The Great American Eclipse on April 8, 2024, is almost here and Bentonville, Arkansas, will see 97.7% of totality. Whether you're here to view or stopping through to get to totality nearby, Bentonville is ready to welcome you! From eclipse-themed community events, programs, and outdoor activities, you will be able to celebrate the 2024 Great American Eclipse in style!
Listen to hear from Kim Williams, travel writer for Arkansas Tourism and Project Manager for the eclipse, Aaron Nolan the communication director for Downtown Bentonville Inc., and Alyssa Traxson, the director of marketing and rentals at Peel Compton Foundation.
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Don't forget, Visit Bentonville is here to assist you in finding things to do, where to eat and stay, and find out what's going on in the city. Visit our website visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our enewsletter here.
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The Great American Eclipse on April 8, 2024, is almost here and Bentonville, Arkansas, will see 97.7% of totality. Whether you're here to view or stopping through to get to totality nearby, Bentonville is ready to welcome you! From eclipse-themed community events, programs, and outdoor activities, you will be able to celebrate the 2024 Great American Eclipse in style!
Listen to hear from Kim Williams, travel writer for Arkansas Tourism and Project Manager for the eclipse, Aaron Nolan the communication director for Downtown Bentonville Inc., and Alyssa Traxson, the director of marketing and rentals at Peel Compton Foundation.
You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.
Don't forget, Visit Bentonville is here to assist you in finding things to do, where to eat and stay, and find out what's going on in the city. Visit our website visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our enewsletter here.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Welcome to a new American Town, a podcast proudly presented by Visit Bentonville. I am your host, jacqueline House, broadcasting from Hackston Road Studios near the Bentonville Square. Thanks so much for joining us as we share captivating stories and updates from our city, connecting you with the locals that make the town worth visiting. Now, today we're going to talk about something very exciting is actually one single day that's coming up on April 8th, 2024. In case you didn't know, it's the kind of day it's a big deal. It's the great American solar eclipse. So, joining me to talk all about what is going to be happening in Bentonville that day, we've got Kim Williams with Arkansas Tourism, erin Nolan with Downtown Bentonville and Alyssa Trackson with Peel Compton Foundation. Okay, kim, let's start with you and let's talk about the state of Arkansas, and then what can people expect from an eclipse standpoint?
Speaker 2:Well, the interesting thing is that Arkansas has not seen a total solar eclipse since 1918. And, of course, we all know back in 2017, I believe it was we had partial eclipse, but so this is the first time in over 100 years that Arkansas will actually have the full path of totality. The interesting thing is, we believe, for Arkansas tourism is that nearly two thirds of our state will be within that path of totality, so we are very excited about that. However, bentonville is not in the path of totality, but has so many lodging options, so many different things to do in the days leading up to the eclipse, that we truly believe that it will be a draw, even though it is not within the path of totality. So this is a really big deal for Arkansas.
Speaker 2:With any event, we never really know what to expect. We hope that we'll have huge crowds. We hope knock on wood that there'll be great weather, that it will not be raining, but Arkansas weather there's not a thing you can do about it. So we've actually been working on this for about four and a half years because we knew that it was coming. We knew it was going to be a big deal for Arkansas, for all of our tourism partners. And so now, here we are, three months out.
Speaker 1:From a tourism standpoint here in Bentonville I mean happening in April what are we seeing? From a weather standpoint, you think?
Speaker 2:Well, the thing is and, believe me, we have looked at all kinds of weather forecasts there is a chance. Arkansas and Texas actually, from what we're seeing from a historical standpoint, because this is all just based on what the weather has been before Arkansas and Texas have the best weather. There is still a chance. The last time that I looked again at the historic weather forecast which is basically where they just took every April 8th from 1979 up until about 2020. And it's just a game of averages that we could have between 40 and maybe 50% cloud coverage. The thing about that as we go, as the eclipse goes to the northeast, cloud coverage gets, we expect, heavier and heavier and heavier. And by the time it reaches, say, new Hampshire, which is in the path of totality, there is up to a 92% chance of cloud coverage.
Speaker 2:Again, this is all averages. We don't know, and if you've lived in Arkansas for more than a week, you never know what to expect with our weather. But we just got a plan, We've got to be ready. Whatever happens, we're going to deal with it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you mentioned that. You know North Arkansas, where we are in Bentonville, won't be in the total path of totality, but what do you think it is about Bentonville that we'll get to experience here that makes it so special for people to watch?
