEATURE BELOW AND IN OUR AUGUST 2026 ISSUE OF AY MAGAZINE