Klipsch Museum of Audio History celebrates milestones during PWK Birthday Bash Fundraiser

HOPE – Join the Klipsch Museum of Audio History on March 6 – 7, 2026, in Hope, AR, for the Paul W. Klipsch (PWK) Birthday Bash Spring fund raising event. This year the Museum celebrates 80 years of the Hope Klipsch Factory producing the world-renowned Klipschorn loudspeaker and ten years since the Museum formed as a non-profit organization.

The Museum’s celebration begins Friday, March 6, by honoring PWK with a wreath laying ceremony at his gravesite within Rose Hill Cemetery, 1005 N. Hazel St. The festivities continue Friday afternoon with speaker demonstrations and listening sessions at the Klipsch Museum Visitor Center, 403 W. Division St, and the Paul W. Klipsch Auditorium, 206 W Avenue H, all free to the public. That night, the Museum serves a BBQ dinner for $20 per person and conducts its annual membership meeting at the Visitor Center.

Saturday, March 7, all events happen at the Visitor Center. Klipsch Heritage Brand Ambassador Mike Dyer presents PWK’s sound of science with speaker demonstrations. Klipsch historian and Museum Curator Jim Hunter leads van tours ($50 per person) with stops at the Museum, the Southwest Proving Ground where PWK worked for the Department of Army and began designing loudspeakers, and the Hope Municipal Airport where PWK debuted the Klipschorn in 1945 during a World War II victory dance.

The A-State Corvette Association hosts a car show free for the public Saturday afternoon at the Visitor Center. The celebration culminates with the Hope Lions Club fish fry dinner and concert by Hope-area rockers Hazy Jayne ($25 per person). Purchase tickets from the Museum’s website – klipschmuseum.org.
All proceeds support the Museum’s mission to maintain PWK’s collections and archives and to use PWK’s science of sound to encourage science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics education. The Museum hopes to raise $5,000 during this annual fund-raiser.

In 1946, PWK founded Klipsch and Associates in Hope, AR, now Klipsch Group, Inc. Klipsch remains a leading loudspeaker company in the United States and a world leader in premium quality audio products. The company’s official motto, “A Legend in Sound,” has also been applied to PWK who was eulogized as “a great inventor, engineer, scientist, pilot and legendary eccentric.”

Granted twelve patents in acoustics along with eight in geophysics and three in ballistics, PWK had a revolutionary vision for audio design. He established acoustic principles that pioneered American hi-fidelity sound systems and created the longest-running loudspeaker produced in the United States with the Klipschorn.

In 2016, a group of Klipsch devotees including PWK’s former associate and historian organized as the Klipsch Heritage Museum Association doing business as the Klipsch Museum of Audio History, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Since then, the Museum has shared PWK’s science of sound and loudspeakers with thousands of people from around the world in downtown Hope, AR, helping boost tourist spending in the area.

Need more information about the celebration? Interested in taking a tour? Want to volunteer at the Museum? Email the Museum at info@klipschmuseum.org.
The Museum’s mission and vision is to foster interest in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics using Paul W. Klipsch’s science of sound and to restore, preserve, maintain, and display Klipsch and Klipsch-related artifacts and archival materials for research and educational purposes.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Friday, March 6 – Some of Today’s Events Require Pre-Purchased Ticket
1 p.m. – 2 p.m. Paul W. Klipsch Grave Wreath Laying – Rose Hill Cemetery – Free Public Event
2 p.m. – 5 p.m. Speaker Demonstrations and Listening Sessions – Klipsch Museum Visitor Center and Paul W. Klipsch Auditorium – Free Public Event
5 p.m. BBQ Dinner – Visitor Center – Dinner Ticket Required $20 per person
6 p.m. Annual Museum Membership Meeting – Visitor Center Home Theater Room – Free Public Event

Saturday, March 7 – Some of Today’s Events Require Pre-Purchased Ticket
10 a.m. – 12 p.m. PWK’s Science of Sound Presentation by Klipsch Heritage Brand Ambassador Mike Dyer – Included with Tour Ticket
1 p.m. – 5 p.m. Van Tour starting from Visitor Center with Museum Curator Jim Hunter of the Klipsch Museum of Audio History, Southwest Proving Grounds, and Hope Municipal Airport – Tour Ticket Required $50 per person
12 p.m. – 6 p.m. Speaker Demonstrations and Listening Sessions at Visitor Center and A-State Corvette Association Classic Car Show – Free Public Event
6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Hope Lions Club Fish Fry and Hazy Jayne Concert at Visitor Center – Dinner Ticket Required $25 per person