The Fourth Spring River’s Got Talent show is back and will be held on Sept. 17, at the Hardy Civic Center. Local musical performers will compete for a total of $2000 in prize money. Doors will open at 1 p.m. and performances will begin at 2 p.m. This event was originated by Doug Driesel and first occurred in 2006 and 2007 to benefit the Spring River Performing Arts and was given to Fountain Place as a fundraiser in 2019. When Fountain Place closed, they bequeathed the event to be shared by the Spring River Area Chamber of Commerce and the Arts Center of North Arkansas, who were planning to hold the event in 2020 but was canceled due to the Covid pandemic.
Tickets to the event are $15 for Adults, $10 for Students, and five and under are free. They will be sold at the Chamber office in Hardy, ACNA in Cherokee Village and other places to be announced. Snack foods will be available and a Silent Auction will be held during the event.
Musical performers may be solo, duets or bands and will be chosen through an audition process. There will be five performances chosen to compete in the youth category (ages 14 and under) to win trophies and $75, $100 and $125 prizes. There will be 10 performances chosen in the over 14 category and prizes will be $1000 for first place, $500 for second place and $250 for third place.
Performers interested in auditioning need to send an audition video or website link via email of the song they are planning to perform to [email protected] and [email protected] no later than noon, Aug. 31. They will be notified by Sept.1, if they are selected to compete. Participants must live or work in the North Central Arkansas, including the counties of Sharp, Fulton, Izard, Independence, Jackson, Lawrence, Randolph or Stone counties. If chosen, acts have submitted duplicate songs, the first one to submit will have the right to that song, and the others will have to choose another. Other information that needs to accompany the audition includes: written song lyrics (songs must be family friendly and appropriate for children to hear), contact info, performer and band names. Songs may be no longer than three and a half minutes. Previous winners of this event may not compete again but may attend as guest and be introduced. 2022 SRGT proceeds will be used for ACNA’s Cherokee Village location’s operating costs to display and sell works by local artists and provide various art classes. ACNA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and all donations and sponsorships may be tax deductible. Sponsorships are still available at the $100 Friends of the Arts level – which includes two adult tickets and recognition, and the $250 Corporate Sponsor which includes recognition in marketing pieces, ability to sell event tickets, four premier seating tickets and two general admission tickets. For more information about the event please contact the SRACC at: 870-856-3210 or [email protected].