In May, Fayetteville Roots announced that due to COVID-19, the 11th annual Fayetteville Roots Festival would be postponed to 2021—but that decision hasn’t prevented them from fulfilling their mission to connect the community through music and food.
Meals for Musicians
In March of this year, Bryan and Bernice Hembree (co-founders of Roots) saw how the pandemic was taking a toll on musicians like themselves, and envisioned a program to distribute a meal care package to the music community. In collaboration with Chef Jerrmy Gawthrop (co-founder of Roots), Roots creates and distributes weekly meals care packages via curbside pickup at the Roots HQ on the Fayetteville square. Over the last 20 weeks, the Roots Meals for Musician Program has since given out over 9,900 servings of food via 758 care packages to NWA musicians who have lost income during these times of limited gatherings and no concerts.
A Roots Stream-a-Thon
Although this years’ Fayetteville Roots Festival won’t take place as normal, Roots is still determined to connect with their community in late August. On Thursday, August 27 from 6:30 to 9 p.m., Roots will offer a virtual music streaming event on what would have been the opening night of the festival. This event, Thursday Night: A Roots Stream-a-Thon, will feature musical performances from musicians that have appeared at the Fayetteville Roots Festival over the past 10 years including Birds of Chicago, John Fullbright, Nick Offerman & Megan Mullally, The Steel Wheels, Raina Rose, The Honey Dewdrops and more.
The Thursday Night: A Roots Stream-a-Thon will be broadcasted/streamed from the Roots HQ with live hosts Kyle Kellems of Ozarks at Large, Roots co-founders, Bernice & Bryan Hembree (Smokey & The Mirror, musicians) and Chef Jerrmy Gawthrop (Wood Stone Pizza).
A Roots Stream-a-Thon
Although this years’ Fayetteville Roots Festival won’t take place as normal, Roots is still determined to connect with their community in late August. On Thursday, August 27 from 6:30 to 9 p.m., Roots will offer a virtual music streaming event on what would have been the opening night of the festival. This event, Thursday Night: A Roots Stream-a-Thon, will feature musical performances from musicians that have appeared at the Fayetteville Roots Festival over the past 10 years including Birds of Chicago, John Fullbright, Nick Offerman & Megan Mullally, The Steel Wheels, Raina Rose, The Honey Dewdrops and more.
The Thursday Night: A Roots Stream-a-Thon will be broadcasted/streamed from the Roots HQ with live hosts Kyle Kellems of Ozarks at Large, Roots co-founders, Bernice & Bryan Hembree (Smokey & The Mirror, musicians) and Chef Jerrmy Gawthrop (Wood Stone Pizza).
A Call to Action
Fayetteville Roots Festival has always believed in the importance of accessible community programming. In this spirit, the virtual streaming event will be open and free to everyone, however, advance registration is required. Though the virtual event will be free, Fayetteville Roots envisions it as an opportunity for the community to come together and support the organization. Individuals can support Roots through purchase of a chef-curated chicken dinner or pizza for curbside pickup from the Roots HQ on Thursday afternoon (August 27), donating to the Roots non-profit, purchasing Roots Festival merch from the Roots online store, or participating in the virtual silent auction during the streamed event.