Speaker 2:Well, I think what's going to happen is that, definitely, you all will see visitation. Here's the thing again, statistically, that we have looked at, especially with the 2017 Eclipse People aren't just coming for the day. Many of them are coming three, four, five days before the event. They're going to take it as an opportunity to learn about the area, to learn about the state. So, with Bittenville, with Northwest Arkansas, there's so much to do.
Speaker 2:You guys have definitely more lodging opportunities than, say, some of the rural areas that are actually within the path of totality. You know, we have a lot of small towns that are in the path of totality, that have absolutely no lodging opportunities not whatsoever. And so I think a lot of people are going to look at Bittenville. They're going to say, hey, I've always wanted to go to Crystal Bridges Museum, I've always, you know, wanted to go to beautiful downtown Bittenville Square, or I've wanted to go here or I've wanted to go there. And that's going to be a really good opportunity for them to say, hey, I'm going to go up four days beforehand, I'm going to check out the food, I'm going to check out all of the things to do, and then I'm going to drive to the path of totality, and that is exactly what we saw happen in 2017. And that is what we are expecting for 2024.
Speaker 1:Yeah, let's transition to Alyssa, because Kim mentioned. You know the planning for this has been happening for four years. You know, for me, I'm just finding out about this last year 2023. So it wasn't even on my radar, honestly. But from a lodging standpoint, because Kim did mention, you know, people are going to be up here trying to find a place to stay from a Peel Compton Foundation. Can people expect? Are there any opportunities left at this point for people to find some place to stay here?
Speaker 3:Yeah, like you said, people have been planning for this for quite a while now, and actually earlier in December. Now all of our campsites are completely booked up for that weekend. So that's Saturday, that's Sunday and that's Monday. So all of those sites that we usually brag about, they're all full right now, which we're really excited about. But just in Bentonville in general, there's going to be plenty of options, and then while you're camping with us, or maybe you just come to visit, we definitely have all kinds of fun stuff planned for that weekend.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, let's talk more about what is planned, because Kim did mention, like people are not just coming for that particular day, even though that day is the special day. If people are coming ahead of time, what are some activities that they can get into here in Bentonville?
Speaker 3:So we have all kinds of programming going on that weekend. We have bike mechanics classes, we have even campfire cooking all kinds of stuff happening at Kohler. And then we have a lot more fun stuff planned for that Monday leading up to the eclipse.
Speaker 1:So let's just say you're one of the lucky people who are able to score a campground site. What can those campers look forward to?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we like to brag about our campsites. They have all kinds of really great amenities there. Just between the different campsites that we have, we have everything from camper van pads to hike-in sites that are great, right next to the trails. We also have it sounds silly to brag about, but an amazing facility for all of our bathrooms. They're heated and cooled, so anytime of year you're ready to go. It sounds silly, but you go and you look at them and it's like this pretty building. You wouldn't think that we had such nice facilities just for camping.
Speaker 1:No, that's important because, if you're like me, I'm very girly, and so a clean bathroom is important to me, because that could deter me from camping if the bathrooms aren't clean.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Before I started working here, I was like I'm never going to go camping. And then I saw this and I was like, all right, I can do this.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I can do it. This is totally fine now.
Speaker 3:But yeah, we have bike wash and repair stations, we have carts, move the gear, we've got access to the trails, like I said, fire pits, all kinds of fun stuff going on right there, and then just everything that Kohler has to offer between the trails. There's airship coffee right there that people can go to, which is really nice to wake up and then go get a cup of coffee Just right in the middle.
Speaker 1:It's all nice. So planning for the eclipse. What was the team's thought process like? Okay, what do we need to offer and make sure that we have in place to make sure that people are comfortable when they come to Bentonville?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so overall we just wanted to make sure people are actually going to be able to see, even if it's just partial. We want people to be able to kind of see the eclipse. So making sure we had the solar viewers so people can actually look at it. And then we want people to come and have fun. So we're going to have some music going, we're going to have all kinds of snacks for the event, and then we also just wanted to make sure we had a cool space for everybody to come to. So that's part of why we pushed toward Kohler. It's a great spot between the homestead and we've got the big Meadow area where we're encouraging people to come to, and then trails all along the way. That's just going to be a really great spot to try to see even a partial eclipse I'm getting excited because just Again, it was not even on my radar to think about.
