A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas

Bentonville Bikefest didn’t get big by only talking to bike people. We’re joined by Kenny Belaey, world champion trials athlete, Red Bull athlete, and the founder of Bentonville Bikefest, to explain how a week of riding in Northwest Arkansas turns into something closer to a true festival: races, exhibits, demos, kids zones, and a constant nudge to stop spectating and start participating.

We dig into what Kenny saw early on that made Bentonville different from other mountain bike destinations. The trails and the Razorback Greenway matter, but so does the unique concentration of corporate brands and suppliers in the region. Kenny shares how that sponsor ecosystem can fuel action sports the way mainstream brands fuel major leagues, helping Bikefest grow in production, reach, and ambition while still feeling welcoming and local.

Then we get into what’s new for year six, including Red Bull Double Down. Kenny breaks down the format: a BMX rider and a mountain biker drop in together, time their speed, cross mid-air, and bet it all on one jaw-dropping trick. We also talk about why e-bikes and cargo bikes belong at a bike festival, how coaching helps beginners get comfortable fast, and what we hope you take home: the sense that you might not need your car for every trip, plus the excitement of finding the right bike for your life.

If you’re planning a Bentonville trip, searching for a mountain bike festival, or just curious how a town becomes “bike-centered,” this conversation is your roadmap. Subscribe for more stories from our new American town, and if you enjoyed this one, share it with a friend and leave a review.

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.  

A museum can add square footage without changing how people feel inside it. Crystal Bridges is doing the opposite. We talk with Moira Anderson, Director of Public Programs for Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Momentary, about the June 6-7 opening that doubles gallery space and introduces a major new Learning and Engagement Hub built for rest, play, and hands-on creativity. If you have ever thought, “Museums aren’t for me,” this conversation is for you!

We get into what’s actually new: studio spaces including ceramics, a community lounge that welcomes you before you ever pick up a brochure, and performance and gathering rooms that make the museum feel like a place to stay, not just pass through. Moira explains why access means more than free admission, and how drop-in art making is designed for the person who has never touched a paintbrush, the family member who gets tired halfway through, and the first-time visitor who needs a clear signal that they belong. 

Then we preview the celebration weekend: creating alongside artists, a bike-powered pottery wheel, screen printing, and musicians from Jazz at Lincoln Center performing among the artworks and in the new Commons. We also talk about Bentonville, Arkansas as a fast-growing destination, the way Crystal Bridges blends art, architecture, and the Ozark landscape, and how programming connects across Crystal Bridges and the Momentary, including what’s coming next at the Momentary. 

If you’re planning a trip or looking for the best things to do in Bentonville, this will help you map a day that feels inspiring instead of exhausting. Subscribe, share this with a friend who “isn’t an art person,” and leave a review with the part of the museum experience 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.  

We sit down with Lawson Craddock, former Olympian and longtime pro road cyclist, right after he visited Bentonville with his wife, two kids, and his parents. Without the pressure of racing or training, Lawson gets to experience the town the way most of us do, looking for great rides, great food, and a simple way to spend the day together. What he finds is a place that’s shockingly easy to navigate, packed with trails, and built for making memories.

We talk through the full trip: driving, ending up in a walkable downtown, renting e-bikes, and discovering how Bentonville’s cycling infrastructure supports a range of speeds and comfort levels. 

From exploring museums, the farmers market, Onyx Coffee lines, and ice cream on the square, there is something for everyone! 

A New American Town is here to help you plan your trip to Bentonville, Arkansas, with 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.  

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.  

Meet Tamara Keefe, founder of Clementine's Ice Cream, as she breaks down what separates truly great ice cream from the rest — think small-batch production, all-natural ingredients, and a butterfat percentage that actually changes how flavor lingers. Tamara shares why Bentonville's walkable dining scene and the Walmart Home Office campus made the perfect home for her Midwest-born brand, and what she wants every guest to feel when they walk out the door. Spoiler: it's a 15-minute vacation in a scoop. 

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.  

Beth Bobbitt records her final conversation as host and hands The New American Town to Graham Cobb, a strategist who’s worn plenty of Bentonville hats and still talks about the city with fresh-eyed wonder. Graham shares the story of his first real Bentonville visit in 2017, which started with a bike and gets more interesting from there... We dig into his consulting work at Paceline Strategies and pull back the curtain on the #BecauseBentonville and why it resonated beyond marketing. Graham also lays out his vision for the podcast and some fun facts: he was in a punk rock band!? Listen in for more!

