File photo/NWA Democrat-Gazette/J.T. WAMPLER Jerry and Julie Moody of Fayetteville pose Dec. 31 with the lighted hog used in the Last Night Fayetteville hog drop countdown to midnight on the Fayetteville Square. Last Night is taking a hiatus this year.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Anyone looking for a hog dropping on the square this New Year's Eve will be there a while.

Organizers with the annual Last Night Fayetteville celebration decided to put the event on hiatus this year. Lauren Embree, executive director of the nonprofit Northwest Arkansas Creative Arts Network, said a low turnout last year because of cold weather advisories and declining sponsorship made hosting a proper festival unfeasible.

Web watch The Northwest Arkansas Creative Arts Network can be found at nwacan.org.

Typically, organizers use leftover money from the previous year's event to help pay for the next one, Embree said. Ticket sales significantly slowed in the days leading up to last year's festival, she said.

"We just barely, barely made it into the black last year," she said. "I think that was a wake-up call for us."

Plus, the all-volunteer staff and their families could use a break, she said. Getting artists, musicians, contractors, fireworks, vendors and everything else associated with the event lined up takes months of planning. With Christmas the week before, that meant not being able to really spend holiday time with family, Embree said.

"I don't think that people fully understand just the amount of work that's involved with pulling off these community events," she said.

The Creative Arts Network took over the event from First Night Fayetteville in 2011 and changed the name. The First Night Fayetteville organization started the event in the late 1990s.

Hannah Withers, owner of Maxine's Tap Room on Block Avenue near the square, said her business usually has a New Year's Eve celebration with a light-up dance floor. She said Last Night Fayetteville probably generated some foot traffic to her place, and she'd wait and see what happens this year.

Withers knows what it's like to put on a community event, run a business and juggle personal responsibilities at the same time. Withers since 2011 has helped put on Block Street Block Party, which also went on hiatus this year. Springfest, a downtown staple for years, took a break this year as well.

Organizers with all three events have announced their intentions to come back next year.

Withers suggested creating a downtown-specific organization with the sole purpose to promote and support events and businesses on and around Dickson Street and the square.

"The real deal is that our downtown is changing so quickly, and it's growing so rapidly, that events can't be run on a volunteer basis anymore," she said. "We don't have an organization to back us up to help us get that stuff done."

The city's tourism bureau, Experience Fayetteville, has a mission to advertise and promote the entire city. Other Northwest Arkansas cities, such as Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville, have downtown-focused nonprofit groups established in addition to citywide tourism bureaus.

Other New Year's Eve events will be on or near downtown. The Blue Masquerade ball, which happened at different locations before taking a hiatus, will return to Pinpoint on Block Avenue. Arkansauce is headlining a New Year's Eve show at George's Majestic Lounge. Starlight Skatium on North College Avenue will host an all-night skate. Late-night venues around town also will be open.

Embree said Last Night Fayetteville organizers are open to donations and support in order to have a festival next year.

In the meantime, the famous illuminated hog that has rung in the new year in place of a ball, will be safe at a Creative Arts Network board member's garage.

"If anybody does want to reach out about being involved in some way, I'm more than happy to have that conversation," Embree said.

NW News on 12/21/2018