Hampton festival set, and pigs will be airborne

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Entertainment
Hampton festival set, and pigs will be airborne
By Jim Taylor, travel writer -- Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism
Mar 5, 2005

HAMPTON – When Hampton hosts its Hogskin Holidays festival each April, the Calhoun County Fairgrounds comes alive with the mouthwatering aroma of savory barbecue, the rocking sounds of the Cummins Prison Band and the rub-the-eyes sight of Randall’s Diving and Racing Pigs.

For the unbaptized, though, a word of warning is in order: don’t crowd a swine dive. A pig, even a small one, can displace a surprising amount of water when diving into an aboveground swimming pool from a platform 10 or so feet high.

The trained pigs, which tour the U.S. and are regulars at Hogskin Holidays, will again be making a splash – many of them, in fact – during the 14th annual festival scheduled for Friday and Saturday, April 8 and 9. The show also features pigs racing around a small track and humorous banter from an emcee introducing pigs with names such as “Tammy Swine-ette” and “Oprah Hamphrey.” Shows will be held throughout festival hours, usually every 30 minutes. Alternating with the flying and racing porkers will be a mini-tractor pull for kids hosted by Dune Buggy the Clown.

The festival’s main site will be the fairgrounds, while some events will be held at the Calhoun County Courthouse in downtown Hampton, some three blocks to the north. General festival hours will be approximately 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. Admission will be free, except for the Hogskin Holidays Rodeo to be held nightly at 8 p.m.

Live music will again be a festival mainstay, highlighted this year by a 4 p.m. show on April 9 in the fairgrounds’ exhibit hall featuring country music singer/songwriter Wood Newton of Nashville, Tenn., and Lacy Fleming, the reigning Miss Arkansas. Both hail from Hampton. Newton’s many song credits include co-writing two Number One country hits, “Bobbie Sue” by the Oak Ridge Boys and “Twenty Years Ago” by Kenny Rogers. Both songs are featured on Newton’s new compact disc, “My Roots Are in These Trees.”

The festival’s barbecue cook-off will be held throughout the morning and afternoon on April 9 with music being provided by the Cummins band from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Winners will be announced about 4 p.m. Barbecue dinners will be sold during the cook-off, as will bulk, carry-out orders by the pound and rack.

Other festival events include a downtown parade at 2 p.m. on April 8, the Little Miss Pigtails contest at 10 a.m. on April 9 in the exhibit building, and a horseshoe-pitching tournament on April 9. Events scheduled for both days include antique car and motorcycle shows and an exhibit of historic photographs at the courthouse; a quilt show, student art show and display of mounted hog heads, all in the exhibit hall; and an arts and crafts show, a large carnival and food vendors elsewhere on the fairgrounds.

Hampton is located in south-central Arkansas on U.S. 167 about 28 miles north of El Dorado. For more festival information, phone (870) 798-2100.