Celebrating Heritage Trades: 4^th Annual James Black’s Bowie Heritage Festival Scheduled for April 25-26, 2025

The City of Washington, Arkansas, in partnership with the University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana Foundation and Historic Washington State Park, will host the 4^th Annual James Black’s Bowie Heritage Festival on April 25-26, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The festival will celebrate James Black, the bladesmith who forged the first Bowie Knife for Jim Bowie in Washington, and showcase a variety of Arkansas heritage crafts and trades.

The festival will be held throughout the city of Washington, including the James Black School of Bladesmithing and Historic Trades, the W.P.A. Gymnasium, the Farmers Market Pavilion, the courtyard of the 1874 Courthouse, the Washington Methodist Church, and the Blacksmith Shop.

A star-studded lineup of celebrity guests will attend the festival for guests to meet, including Forged in Fire celebrities Doug Marcaida, J. Neilson, and Ricardo Vilar. The festival will also include actor, whip and sword master, Anthony De Longis (www.delongis.com) whose work includes “Indiana Jones”, “Roadhouse”, and training Catwoman in “Batman Returns”. Weapons demonstrator JW Wiseman and several world-class bladesmiths will also be on hand, showcasing their knives and telling stories behind each blade.

The festival will feature exhibits and live forging challenges, a knife show, and the James Black Arkansas State Cutting Competition Championship organized by “National Living Treasure”, “Arkansas Living Treasure”, and Mastersmith Jerry Fisk of Nashville, Arkansas.

The Arkansas Arts Council Division of Arkansas Heritage will announce the 2025 “Arkansas Living Treasure” and recognize previous recipients on April 26th. Knifemakers will be selling and showcasing their work, Longbow makers and others will be teaching techniques of their trades. Other folk artisans will contribute to the festival by displaying and selling heritage crafts.

Re-enactors will narrate the story of Jim Bowie’s travel to Washington to commission James Black to create a knife to meet his specifications. Visitors can also learn how to forge a blade at the James Black’s School of Bladesmithing and Historic Trades as well as the Blacksmith Shop, where the legend of the Bowie Knife lives on.

Guests will experience a variety of heritage/folk arts and crafts, including bowmaking and knapping in the unique atmosphere of a historically preserved community. Visitors will also have the opportunity to learn from the past and enhance their appreciation for many genres of Arkansas heritage. Visitors can tour historic buildings, take surrey rides, and participate in many other festival activities. A variety of food vendors will also be part of the festival.

The festival will showcase a display of authentic James Black crafted knives and other antique Bowie knives hosted by Mark Zalesky. Mark will also offer free knife evaluations for visitors, so bring a knife or two to be evaluated by one of the best knife historians in the country.

Admission is free. Parking for the festival will be $5.00.

For more information, call 870-648-5084 or visit bowieknifefest.com.

Download a festival brochure here: 2025 Bowie Festival Brochure