In partnership with A24, the Bentonville Film Festival, and Fayetteville Film Fest, Minari, an award-nominated film based in NWA, will premiere locally today, Feb. 11, at the 112 Drive-In in Fayetteville at 7pm.

• Walking Dead actor Steven Yeun will star in the film directed by Lee Isaac Chung. The film is a semi-autobiographical depiction of Chung’s life as a Korean immigrant growing up in the rural South during the 1980s. -5 News
• The event will also be streamed online and will include a pre-recorded Q&A with Chung and ACS co-founder & director Jeff Nichols (who also directed the Arkansas film MUD starring Matthew McConaughey).
• Minari racked up TEN Critics Choice Awards nominations, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Acting Ensemble.
• Visit HERE for tickets.

Finding NWA recently posted a list of five major announcements surrounding the cycling community in NWA. WARNING: you'll want to gear up and hit the trails after reading this.

• First Bike City in the US: Fayetteville has been awarded the designation of Bike City by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world governing body of cycling.
• Bike Match NWA: Need a bike? Have a bike to donate? Bike Match NWA is a peer-to-peer matching service to get people on bikes.
• Cycling Retreat: Scotti and Ernie Lechuga, a husband-wife team that competed professionally in cycling, are hosting a cycling retreat that will serve as a hub for local cyclists and a destination for those traveling to Arkansas to ride bikes on Feb. 10. More info HERE.
• Tokyo Olympics Qualifier: Fayetteville will be the location for the Tokyo Olympic Games Qualifiers on April 9-11 and April 16-18, 2021.
• 2021 Bentonville Bike Fest: Kenny Belaey, multiple Trial Bike World Champion, will host the 2021 Bentonville Bike Fest June 18-20. The festival is free to enter and is the perfect opportunity to chill out with friends and family while being surrounded by free demo bikes, world-class action, and access to some of the best trails around. -Finding NWA

A new breakfast-brunch-bakery joint is now open in downtown Fayetteville - located in a space all too familiar with NWA locals.

• Wake and Bake just recently opened its doors and can be found right off Dickson Street in the same building as West End.

• The restaurant is owned by those behind Nomad’s in south Fayetteville, and the menu focuses on breakfast sandwiches, baked goods, and other items. -Fayetteville Flyer

• Wake and Bake will share the same space as West End during the day. Per their Facebook page, Wake and Bake will be open 9am to 3pm on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Beginning this year, Wilson Park in Fayetteville will undergo a series of major renovations and improvements, including the addition of a new social hub at the center of the park, new trails, bridges, and restrooms.

• The goal is to provide more access points to the creek similar to the way Niokaska Creek is incorporated into Gulley Park, and to update some older amenities, park officials said.
• Planning Superintendent Ted Jack said when the idea for the project came up when updating the aging restroom building, so his team instead decided to capitalize on the centralized location of the building and add more amenities for park users.
• While plans are still being drawn up, Jack said that stream could also include pools and bridge replacement is coming soon.
• In 2019, the City Council approved a proposal to apply for an 80/20 matching grant through the Arkansas Recreational Trails Program for a $216,000 award, but future grants will likely be needed to complete the project, Jack mentioned. -Fayetteville Flyer

Obiigo, a Fayetteville-based startup company, just launched an app which allows users to receive bids for vehicle maintenance and repairs from independent automotive shops in the area.

• Obiigo is 1st automotive repair bidding app built by customers, for customers. Their vision is to level the playing field for consumers and independent shop owners. -Obiigo
• How it works: Users can enter their vehicle information and service request or fault code into the app, and participating shops offer bids within 30 minutes. The app will then link to a Bluetooth device that reads the fault codes. After receiving a bid from a local shop owner, users select where want to complete the repair.-Talk Business & Politics
• Win-Win: “The real genesis is we’re trying to bring the repair facilities and the car owners together so that they can work in unison,” said CEO John Harmon.
• The company is quickly growing - Obiigo has participating shops in NWA, Houston and Phoenix and Little Rock shops are in the works. Within 30 days of launch, Harmon expects to have more than 50 participating shops.