A major music and arts festival is coming three hours outside Kansas City this fall
Call it Wallapalooza: Heirs to the Walmart fortune announced the inaugural FORMAT Festival, a three-day celebration of music, art and technology this fall in Bentonville, Arkansas.
The event will take place Sept. 23-25 on “250 acres of forest-enclosed green land” at the Sugar Creek Airstrip, according to a Tuesday release.
“Join us for a weekend of curated curiosity, from forest enclaves, disco barns and speak-easy’s, curated food vendors and impromptu dance processions, to experimental soundscapes and light shows, alongside therapeutic workshops and uniquely integrated technology activations.”
Among the 50 musical acts slated to perform are The War on Drugs, Rufus du Sol, Phoenix, The Flaming Lips, Beach House and Herbie Hancock. The weekend will also include installations and performances by artists (and Kansas City Art Institute grad) Nick Cave and Doug Aitken, who will launch a mirrored hot air balloon.
The festival is modeled after Austin’s South by Southwest, its founders told the Wall Street Journal, and they’ve partnered on it with C3 Presents, the concert promoter behind Lollapalooza. The full lineup can be found at format-festival.com.
Bentonville, home to Walmart headquarters, has enjoyed increased cultural prestige in recent years, owing mostly to the largesse of Sam Walton’s heirs. Daughter Alice founded the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in 2011, and the combination of its world-class collection and the hiking and biking trails on its campus have helped turn the Ozarks town into a tourist destination for arts and outdoor enthusiasts.
FORMAT (the name is a portmanteau of For Music + Art + Technology) is being led by two of the founder’s grandchildren, Steuart and Tom Walton, and Tom’s wife, Olivia Walton, who recently replaced Alice as chair of the museum’s board.
“We’re excited that FORMAT will help us introduce this corner of the Heartland to art and music fans from around the world,” Olivia said in a release.
Tickets to FORMAT go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday on the festival’s website.
