By Nicole Tracy
News-Leader staff
One of the longest running events in the state of Arkansas, the Pine Tree Festival in Dierks, which was first held in 1972, will celebrate its 44th year on Friday, August 5, and will continue through Saturday, August 6, at the city park in Dierks.
The festival will feature two nights of rodeo action. On Friday night at 8 p.m., a mini rodeo will be held. It is an official stop on the Tuff-N-Nuff Miniature Rodeo World Tour.
Tickets for the event are $5 for adults ages 18 and up, with kids ages 17 and under receiving free admission to the event.
Saturday will feature the 4th annual Ultimate Challenge Bull Riding and No Holds Barred Free Style Bull Fight beginning at 8 p.m..
The event is sanctioned by the Cowboys Regional Rodeo Association (CRRA), the American Cowboys Rodeo Association (ACRA) and the Louisiana Rodeo Cowboy Association (LRCA), and Open. The winner of the competition will receive $5000 and a Bob Burg buckle.
There will also be a giveaway of $500 on both Friday and Saturday night, and 20” boys and girls bicycles will also be given away to age 7-12 ticket holders.
In addition to the featured events each evening, the festival will also include a carnival. Arm bands will be available again this year for purchase. There will also be an archery contest, which is being ran by Dustin Ward again this year. The age groups will be broken into three groups for the competiton. Beginners up to age 10, ages 11-16, and ages 17 and up. The archery contest will have simple 1,2,3 scoring, and will have 3D targets.
Baker’s Saw Shop will be running the chainsaw competition again this year, and are expected to give away great prizes to the winners. The event will start at 11 a.m. this year to try and avoid the hottest temperatures of the day. Participants are asked to be in attendance a little earlier than normal.
Additionally, Extreme Paintball and Laser Tag will be back at the festival again this year, and will be set up and ready for games on Friday and all day Saturday.
The Dierks Pine Tree Festival is sponsored by Davis Portable Buildings, Just Poultry, DeAnn Vaught, Archie Cothren Insurance Agency, Wilkerson Funeral Home, Southeast Feed, Brandon Cogburn, Kenya’s Drive Inn, Farmers Association – Dierks, Storey Braham Ranch, Lisa Chandler, The Glass Shop, Mounts Equipment Repair, JJ’s Corner Market, Baker’s Saw Shop Lockesburg, Faulkner Auto, Woods and Woods PA, LTD, Mike Alexander Logging, DeQueen Auto Group, Howard County Farm Bureau, Southwestern Electric Power, Tyson Foods, Dierks Health and Rehab, Pilgrim’s Pride, Erin Hunter Attorney at Law, Gary Pinkerton, Certain Teed Gypsum, Suttle Equipment, Riggs Caterpillar, Los Agaves Dierks, Diamond Bank – Dierks Branch, Banisters Body Shop, York Gary Autoplex, Bear State Bank – Dierks Branch, Chad’s Collision Repair, Tri-Lakes Services, First State Bank – Dierks Branch, Gentry Chevrolet, Weyerhaeuser, Rich Mountain Electric Co-Op, and the City of Dierks.
Sponsors for the festival are what enable the ability to allow kids 17 years and younger to attend Friday’s event for free, as well as kids 6 and under to have free admission to Saturday’s event, as well as reduced ticket prices of only $5 for kids ages 7-12.
For more information on the Pine Tree Festival, visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pinetreefestival/. For more information on the on the mini-rodeo, contact Johnny Hopkins at (515) 571-6922, and Tuff-N-Nuff Miniature Rodeo World Tour has a website located at http://www.miniaturerodeo.com. For additional information on the bull riding event, contact Stacy Janes at (870) 784-3043.
