Vinyl convention at Benton Event Center tomorrow

The Arkansas Vinyl Convention, hosted by Retro Rose, will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow at the Benton Event Center.

This is the fourth convention for the businesses, who recently celebrated its fourth anniversary in Benton.

"About a year in, we just wanted to kind of provide something to the vinyl community and just put on a big event for everyone to show up and buy, sell and trade records," said owner Audra McAnally-Parsons.

"They do conventions in other states and I've never been to one, but I liked the idea of it, so I implemented one and we put our own take on it."

Over twenty vendors — from states like Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and more — will set up tables full of albums. McAnally-Parsons said each vendor could bring anywhere from 300 to a couple thousand records. All genres, from country and pop, to metal and rock and roll, will be represented. In addition to the vinyl, CDs, which are a hot commodity this year, music memorabilia, and audio equipment will be available.

Kevin Cruise from 100.3 The Edge will be broadcasting live through the event. Further, McAnally-Parsons said that there will be giveaways throughout the day; everything from concert tickets, to signed albums and collectible items and T-shirts is up for grabs. This will be done every thirty minutes to an hour.

"All you have to do to enter is buy a ticket at the door," she said.

Tickets are $6 at the door; kids 12 and under get in free. The VIP option, which purchases the ability for early shopping from 9 to 10 a.m., along with a badge and commemorative T-shirt, costs $50.

McAnally-Parsons said that in recent years, records have gotten a huge boost in popularity, and she hopes that the Vinyl Convention will provide a place for people to bond over that shared experience.

"My opinion of why they got popular again is that everything really just became too at the palm of our hands. In a sense, streaming everything loses a lot of the essence behind an artist and the album itself," she said. "When Covid happened, everyone was looking for my physical forms of media. You're really able to go out and support your artist and build an entire discography of everything you love. And then when people started doing it, they realized how much better vinyl sounds compared to streaming. It's way more of an experience versus pulling out your phone and turning it on. The whole record buying and playing experience is one of its kind."