A national nonprofit organization recently partnered with the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Children and Family Services (DCFS) to offer a program in Northwest Arkansas that serves as a bridge from foster care to adulthood. 

• Better footing: Youth Villages is a national leader in the field of children’s mental and behavioral health and is working as a (DCFS) partner to make the LifeSet program available this year in NWA to young people ages 17-21 in foster care. 
• Tried & True: LifeSet is an evidence-based program model that prepares young adults for success. It offers one-on-one assistance with the complexities of employment, education, housing, transportation, and more. 

Read the KNWA story HERE. 

Who’s ready for Arkansas’s home football opener this Saturday? 

• Go big: The Razorbacks will be playing against No. 23 Cincinnati at 2:30p at the Reynolds Razorback Stadium to open the season. Head coach Sam Pittman says the first series Saturday will be big for the Hogs, so be sure to tune in! 
• Hype: For all of you who like to pre-game party, HogTown is returning and will feature a diverse lineup of musical performances and lots of family fun entertainment. It will be located on Maple Street just north of the stadium and begin four hours before kickoff. Boom Kinetic will be the first concert of the season, and no game ticket is required to participate in the fun!

Learn more HERE. 

This coming Thursday, September 1, is Fayetteville’s First Thursday celebration, and the theme is A Closer Look. 

• For you: First Thursday is an annual event series produced by Experience Fayetteville and will take place around the Downtown Fayetteville square. It’s free, community-centered, and features a combination of music, food, art, and a whole lot of fun! 
• Entertainment: The event will go from 5:30-9p, and an array of food trucks will offer drinks, snacks, and dinner for attendees. There will be live bands on stage, a kid zone, free yoga, 40+ vendors, art galleries, pop-ups, an art scavenger hunt of sorts, and more! 

For more details, click HERE. 

We love sharing new, unique businesses in NWA, but it's always better when they involve delicious, chef made food prepared in your home. When we heard about House Cured Culinary, we booked immediately!

• Evening to remember: Chef Kevin McCombs recently moved to NWA, where he brought his family and business, House Cured Culinary — a private chef service he founded in Colorado over a decade ago. We invited eight friends over to celebrate a birthday, and the four-course menu and experience was top notch.
• Special occasion: Chef Kevin arrived with fresh food, was entertainment the entire evening, and left with our kitchen cleaner than when he arrived. His services are perfect for a small to medium size gathering. We ended the night dreaming of opportunities to ask Chef Kevin to return.

Learn more about House Cured Culinary and book your private chef service HERE.

Tickets for the “biggest and boldest” season yet of the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas (SoNA) are now on sale and promising time-honored and new compositions, ideas, and collaborators. 

• Branching out: There is not a theme this time around but an overarching vision that will manifest through broad thinking of what orchestral music can be and the expansion of the definition of classical music. 
• Performances: The first show will be on October 29 and is called Imagine Big. In addition to the usual, A Very SoNA Christmas and The Snowman: A Family Concert, the 2022-23 season will feature Mother and Child, New Canons, Battle of the Bands, and Evoking Folklore. 

Click HERE for more information and tickets to SoNA’s biggest season yet!