The gate opened at 8 a.m., Thursday, June 29, cars already in line, and suddenly about 2000 people from several states gathered at the Farm, 3.3 miles west of Beaver, for the four-day Highberry Music Festival. The Farm is 160 acres owned by Jon Walker on which he’s created a camping and events’ venue over the past three years.
Walker said he attended a Grateful Dead concert in his teens and has been a music lover since. In 2010, he threw a two-day party he called Highberry, one day at this house and the next at partner Chris Anderson’s house, and 150 people or so attended. The event was a big hit, so he threw a similar party in 2011 at his ranch near Rogers, and friends told friends about the first event. The second time, more than 300 showed up.
Walker sees the concerts as an extension of his group of friends. He continued to promote Highberry for two years in Ozark and one year at Mulberry Mountain, but in 2014 he purchased a 160-acre former Arabian horse ranch with the vision of developing a place for staging festivals.
With help from community volunteers, he constructed a 40×70-ft. stage facing north. He built roads through the property, all with Grateful Dead-related names such as Jerry’s Way, Shakedown Street and Ramble On Road. He installed a disk golf course which is used a few times each week. There are also biking trails through the woods and a building used as a general store during events.
Walker’s brochure states, “The festival may end, but you don’t have to leave” because he has developed year-‘round campsites on the property. In the future, he intends to stage non-music events such as craft fairs, mountain bike races or a disk golf tournament as a way to connect further with nearby communities.
Last year, Walker put on three festivals – Phunkberry, Highberry and Hillberry. This year will be the same with Hillberry coming October 12-15. Next year, there might be only two festivals, and Walker said he is leaning toward more bluegrass. There is fierce competition in the festival business with new ones popping up everywhere, and he noticed some fail. However, he said he’s lucky to have a dedicated support team with experience at running his festivals, plus bands seem to like playing at his events.
He promotes nationally, but most attendees come from Tulsa, Dallas, Little Rock, Kansas City – the 3 to 6-hour drive radius – but folks from California to New York attend his festivals. A couple from Israel wanted to attend an American music festival and chose Walker’s venue.
Walker commented he wants to make his festivals a vacation. He offers shuttles to area attractions such as Beaver Lake or Table Rock Lake, the zipline in Eureka Springs, and horseback riding ranches. On site during festivals there are yoga and jewelry-making classes, workshops on painting, drawing and crafts, plus juggling and whatnot. There are also activities for L’il Berries such as face-painting, music, bubbles and tie-dye.
At the event
Arriving at the Highberry Festival, a driver first pulls into a security checkpoint. Volunteer attendants answer questions and direct festival goers to their next destination, which often is to get checked in and become adorned with a Highberry wrist band. Then, attendants at crossroads around the property direct folks to their appropriate parking or camping spot.
Tents, canopies and vans were spread across the landscape in well-organized camping areas for acres and acres, and people cooked at their sites while waiting for the next act on the main stage. The camping area is spacious enough that the music was only barely audible in remote areas of the property such as near the Jerry Garcia shrine on a hill overlooking the entire event. Well-maintained showers and toilets are available.
The rural gathering of a population about the size of Eureka Springs was orderly, happy and fun. The L’il Berries tent was active with busy kids, and another tent had artists sketching and painting a model. Vendors lined both sides Shakedown Street leading toward the main stage. Clothing, pottery, plants, bamboo sunglasses, handmade jewelry, beer and a variety of food choices, from Cajun to wood-fired pizza to organic fruit pops, were for sale. A local bread-maker sold cupcakes and bread. Regarding the clothing for sale, there was enough tie-dye to cover two big barns.
Attendees were comprised of couples, millennials, hips, families, and devoted veteran festival fans. All ages made good use of the water slide. Some assemblies resembled pregame tailgate gatherings before Razorback games, others more like festivities before a Phish concert back in the day. Regardless, everyone minded their manners in a peaceful, colorful outdoor adventure.
A music lover wouldn’t be able to keep this a secret.
Patrolling the property as part of the emergency medical team was Justice of the Peace Jack Deaton, former Holiday Island Fire Chief. He said there had been no major medical issues, just a couple of people getting too hot. He said there was a security team working the property 24 hours, and he knew of no problems.
Deaton said mostly he saw people who were glad to be in a peaceful spot away from town enjoying The Floozies, Dark Star Orchestra, The Marcus King Band and other high energy musicians. He noted Walker had put up sound barriers to minimize the impact on neighbors. Deaton said he understood the complaints from a few neighbors about the music being too loud out here in the woods, but the events occur only a handful of nights per year, the events are good for people and the area, and Walker is doing what he can to work with neighbors.
After an event
A couple days after the event, Walker looked out over the festival area to see it already cleaned up and litter-free. He said most of the crowd had arrived early the first day or two, and they spread themselves far and wide through the camping areas, but they were tidy and respectful of the property. He also has a dedicated cleanup crew.
His hospitality crew took good care of the bands, who also enjoyed the experience and told him they wanted to play again next year.
So now it was time to plan for Hillberry. “It will be our big one this year,” Walker commented, noting the outstanding lineup featuring Railroad Earth, Greensky Bluegrass, Yonder Mountain String Band, Leftover Salmon and many more.
He said he employed noise canceling strategies such as bales of hay behind the speakers on the main stage in respect for the neighbors, and claimed it made a huge difference. “I expect the sound situation will be even better for the next event,” he anticipated.
“It was exhilarating putting on this event and sharing our Fourth of July celebration with the town of Eureka Springs,” Walker said, looking forward to further connections with the surrounding communities.
“The thing I like the most is sitting out here and watching people with their families having a good time,” he remarked. He said the activities and workshops are important in filling out the experience.
“The festival allows you to be who you want to be,” he commented. “You come out here to get a release from everyday life. That’s what the festival is all about.”
We love the Farm and can’t wait for Hillberry!!