Pining for a good time: Gurdon Forest Festival promises family fun -

COSTUME CONTEST — Kids take part in, and get very serious about, the costume contest held as part of Gurdon’s annual Forest Festival, as evidenced in this photo from a previous festival. Courtesy photo

You won’t find a log loader at just any run-of-the mill small-town festival, but in Gurdon one can watch heavy equipment operators take part in a unique competition. It’s because Gurdon is in the heart of Arkansas’s “pine belt”, and once a year its residents celebrate the forestry industry that keeps it alive.

Now in its 46th year, the Gurdon Forest Festival is bringing a lineup that promises fun for all. Traditionally held on the final Saturday in October, the 2026 lineup includes the downtown Monster Mash on Main, a semi-truck show, an array of vendors, live entertainment, tons of food, and a costume contest that kids take quite seriously.

**PART CHECKERS, PART BRAWN — The log loader contest draws a crowd of spectators as heavy equipment operators show off their finesse acquired by experience in the logging woods.** | *Courtesy photo*

See below for a full slate of planned events:

The first festival was held in 1980, and two years later the town’s Community, Development & Entertainment Club took the helm, organizing the fun times since. There have been some interesting contests in the nearly five decades of the festival: a 1982 lineup had competitions for spittin’ and husband calling. Asked if contests of that sort might one day be revisited, festival co-chairman Heather Nolan chuckled. “I don’t know about that,” she said. However, there are certainly aspects of past festivals that could be revived, she said. The Gurdon native remembers festivals of yesteryear when her elder relatives took part in a log-sawing contest. Memories like that are passed down with each generation.

“The festival is a homecoming,” Nolan said. “It’s a family event that everyone can look forward to. It’s a celebration of our industry, what Gurdon thrives on.”

Nolan is one of the four CD&E Club members responsible for putting on this beloved Clark County event. In addition to organizing the festival, the 501(c)3 nonprofit hosts fundraisers — namely the Forest Festival Pageant — to award scholarships to graduating Gurdon High School students.

Despite a chance for precipitation in the weekend forecast, Nolan said the festival will happen rain or shine, although individual events could be affected by inclement weather.