Speaker 1:But knowing that there's so many events that are happening is very exciting here, especially for us to experience here in Bentonville Erin for downtown Bentonville what events are happening for you guys? What do you have planned for that day?
Speaker 4:You mentioned planning, jackie, and that's something that is very difficult to do so far out for years, right? So we've been focusing over the last several months of getting First Friday going, and First Friday happens to fall on April 5th, so it's just a few days beforehand and we initially said, you know what? There's this thing happening where the sun's going behind the moon A few days later. Let's make this event all about the eclipse. So that's what we've done. First Friday is our monthly block party from April through October in downtown Bentonville, and for April we're focusing all on the eclipse. We've got NWA space, who's going to come out and be a part of what we're doing. We're going to have as many museums as we can come out. Obviously, we've got a couple of pretty awesome museums here. The Amazium was going to be on the ground there as we continue to show people. This is a great place to be. And we've mentioned totality a lot. That's going to be the buzzword as we move forward, right, totality or not?
Speaker 1:App totality, full totality, whatever it may be, hashtag totality.
Speaker 4:Exactly. But we know that we're going to have a totality of a great time in downtown Bentonville and so we're going to throw a party. We're going to get prepared, we're going to have those glasses. On the last eclipse I tried to take glasses out and you can't do that. It hurts. So we're going to make sure that we have those out in order for people to be a part of that. So we're focusing first Friday 100% on the eclipse. We're going to have an amazing stage activation where we're going to have musicians on stage. We're going to really party like it's 1999, or at least it's the end of the world as we know it. See how I'm throwing different music in there.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's what we. That's the weird things that we do in downtown Bentonville. I'm hoping I don't know, I haven't talked to the Bentonville schools I'm hoping some kiddos will be coming out of school there as well, but I think that that's part of what we do. Not only are we going to throw amazing parties, we're going to cultivate that community, and part of that is to be on hand when that totality, or the half totality or quarter totality, wherever we're at, we're going to celebrate this like it is Because, like we mentioned, it only comes around once every century. So we're excited about it and first Friday is going to rock it.
Speaker 1:Kim, do we know timing wise when we all need to be outside to glance up at the sky?
Speaker 2:Thank you, it's going to move into Arkansas around 1230 on Monday, april 8th. So we're going to start in Texarkana and it goes to a northwest area. Basically, any time between 1230 and around 315 will be that time where, if you're not in the path of totality for example, I live in Mariana we're not in the path of totality but, much like Bentonville, we have like a 97 percent coverage. So basically, from about 1230 to 1245 until around 3 to 315 is when there will be some sort Well, no, there's no sort. It will be a partial eclipse if you are not within the path of totality. So, basically, for those not in the path of totality, we have, I believe it's about a two hour and 38 minute partial eclipse, which in 2017.
Speaker 2:You know a lot of Arkansas was in the the the path for a partial eclipse and I think it lasted maybe 45 minutes, if that long. But now, even if you're not in that path, you've got two hours and over two and a half hours long actually longer of A partial eclipse. So anytime between about 12 30 until about 3 3 15, you can be outside and, again, make sure you have on glasses. That is something to realize. Yet might just look like a normal cloudy day, but you know well we still shouldn't look at the Sun on a cloudy day.
Speaker 2:But it's going to be very important to have those ISO certified Eclipse glasses anytime that you are looking at the Sun in those areas that are not in the path of totality. For example, if you're in the path of totality when there is the complete Eclipse, you can take your glasses off During if you're in a partial eclipse, there is no time that you can take them off if you are looking anywhere near the Sun. If you want to take them off and Look down at your phone or look down at the ground or look at the people beside you, that's fine. But if you are looking at all toward the Sun, you have to have those glasses.
Speaker 3:Listen, I know you said that a lot of the focus can be on Kohler for this particular event, but anything else happening at the other properties, the peel Compton properties, we might start looking forward to trying to do some other stuff, but I know specifically at Kohler parking is a little limited, so we're encouraging people maybe come and walk in, come bike in and then, if you're maybe not able to get there, another amazing opportunity is over at Osage Park. It's our big wetland prairie area and there's all kinds of cool space to go and view the partial eclipse from there as well.
Speaker 1:Alyssa for people who may actually take your advice and walk in to Kohler or bike in Any good entryway points that they need to come in or consider.
