BENTONVILLE (KFSM) - Hall of Fame and local music performers will hit the stages in downtown Bentonville this weekend as the Power of Music festival starts today.
The event kicks off at 6:30 p.m. at the Meteor Guitar Gallery in downtown Bentonville and continues through the weekend at the gallery and several other venues near downtown Bentonville. The festival is a fundraiser for the I'll Fly Away Foundation's "You Can Fly" Songwriting program for schools.
"All the money we raise does stay local to our Northwest Arkansas children for our songwriting in the schools program," said Betsy Brumley, co-founder of the festival. "We've had success with special needs children, with dyslexic children. We've seen our test scores just go through the roof."
The program has impacted more than 4,000 children in the past four years, not only improving their grades, but also helping them with social issues. All of the money raised will help fund the program across Northwest Arkansas.
The event includes a music conference for those interested in getting into the music business. The festival organizers have a songwriter's association, and music-industry professionals from Los Angeles, New York and Nashville will be attending to share their musical knowledge with conference attendees. Topics will include performing rights organizations, public relations and music publishing. The conference is taking place at the DoubleTree Suites on South Walton Boulevard.
"If you want to be in the music business, and you want to know how it works, you need to be here," Brumley said.
Five Hall of Fame songwriters and other Grammy and award-winning songwriters, as well as local acts will perform. Performers include The Accidentals, Route 358, Steve Dorff, Joe Mack, Gracie Schram, Jerry Salley and Michael Dause. The Hall of Fame show at 8:30 p.m. Saturday will feature Dennis Morgan, Roger Cook and Richard Leigh. Some shows are free, while others will require a ticket.
Tickets and a full schedule are available on the festival's website, pomfestival.org.