A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas

Visit Bentonville
  • 4.8 (22)
  • Places & Travel
  • Updated Biweekly

Tune into Visit Bentonville’s podcast series for a weekly update on all things Bentonville, Arkansas. You’ll hear captivating stories and updates from our city—connecting you with the locals that make this town worth visiting.  

  1. 3d ago

    How Two NWA Cities Are Making Accessibility a Priority for Travelers

    We sat down with the CEOs of Experience Fayetteville, Ryan Hauck, and Visit Bentonville, Kalene Griffith, to talk about their most recent partnership with Wheel the World to become more accessible, friendly cities.  Wheel the World does not just focus on being ADA-compliant but also highlights what local hotels and restaurants are doing well in accommodating not just travelers with physical disabilities, but also sensory needs as well.  A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.   You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.

  2. Sep 4

    How Ari Bikes Makes the Bike-Buying Experience Personalized with Marcus Wirsig

    We sat down with Marcus Wirsig of Ari Bikes and talked about how Ari Bikes focuses on making the bike-buying experience personalized and customized. Not only does Ari have a customer-first model, but they are also focused on being involved in the local biking community.  A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.   You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.

  3. Aug 28

    How Crystal Bridges Makes American Art Feel Welcoming To Everyone with Austen Bailly

    We sat down with Austen Bailly to discuss reimagining the permanent collection as a thematic experience, mixing time periods and media to tell the story of American art. Austen shares why integration matters, why "this place is for you," and how a piece like "Two Grey Hills" connects art, family, and economics into one story. She also explains how the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art continues to focus on making art accessible to all. A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.   You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.

  4. Aug 21

    Coming soon to Bentonville: Gateway Park with David Wright

    We sit down with David Wright from Bentonville Parks and Recreation to unpack how Bentonville, Arkansas has evolved from a place people moved to for corporate work into a destination built around outdoor recreation, arts, leisure, and real community connection. We dig into the big idea that public spaces are more than parks and trails. They are community infrastructure. David explains how intentional placemaking turns a town’s personality into something bigger than a single downtown square, and why that matters in a fast-growing city. Then we talk about how the goal of Gateway Park is to create a connected experience across multiple parks without forcing people to drive from spot to spot. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves great public spaces, and leave a review with your favorite park feature you wish every city had. A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.   You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.

  5. Aug 14

    How Northwest Arkansas Built A 40-Mile Trail That Connects Seven Cities

    A 40-mile paved trail sounds simple until you ask the real question: how do seven cities agree on a shared vision, find the money, close the gaps, and keep improving it year after year? We sit down with Tim Conklin, Executive Director of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Planning Commission, to unpack how the Razorback Greenway became the critical artery for biking, walking, rolling, and exploring Northwest Arkansas. We get specific about the forces that made it possible: regional collaboration in the 2000s, a $15 million federal TIGER grant, and major matching support from the Walton Family Foundation. Tim explains how those investments helped connect Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers, and Bentonville into a world-class trail system and why the Razorback Greenway Alliance matters for long-term maintenance, wayfinding upgrades, and future improvements like potential lighting. Then we look forward. The Razorback Greenway corridor plan shifts the conversation from “we built a trail” to “what happens along the trail.” We talk creek corridor protection, rewilding for shade and habitat, smarter stormwater approaches, safer commuter bike networks, complete streets, and how new neighborhoods can grow around an active transportation spine without losing the open spaces that define the region. If you care about bike infrastructure, trail tourism, transportation choice, or how fast-growing communities can plan better, this one is for you. Subscribe for more stories shaping Bentonville and Northwest Arkansas, share this with a friend who loves the Greenway, and leave a review telling us what upgrade you want to see next. A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.   You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.

