On a July 4 holiday when the majority of Northwest Arkansas’ annual fireworks celebrations were canceled or delayed a day by the threat of stormy weather, Eureka Springs’ second annual Jamboreeka delivered a short show at Lake Leatherwood City Park Municipal Ballfields.
Some 1,000 locals and visitors sitting and mingling at the ballfields didn’t seem to mind an early start to the display as long as organizers beat the rain. It was, after all, Eureka Springs’ 145th birthday, as well.
Parking lots near the park filled up early in the evening, and spectators walked or took trolley cars from Eureka Springs Transit. Visitors came from as far away as Kansas City, Tulsa and Corpus Christi, Texas, to name a few locales. Kaylee Ensminger said she and her husband, Eric, were on their 11th visit to Eureka Springs and that they moved to southwest Missouri to be closer to the city. Their young daughter Cora enjoyed a sparkler while the couple sat on a blanket and listened to tunes by The Cate Brothers nearby. The Cates followed a set by local favorite Sprungbilly.
Kids enjoyed the generous flow from a bubble- making machine on one of the ballfields while a steady line of spectators took shots at sinking some local celebrities into the dunking booth.