Ribbon was cut for 2024’s Knife Show on the gym’s stage at 9:00 a.m. Attendees could then see the 28 smiths who had come from all over the region displaying their craftsmanship and offering their knives, hatchets and other items for sale in warm comfort. Among the smiths with their wares on the display were Lin Rhea, Ben Seward, J.M Stevens, Ricardo Vilar, Thomas Franklin, Cass Stanford, Brandon Marvel, Michael Cahill, Randy Caston, Hershel Janes, J.R. Cook, Shane Frank, Adam Mille, Bob Erwin, Jim Bob Lamb, Lee Parsons, Henry Walker and many others.
A line formed of those who sought autographs and a little facetime with Forged In Fire’s Doug Marcaida, making his third appearance at the festival. Marcaida, who has acted as a judge on the long-running History Channel show about the craft of knife- and weapon-making, was not the only television personality on hand. Ricardo Vilar, a Forged in Fire winner and instructor at the University of Arkansas-Hope-Texarkana James Black school could also be seen displaying his work at a table.
Jason Knight, a knife-maker hailing from South Carolina and taught at Old Washington was also at the Knife Show Saturday. In late morning, he presented a talk entitled “The Bladesmith Journey.” On Forged in Fire he appeared on two seasons as a judge. Also among the knife-makers at the show was Forged in Fire winner Randy Caston. Henry Walker, who makes knives in Hulbert, Oklahoma, another Forged winner, displayed dozens of implements.
Three-time Naked and Afraid survivalist Melissa Miller also made the trip to Old Washington with a presentation on wilderness survival in the later morning and a talk on her experiences in Ecuador, the Florida Everglades and South Africa for the Discovery Channel reality show.
Oakwood plaques in the shape of Arkansas and branded in the insignia of the festival were awarded to knife makers who won competitions in their respective categories. Best Historically Inspired went to Lin Rhea. Best Damascus went to Lee Parsons. Best Hunter Knife went to Ricardo Vilar. Best Kitchen went to Thomas Franklin and Ben Seward, who had a very good day, won Best Bowie and Best in Show.
At noon in the WPA Gym, Liton Beasa was announced as the 2024 Arkansas Living Treasure for his contribution to the craft of canoe building. A member of Arkansas’ Marshallese community, Beasa was cited for “honing, sharing and preserving the art of canoe carving, a craft passed down through generations” by Shea Lewis, Arkansas’ Secretary of the Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism.
Just outside and west of the big tent, Doug Marcaida got the afternoon events started with a demonstration of knife-handling techniques against several watermelons hung by ropes from scaffolding that each sustained fatal cuts after Marcaida’s impressive stabs, swings and slices.
After this, inside the tent, perhaps the biggest event of the day was the Arkansas Knife Cutting Championship which began at 2:00 p.m with 11 knife-makers putting their Bowie Knives through their paces. The contest required each knife-maker to chop a two by four piece of plywood in two, cut the end of a dangling rope off into a bucket below, slice a shotgun shell perched on a wooden surface, slice a playing card, slice apart a much stronger rope and then slice apart three full bottles of Gatorade.
The winner this year, taking the belt from last year’s champion Jim Bob Lamb, was Thomas Franklin. Ben Seward took second place and J.M. Stevens third. A standing-room only crowd huddled under the tent as a steady rain came down amid the sounds of knowing thwacks at the wood and sizzling sweeps of the Bowies.
An auction of many knives, keepsake items and displays took place after the cutting. Among the items was a display of items owned and used by the late R. Lee Ermey, the hilariously foul-mouthed drill instructor in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, tech advisor for several movies and host of the Outdoor Channel’s GunnyTime.
Despite the stormy morning, knife aficionados who dressed warm and brought their ponchos were in abundance up in Historic Washington Park Saturday and took advantage of the chance to see the artistry, meet their heroes and watch the Bowies get used as their makers intended.
Above photo by Christy Burns.