  6. Aug 7

    Brightwater: Training the Next Generation's Chefs and Food Leaders In Northwest Arkansas

    Bentonville’s food scene didn’t get great by accident. We’re joined by Marshall Shafkowitz, Executive Director of Brightwater, to explain how Northwest Arkansas is building culinary and hospitality careers that actually meet the moment. We talk about why Brightwater is intentionally called a Center for the Study of Food rather than a traditional culinary school. The mission is bigger than teaching someone to cut, chop, and plate. Marshall breaks down Brightwater’s three pillars, food as business, food as art, and food as wellness, and how they connect to the local food system. Farmers, ranchers, distributors, restaurateurs, grocers, and customers are usually separate conversations, but Brightwater trains students to link them, understand where food comes from, and make purchasing choices that strengthen the local economy and reduce waste and carbon footprint. You’ll also hear who Brightwater serves, from high school students to learners in their 80s, plus short workforce development programs for people who want job-ready skills without a degree. We get into what “teaching the whole person” looks like in a kitchen classroom, why instructors stay industry relevant, and how Brightwater graduates quietly shape the visitor experience across Bentonville restaurants. If you want a reason to stop by, Marshall shares how the doors are open at A Street Market, with an art-filled campus vibe, outdoor spaces, and a student-run retail butcher shop with Burger Friday. Subscribe for more conversations with the people shaping Northwest Arkansas, share this with a friend who loves food and community, and leave a review so more listeners can find the show. A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.   You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.

  7. Jul 31

    Inside A 20,000 Piece Felt Convenience Store At The Momentary with Lucy Sparrow

    You’ve walked a thousand grocery aisles, but you’ve never walked one like this. We sit down with artist Lucy Sparrow, creator of The Beginning of Convenience at the Momentary in Bentonville, Arkansas, an immersive felt art installation where every shelf, freezer door, and product is handmade fabric sculpture. It’s a full supermarket world built from softness, color, and obsessive detail, and it hits that rare sweet spot of playful, uncanny, and deeply familiar. We talk about why consumer products and retail spaces became Lucy’s creative language, rooted in her own years working in shops and supermarkets. Then we zoom out to the bigger story: how “convenience” culture evolved between 1975 and 1995, as households and priorities changed and quick meals became a defining part of daily life. Along the way, we get into the power of nostalgia, why older packaging design still triggers memories, and how felt brings a childlike wonder that you can’t get from a purely realistic replica. You’ll also hear what it takes to build a museum-scale installation with over 20,000 pieces, from floor plans and color schemes to the spreadsheet-level planning behind each handcrafted item. Lucy shares details from her Walmart archives research, the sensory choices that make the space feel like a real store, and the hidden Easter eggs that keep repeat visits interesting. The exhibit is free to enter and stays up for a year, making it an easy, welcoming stop for locals and visitors alike. If you enjoy immersive museum exhibits, contemporary textile art, or the weird comfort of retail nostalgia, hit subscribe, share this with a friend who loves Bentonville, and leave us a review with the snack you hope to spot on the shelves. A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.   You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.

  8. Jul 24

    From Grassroots to Gold: Building the Foundation with USA Cycling's Gordon Harrison

    Before Gordon Harrison was Sport Development Director for USA Cycling, he was building grassroots programs across a handful of different sports, from the Learn to Skate program with USA Figure Skating to development at the Florida Panthers' practice facility, plus stints in soccer and baseball. That cross-sport background shapes everything he does now: get the fundamentals right early, and everything that follows, from the Olympics to a lifetime of recreational riding, gets better. We sat down with Gordon to talk about the USA Cycling Regional Development Camp and Education Summit coming to Bentonville August 7-8. He breaks down what a solid cycling foundation actually looks like: balance, power, cornering, and braking. Riders build those skills hands-on across Bentonville's world-class trails and skills park, working drops, turns, small jumps, and line selection, then head into the classroom at Thaden School to reinforce it all with race strategy sessions and direct access to USA Cycling staff. Rich Drew leads the coaching alongside a team of instructors, and athletes even learn to service and clean their own bikes. The event isn't just for athletes. Parents get their own education track, with speakers from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and USADA giving families a real look at the system their riders are entering. It's co-ed, open to all disciplines, and includes lunch both days plus a Friday night dinner. Gordon also talks about why Bentonville, with its accessibility and trail infrastructure, made sense as a host for this kind of event, and what it means for the sport to bring athletes, parents, coaches, and commissaires together in one place. Registration is open now at USACycling.org — search Regional Camp to reserve a spot. A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas. From guides, events, and restaurant highlights. Find all this and more at visitbentonville.com and subscribe to our newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and LinkedIn.   You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, CastBox, Podcast Casts, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and Podcast Addict.

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Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
22 Ratings

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Tune into Visit Bentonville’s podcast series for a weekly update on all things Bentonville, Arkansas. You’ll hear captivating stories and updates from our city—connecting you with the locals that make this town worth visiting.  

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