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.  

A 134-acre campus where you can wander from museum galleries to forest trails, step into Heartland Whole Health Institute, and end up on a rooftop garden at a medical school sounds in Bentonville, Arkansas. We sit down with Jennifer Dunham, Senior Director of Communications at Art and Wellness Enterprises, to share an insider’s guide to the Crystal Bridges Campus for art and wellness and how to experience it even if you’re short on time.

We break down how the campus organizations fit together, from Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Momentary to the behind-the-scenes work of Art Bridges Foundation and the Alice Walton Foundation and talk about the campus “pillars”: art, architecture, nature, education, and wellness. We close with what’s coming next, including the Crystal Bridges expansion and more. Learn more about each entity here: Home - Art & Wellness Enterprises

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.  

We sit down with paracyclist Jason Macomb as he readies himself for the 2026 USA Paracycling Road National Championships in Bentonville, where the time trial and road race decide who gets to wear the stars and stripes all year, including on the international stage. We get specific about preparation. Jason walks me through a training week, from long zone 2 endurance rides to full-gas time trial efforts, plus the less-visible work like recovery and nutrition. 
Then we zoom out to what makes paracycling so compelling. Jason breaks down paracycling classifications, the different bikes and a major misconception: much of this adaptive cycling equipment isn’t off the shelf. It often takes custom engineering, smart adaptations, and constant experimentation. He also shares a proud career moment from the Pan Am Games and tells fans exactly how to spot him on course.

Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves bikes, and leave a review, then tell us: what part of racing do you think is hardest to train for?

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.  

Join us with John Sage founder and CEO of Sage Traveling and Accessible Travel Solutions to explore how inclusive design, empathetic training, and honest information transform guest experience and the bottom line. We dig into the three pillars of accessible travel—facilities, customer service, and information—and show how aligning all three removes risk, builds confidence, and drives bookings. You’ll hear why the cruise industry is ahead, how certification and staff training create repeatable excellence, and where hotels can catch up despite fragmented ownership. We also talk candidly about the industry’s blind spot: marketing. If 20% of the population never sees targeted messaging or detailed accessibility pages, brands are leaving money and trust on the table.

We bring it home with practical steps any destination can take without a huge budget: start with training. John highlights opportunities for meetings and events, the economic power of seniors traveling in shoulder seasons. Along the way, we spotlight Bentonville’s promising foundation—world-class museums, trail culture, and a growing commitment to clarity—and how better information can turn interest into confident trips.

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.  

We sit down with Claudia Carrión Rojos from Club America Femenil to trace her path from playing as a kid to helping build one of the most ambitious women’s football (soccer) projects in Mexico. We preview the Golden Clash in Northwest Arkansas and talk about how soccer connects cultures.

The club’s goal is to become the best in the world so fans will experience history in the making with the Golden Clash on March 28 in Fayetteville. We talk about what fans can expect on matchday from talent to atmosphere and how soccer brings Mexican and US communities together by investing in future generations. A special thanks to our friends at Experience Fayetteville and University of Arkansas for their work to host Club America. For tickets, visit: Golden Clash: Club America vs. Tigres | University of Arkansas

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.  

What happens when two artists fall in love over bikes, move to a trail town, and decide to build a better way to move families and elders? We sit down with Elysia Springer of Bentonville-based Gnargo Bike Co to share the story of a pandemic garage project that grew into a community-powered company.

Elysia unpacks how early prototypes and human-centered designs transformed into sustainable transportation, local manufacturing, and practical urban mobility. And then emerges the success of the trishaw. We dive into the design challenges of steering, curb handling, and wheelchair access, and how Gnargo brought an American-made option to communities sidelined by import delays and tariffs. Throughout, we explore Gnargo’s circular model: paying community bike shops for donor frames, turning scrap into cargo haulers, and funding local chapters through trishaw sales. Gnargo's ask is simple —use rebates to shop local and handmade, and help build a mobility ecosystem where joy is a design spec. Learn more at Gnargobike.co.

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.