BENTONVILLE — The monthly First Friday event has been drawing big crowds to the downtown Bentonville Square all year, but it plans to close out the season on its highest note yet.

The event, scheduled for 3 to 8 p.m. Friday and themed “Holiday Cheer” will be so big, in fact, the streets in the heart of the downtown area will be closed by 6 p.m. today to accommodate for the extensive setup. That setup includes space for a number of special guests, including the Bumble Bee Camaro from the movie “Transformers,” “Rocky the Robot,” “SpongeBobSquarepants,” “Dora the Explorer” and “Barbie.”

Wal-Mart and its many vendors have teamed up with Downtown Bentonville Inc. to create “Toyland,” the headlining act for the fi nal First Friday of the season.

“We’re going to be bringing 500 linear feet of toys and interactive displays to downtown Bentonville,” said Laura Phillips, Wal-Mart vice president of toys. “Walmart Toyland is a great way for parents and kids to interact with this season’s hottest toys.”

Among these interactive displays will be Lego World, Star Wars, Playskool, Hot Wheels, Zhu Zhu Hamsters, Bakugan, G.I. Joe, the Littlest Pet Shop and may more. But it’s not just about bringing the toys to First Friday-goers, as organizers are encouraging attendees to bring new toys to donate at a designated area on the square. In addition, participating vendors will donate $12,000 in toys to The Salvation Army onFriday evening, while Wal-Mart will contribute $1,000 to the local Salvation Army.

“It’s about more than just Toyland,” said Daniel Hintz, executive director of Downtown Bentonville Inc. “We’re excited First Friday will be generating support for the Salvation Army and helping so many kids. It’s really a community e◊ort, through First Friday.”

The Toyland portion of First Friday will kick o◊at 3 p.m., as will another special attraction. Stunt bicyclists will wow the crowd with their skills on the square from 3 p.m. and on, with a scheduled Observed Trials performance at 5 p.m. The trials are meant to showcase and draw attention to the weekend Slaughter Pen Bike Jam events scheduled for the nearby single-track mountain bike park and BMX course. Riders from a six-state areaand beyond are expected to compete this weekend.

“This will be one our biggest Downtown Bentonville events this year,” Hintz said. “These things just kept getting bigger, and we have plans to expand things even further when we return with our 2010 lineup.”

At 5 p.m., the whole gambit of events will kick into gear with the performance stage in front of the Wal-Mart Visitors’ Center hosting TheOneUps, a band that cranks out classic and familiar video game songs in a jazz/funk fusion style.

Later in the evening, Bentonville Mayor BobMcCaslin will pardon the First Friday turkey, and the Downtown Pilgrim will host a turkey gobble contest. Additional music will include the classic rock group Identity Crisis on the Benton County Courthouse steps and Pickin’ on the Square at the nearby Trike Theatre.

Several local eateries will peddle their wares as Basil’s Cafe, the NorthWest Arkansas Community College’s Culinary Arts and Hospitality program, Big Guy Subs, Carsten Festival Foods, Swalty Kernal, Hot Dog Alley will join the lineup of permanent restaurants on the Bentonville Square.

News, Pages 1 on 11/05/2009

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