Speaker 3:Any of the ways to come in are perfectly fine. You can come in up through the North gate, even through the South gate, either. One's gonna be fine, and there's plenty of places to store your bikes over at the Meadow by the homestead, so you can come join us over there.
Speaker 1:Okay, cam, you said maybe about 12 30 it Comes into Arkansas.
Speaker 2:Yes, and, of course, you know you guys are farther north. So I would say, probably by 12 40, you'll start to see it. You know one thing that I that I do want to mention One of the things that we're so excited about, of course, with this eclipse is that we found out from statistics that we were able to get from the 2017 eclipse, a lot of people Would come to the state. I'm gonna use Wyoming, because we had worked with Casper Wyoming and, you know, got some great information from them, but up to 70% of the people that came to Wyoming for the eclipse in 2017 had never been before. Okay, so let's think about the possibilities that thousands of people that may come to Arkansas have never been before.
Speaker 2:So you know, we can show up and show out again with a cliche, but that is such an opportunity, I think, for the entire state to show the beauty that is the natural state. You know our food, our culture, our history, our heritage, all of the great attractions that we have across this state. So you know, when we look at it like that, it's more than just those four or five days leading up and after the eclipse. You know, I have no doubt if there is someone that has not been to downtown Bentonville, to Bentonville, to Northwest Arkansas, and they come for this eclipse, they're gonna be coming back. I have always said, if I can get people that have never been to Arkansas to Arkansas, they'll come back. We just have to get them there the first time, and so I think this is a really really good opportunity to do that.
Speaker 1:Is Arkansas tourism, maybe working with Texas tourism or just kind of maybe sharing some best practices or ideas to prep for the eclipse.
Speaker 2:I will say that there is a group of people that works through NASA and the American Astronomical Society, aas, that, as a group, are working together from different states. To my knowledge. Now, I do know that some of the other state agencies are working together the departments of transportation, the departments of emergency services because you have to think, with a really big event like this, it's affecting more of an area that's within our state boundaries, especially with Texas and the Texarkana area, even with Missouri, with even Oklahoma, because people will be coming in most likely through the Fort Smith area. So I do know that a lot of different state agencies are working together to try to figure out. I will say this Missouri was in the 2017 path and they're in the 2024 path, and there have been a lot of great people in Missouri that have been very helpful with Arkansas tourism, with other of our tourism partners, to say, hey, this is what happened with us. These are the kinds of things that you should expect, and when the next one rolls around in 2045, people will be coming to us and saying, hey, you guys went through that eclipse in 2024, what can you help us with? So I think it was something this big and tourism when you look at it even as a state. I mean, if you guys are having something in Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock is having a big event, we all compete in the tourism world for visitors. We're not having to compete, we're gonna have enough visitors. They're actually. I've seen statistics that there will be more than 40 million people traveling that day, not including the people that are already within the path of totality. Again, that is conjecture. There's no way. People say how many people are we gonna have in Arkansas? I don't know. Talk to me about April 25th and we'll have a pretty good idea, but all that we can do is look at the places that are already reserved our hotel rooms, our lodges, our campsites, things like that. You know. So we don't. We don't know. We hope we have millions. Can I promise that? No, you know. We just we hope that Our visitors.
Speaker 2:Aaron said something about patients. Here is the thing we learned from 2017. There's gonna be a lot of people out on a lot of roads. You know. We saw the statistics and all the information that said there were some people that were stuck during the 2017 eclipse for two, four, six, eight, ten hours on major interstates. The good thing about. That is the people that have done this before. They know that there's gonna be a lot of traffic. Just like you know, when you guys have a big event, we know that there's going to be some traffic. Everyone just has to be really patient, and that's not just our visitors, that's also our residents of the state. So we just need to go into it with some patients and Realize that we are welcoming guests into our home our home being the entire state and just make them feel at home and Experience some of that wonderful Arkansas hospitality.
Speaker 1:All right. Erin, kim and Alyssa. Thank you so much for joining us today. Make sure you make your plans to join us for the 2024 eclipse and Remember, visit Bentonville is here to assist you to find things to do, where to stay and eat and, of course, what's going on in our city. Give them a follow on social media. Check out their website, visit Bentonvillecom. That's where you can also find additional lodging if you were not able to look up on one of those Colour spots. Thanks so much for listening.