Bono, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Feb. 24, 2025 – A Punk Rock Bazaar hosted by a local musician is coming to Bono in late March to bring the genre to Northeast Arkansas.
It will feature live performances and music, including performances by groups such as Kain’s Alibi, of Jonesboro; Blanket of M out of Tyler, TX; and The Gunpowder Plot, out of Memphis; as well as a variety of vendors.
Hosted by 33-year-old Rewde Scythe, the frontman of Jonesboro-based band The Accomplices, the event will take place March 22 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Scared City Productions located at 7060 AR-228 in Bono. Scythe’s band will not perform at the event.
The bazaar will be for all ages and collect donations for military veterans, homeless punks, and Romani families in need, Scythe said.
“It is an all-ages show. You can bring your families,” Scythe said. “I want people to bring their families because my child is a small punk child as well. She is my little queen goth punk girl, and I will love her forever. And of course, I want her to be able to bring her friends and their families.”
Scythe said the day of the bazaar was chosen with purpose.
“The event is on March 22, which is an actual holiday. I looked it up because I wanted to find an actual day that made sense, and its National Goof Off Day,” Scythe said. “So, you can get back in touch with yourself as a child, come out to the Punk Rock Bazaar and remember who you wanted to be and be that person now.”
For the idea behind the event, Scythe said growing up around the Jonesboro area, there wasn’t much of a punk scene.
“I went to [the scene in] St. Louis in 2010 and that was awesome,” Scythe said. “I decided then I was going to bring that here to Jonesboro and I liked how they did it in Memphis. It was cool that it was a free show, which was cool and encouraged you to spend more money with the vendors. However, I wanted to take that a step further and I made this a benefit thing.”
The organizations the event will support include Studio 863, which supports military veterans; Punks Care 2, a Facebook group that helps homeless punks, and the Yagorri Kumpaniya, which helps Romani families.
“I started working for Studio 863. They want to do a lot of stuff to help veterans,” Scythe said. “There’s a lot of similarities between homeless, disabled veterans and homeless punks. They’ve had to live a certain way. I know I’ve known people who were both a punk and a veteran. So, it kind of went hand in hand.”
Scythe said he chose Punks Care 2 because they help homeless punks, something he cared a lot about. Although he said there are not a lot of old-school punks in town, he wanted to draw attention to the safety net that punk rock brings to a lot of people who may be strange and unusual.
“I wanted to bring attention to the peaceful or the fun sides or the good sides of punk rock to people and how it was the safety net,” he said. “I want to make sure I did the event for the right reasons.”
Being of Romani decent, Scythe said he likes to work with Romani people such helping with a project called Yagorri Kumpaniya, a nonprofit dedicated to helping Romani families.
Through the event, Scythe said he hopes to collect enough donations to give canned goods to all three benefactors and to help pay for the bands, which he may have to pay out of pocket through his company Rewde Mindx, LLC.
Scythe added that the event needs more volunteers and vendors. Vendor fees are $15 with two to three canned goods, or $20 without. There are currently three vendors signed up, including a jewelry vendor, the the Norman Meklakov’s Studio of Art, and the Resin Forge. Scared City will be serving food.
To volunteer or become a vendor, contact Rewde Scythe on Facebook, at Rewde.Scythe on Instagram or via email at rewdescythe@gmail.com.