PRESS RELEASE: Ozark Moonshine & Music Festival donates over $25,000 to children’s advocacy, announces 2025 date

CLINTON, AR, February 17, 2025 – Organizers of the Ozark Moonshine & Music Festival presented the Children’s Advocacy Alliance of Central Arkansas with a donation of $25,000 from proceeds of their third annual festival in November. These funds will directly support vital programs bringing hope and healing to child victims of abuse and neglect in the community.

An additional $856 was donated directly to the Van Buren County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), bringing the 3-year total raised by the festival for children’s advocacy to over $58,000.

The recent festival, held for the first time at the Van Buren County Fairgrounds in Clinton, featured a total of twenty live performances over two days – including country music headliner “Lonestar” – and was attended by visitors from as far away as Washington and Alaska.

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“We cannot emphasize how big a change it was to move from a shopping center parking lot to a full-sized events venue,” says Ginger Simpson, CEO. “We are so proud to call the Fairgrounds our new home, and supremely grateful for the support of the Fairgrounds Association, the city of Clinton, and local volunteers who worked tirelessly to make this transition possible for our growing festival.”

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The event’s revamped format included the addition of “Moonshiner’s Cove,” which hosted popular tasting sessions with Arkansas craft distillers, plus activities highlighting traditional Ozark arts and heritage. New attractions included interactive blacksmithing demonstrations, archery, living history, music classes, and encounters with stars of TV’s “Moonshiners” and “Master Distillers.” Notable influencers from the “Moonshine Militia” community were also on site as part of a hurricane relief initiative.  

From the festival: LONESTAR performed live on stage as the festival’s Saturday night headliner; attractions included live blacksmithing and traditional crafts and Wernick method music classes.

The organization – a 501(c)3 nonprofit – has already taken its first steps onto the national stage, after garnering a prestigious “Community Ties” Giving Program grant from Union Pacific last year. True to its mission, the festival seeks to honor and preserve the complex history of distilling and folk culture in the Ozarks, while fostering kinship and compassion within the community. 

This year’s festival will be held Saturday, November 1, 2025 at the Fairgrounds – the day following “Scare on the Square” in downtown Clinton. More details will be announced soon. For information, visit http://ozarkmoonshinefest.org.

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The Ozark Moonshine & Music Festival is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to preserving our Arkansas moonshine heritage through celebration and education, while bringing hope & healing to children.