Downtown Bentonville Incorporated and its digital storytelling platform DWTN Media won gold and bronze recognition at the 43rd Annual Telly Awards. 

• Local winners: The Lighting of the Square in Downtown Bentonville received gold recognition in the Best Promotional General-Events category. DWTN Now received the bronze recognition as Best Television - Charitable/Not-for-profit & Cause Marketing for its Fly Oz TV episode. 
• The awards: The Telly Awards honors excellence in video and television across all screens and is judged by leaders from platforms like Adobe, Netflix, Dow Jones, Nickelodeon, and many more. 

View the complete list of winners HERE. 

LIVE! at Turnbow is back again this Thursday, May 26, and two great acts are lined up for the evening.

• Performers: The opening musical act will be Tony Redman, one of the top performers in today’s blues scene and a guitar player with an expressive vocal style and a high-energy live set. The headliner is The Jeff Horton Band, a six-piece American Blues Band that fuses “hard-hitting grooves and guitar licks that singe.”
• Evening of music, food & drink: LIVE! at Turnbow is a free concert series at Walter Turnbow Park where the community can listen to live, outdoor music while enjoying a bite to eat or drink in the Downtown Outdoor Dining District.  Music starts at 6:30p, and in the event of inclement weather, concerts will be rescheduled to the following Sunday. Check this Facebook page for updates.

Learn more HERE.

It’s almost Memorial Day, which means a three-day weekend for most of us! There is so much potential out there for play and adventure in Northwest Arkansas and just beyond. 

• Make your weekend: Finding NWA is an excellent resource for all things outdoors in and around NWA. There are plenty of opportunities to hike, camp, climb, float, bike, walk, you name it, all over. And you can sift through it all right here. 
• Whatever your vibe: Find exclusive places to camp in the area through local platform Explore Eden and find the perfect hike through Hiking Project. Whether you choose to float or camp or stay at home and get rest, we hope it's a good time.

Tag us on social media over the weekend and show us your adventure! We love to see it!

The Razorback Outdoor Track and Field NCAA West Preliminary Rounds start today at John McDonnell Field on the University of Arkansas campus and go through Saturday, May 28. 

• Round 1-2: There will be 117 institutions competing in the rounds this week, the first two of the NCAA Championships. The top 12 in each event will advance to the semifinal and final, held in Oregon in June.
• Events: The Razorbacks will have 49 (Women & Men) entries in the regional field with 45 athletes competing in 36 events. The events with Razorback entries include a 100m(W), 400m(W), 800m(W&M), 1,500m(W), 5,000m(W&M), 10,000m(M), pole vault(W), 110m hurdles(M), long jump(M), and hammer(M). 

Get tickets HERE.

In an effort to actualize a national goal of net-zero carbon emissions, the U.S. Department of Energy is awarding $53m in grants to 210 small businesses in 38 states, and Bentonville startup FR8relay was one of them! 

• Improving trucking: FR8relay’s novel mobility solutions are on their way to reducing emissions, increasing mobility energy productivity, increasing truck utilization, vastly improving truck driving jobs, and creating economic development opportunities for economically distressed communities.
• Category: FR8relay will receive $206,468 under the subtopic: Vehicle Technologies — Energy Efficiency in Emergency Mobility Systems (EEMS): Developing and Applying Novel Mobility Solutions for Underserved Disadvantaged Communities. 

Learn more HERE.