The 47th annual Hope Watermelon Festival will run August 10 thru 12 at Fair Park in Hope, Arkansas with fun, games, food, music, a whole lot of fun, and of course them giant watermelons we all love so much.
This year’s festival will kick off at noon on Thursday, August 10 at Hope’s Fair Park. Our favorite part of the event takes place on Thursday with the dog show. Festivities will continue on into the evening with the official weigh-ins, live music, and more.
Friday we have the Watermelon Idol Contest, cornhole, softball tournament and more. Then, don’t miss the Jacob Flores concert Friday night.
Saturday, August 12 things get started early with the 5K at 7:30 and the Watermelon Festival Car Show kicking off at 8:00 am.
Schedule of Events from hopemelonfest.com:
2023 SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES & EVENTS
THURSDAY, AUG 10
Festival Opens 12:00pm
Watermelon Festival Ribbon Cutting & Pageant Winner Introduction, Coliseum 12:00pm
Concessions Open, Outdoor 12:00pm
River Valley Tractor Kidzone Opens 12:00pm
Rusty Wheels Engine Show Opens 12:00pm
Beautiful Baby Contest, Coliseum 12:00pm
LifeShare Blood Drive 1:00pm-6:00pm
Kiwanis BBQ Chicken Supper, Community Center 4:30pm-7:00pm
Watermelon by The Slice Opens, Big Tent 5:00pm
Watermelon Contest Weigh in, Coliseum 6:00pm
Jr. Watermelon Olympics, in front of Cricket Wireless Stage 6:00pm
Watermelon Olympics, meet at Legion Field 6:30pm
Watermelon Fest Dog Show, Cricket Wireless Stage 7:00pm
Rafter J Living Proof Band, Farmers Bank & Trust Stage 6:00pm-8:00pm
FRIDAY, AUG 11
Festival Opens 9:00am
River Valley Tractor Kidz Zone Opens 9:00am
Rusty Wheels Engine Show Opens 9:00am
Concessions Open, Outdoor 10:00am
Watermelon by The Slice Opens, Big Tent 10:00am
LifeShare Blood Drive 12:00pm-6:00pm
Carl Jackson, Farmers Bank & Trust Stage 3:00pm
Lion’s Club Fish Fry 4:30pm-7:00pm
Watermelon Idol Preliminaries, Cricket Wireless Stage 5:00pm
Washington Vintage Dancers, in front of coliseum 6:00pm
Jacob Flores, Farmers Bank & Trust Stage 6:00pm-8:00pm
Cornhole Tournament, Legion Field 6:00pm
Watermelon Festival Softball Tournament Begins, Kelly Fields 7:00pm
SATURDAY, AUG 12
Watermelon 5k, Front Gate 7:30am
Melon Mile, Front Gate 8:30am
Civitan Car Show, Behind Cricket Wireless Stage 8:00am
Fishing Derby, Huckabee Lake 9:00am
Festival Opens 9:00am
River Valley Tractor Kidz Zone Opens 9:00am
Rusty Wheels Engine Show Opens 9:00am
Rusty Relics Antique Tractor Club 9:00am
Dancetastics Dance Studio, Farmers Bank & Trust Stage 9:00am
Money in the Haystack, Kidz Zone 9:30am
Watermelon Waddle Duck Races, Hope Fair Park Swimming Pool 10:00am
Watermelon by The Slice Opens, Big Tent 10:00am
Southwest Arkansas Taekwondo Demonstration, Farmers Bank & Trust Stage 10:00am
Hope Piranhas Swim Team Exhibition, Hope Fair Park Swimming Pool 11:00am
Politically Correct Watermelon Eating Contest, Cricket Wireless Stage 11:00am
Watermelon Auction, Big Tent 11:30am
Watermelon Eating Contest, Cricket Wireless Stage 12:00pm
Autism Sings, Farmers Bank & Trust Stage 12:00pm-2:00pm
LifeShare Blood Drive 12:00pm-6:00pm
Seed Spitting Competition, Cricket Wireless Stage 1:30pm
Birds with Teeth Band, Farmers Bank & Trust Stage 3:00pm
Nighthawk Band, Farmers Bank & Trust Stage 5:00pm
The Marshal Tucker Band: CMC Stage 8:30pm(Gates open at 6pm)
