Split the hand and double down on Florida. Discount airline, Allegiant Air, announced yesterday it will add two more nonstop flights to its existing flight portfolio from XNA - St. Petersburg and Fort Lauderdale, Florida

• The deets: Nonstop flights will operate twice weekly from XNA. St. Pete will begin on July 2 with Fort Lauderdale making the maiden voyage October 8, 2021.
• $38: The fare for a one-way ticket to either location.
• Count 'em: With this announcement and the Breeze announcement earlier this week, XNA will now have nonstops to Destin, Orlando, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, and Fort Lauderdale. Get ready Florida, NWA is coming for you.

You can read more about the announcement HERE.

Interform, formally known as NWA Fashion Week, is hosting Emerge Fashion Show this Saturday in downtown Springdale, on Emma Avenue.

• What is Emerge? Arkansas' first designer residency program built to grow and expand the talent pool of fashion designers in Arkansas.
• The show Saturday will kick off Interform's month-long exhibition experience, ASSEMBLY, in downtown Springdale. Outdoor events and activities begin at 11a, and the runway show starts later that evening.

You can listen to the full interview HERE.

The most recent sales tax report from March shows that Benton and Washington county consumers spent big - boosting sales tax revenue by 32.6% across the Big 4 - Bentonville, Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale.

• Break it down: The total revenue topped out at $8.252 million, compared to $6.22 million in the year-ago period. You may be thinking the large increase was just due to lapping COVID-19 shutdowns last year; however, total revenue in 2019, a normal year, was only $5.910 million.
• How good? To highlight the jump further, revenue was up 40% over just last month's report.
• Team effort: Each of the cities generated double-digit revenue gains compared to a year ago. The cities with a heavier hospitality and entertainment presence are positioned well for an even stronger second half of the year with many venues likely opening to full capacity by then.

You can dive into the numbers by checking out the full report HERE.

Butterfield stage in the newly constructed Railyard Park in downtown Rogers is the newest outdoor music venue in NWA, and it's coming hot out of the gate this summer with a bevy of shows in its new concert series, Railyard Live.

• Are we there yet? Almost! The first show in the lineup will christen the new stage on June 5th.
• Say more: The stage is an outdoor pavilion for live music events that can hold more people than you've been around in the past year. Located in the Rogers Railyard Entertainment District, you'll be able to enjoy the downtown vibe and an adult beverage at the venue.
• 17: The number of free, live concerts scheduled for this summer. You can find the full lineup here.

You can learn more about the live music series and reserve your free tickets HERE.

Mi casa, su casa...but only if you have a short term rental (STR) license in Fayetteville. A STR is the leasing out of a furnished residential dwelling on a short-term basis, generally less than a month (think Airbnb or Vrbo).

• Rewind: On April 20, 2021, Fayetteville City Council voted to enact legislation governing STRs in order to regulate these types of rental units within the city. City Council provided a six-month start-up period to allow operators to come into compliance by November 21, 2021.  
• The ordinance, which went into effect May 21, 2021, requires that all STR operators secure a business license. Business licenses may be applied for online at www.fayetteville-ar.gov/strbusinesslicense.

You can read more about the new license on the city's website, HERE.