Arkansas hits one of its busiest festival weekends of the summer starting Friday.
Two of the state’s oldest community celebrations wrap up Saturday. A Grammy winner plays Pine Bluff. Six baseball legends set up shop in Hot Springs. And a county fair, a 133-year-old city festival and a statewide fiddle contest all land on the same day.
Here is what is going on from the Delta to the Ozarks, Aug. 7 through Aug. 9.
Forecast first. Central Arkansas runs low 90s Friday and Sunday with a cooler high near 88 Saturday. Rain chances sit between 20 and 30 percent each day. Nothing that should cancel an outdoor event, but afternoon storms are possible.
Southwest Arkansas
Hope Watermelon Festival turns 50 this year. Downtown Hope, through Saturday. Gates open at 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
The milestone lineup is the strongest in years. Country singer Gretchen Wilson headlines Saturday. Hope native Mae Estes also performs. The festival keeps its usual mix of a 5K, the Watermelon Olympics, the Watermelon Idol talent contest, a car show, a Kidz Zone and civic club dinners built around pulled pork and fried catfish.
This is the biggest single draw in southwest Arkansas this weekend.
Central Arkansas
John Legend plays Saracen Casino Resort in Pine Bluff on Saturday night. The show is part of his “A Night of Songs and Stories” tour, a stripped-down format with Legend, a piano and the backstory behind hits including “All of Me” and “Ordinary People.”
World Elephant Day at the Little Rock Zoo, Saturday. Activities are included with regular admission. The schedule includes an elephant art sale benefiting Asian Elephant Support from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., a watermelon eating contest at 11 a.m. pitting the elephants against zoo staff, a bath demonstration at 2 p.m. and a keeper chat at 2:30 p.m.
SoMa After Dark, South Main Street in Little Rock, Friday from 4 to 10 p.m. Shopping, live entertainment, food and art.
Summer Meltdown 5K, quarter marathon and half marathon, Riverfront Park in Little Rock, Saturday. Half marathon starts at 7 a.m.
Guitar Wars at Ron Robinson Theater in Little Rock, Saturday. Doors at 9 a.m. Players of all levels compete in front of professional judges.
Denim and Diamonds Gala at the Clinton Presidential Center, Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m. Third annual. Benefits Next Step Recovery.
Conway has two Friday and Saturday draws. The Life in 3D Art Walk runs Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. at 1100 Oak St. The Fire and Flow Jam is Saturday from 6 to 10 p.m. at Laurel Park. Red Curtain Theatre also closes its run of “9 to 5: The Musical” with shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“Footloose: The Musical” continues at Murry’s Dinner Playhouse in Little Rock. “Angels in America Part 1” runs Thursday through Saturday at Actors Theatre of Little Rock, with a 1 p.m. Saturday matinee.
Hot Springs
Hot Springs Baseball Weekend runs Friday through Sunday at the Hot Springs Convention Center. Admission is free.
The ninth annual event brings Hall of Famers Fred McGriff and Jack Morris to the city billed as the birthplace of Major League Baseball spring training. They are joined by Dale Murphy, Bill “Spaceman” Lee, Dave Stewart and Al Hrabosky. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Friday, 8:30 a.m. Saturday and 9 a.m. Sunday.
Soulja Boy and the Ying Yang Twins headline the Magic Springs summer concert series Saturday at Timberwood Amphitheater. The show starts at 6:30 p.m. and is included with park admission.
“Sweeney Todd” opens at the Pocket Community Theatre. Saturday is the only night this weekend with tickets still available as of Thursday.
Northwest Arkansas
Tontitown Grape Festival wraps up Saturday. Believed to be the longest running annual community event in Arkansas, the festival honors the town’s Italian American founding. Spaghetti dinners, grape stomping, a carnival, a 5K and the crowning of Queen Concordia. Gates open at 1 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday.
Gravette Day, Kindley Park, Saturday. The 133rd year. Activities start at 6:30 a.m. with a Kiwanis pancake breakfast, followed by a parade, a 5K, a car show, a BBQ Smokeshow, live music and an art show.
Carroll County Fair opens Saturday at the fairgrounds in Berryville with a parade through downtown and Family Fun Day. The fair runs through Aug. 15.
Yards of Yards of Yard Sales turns Eureka Springs, Holiday Island and the rest of Carroll County into a countywide sale Friday through Sunday.
Picnic in the Park, Luther George Park in Springdale, Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. DJ sets and a community picnic blanket across the lawn.
Trade It Forward Card Show, Jones Center Ice Arena in Springdale, Saturday starting at 10 a.m. Pokemon, Magic, sports cards and tournaments. Proceeds support families facing food insecurity in Northwest Arkansas.
August First Friday on the Bentonville square, Friday at 3 p.m.
River Valley and north central
Arkansas Fiddle and Banjo Championships, Ozark Highlands Theater in Mountain View, Saturday. Free admission. Banjo players compete starting at 10:30 a.m., fiddlers in the afternoon. An evening concert with John Showman and Chris Coole plus the Ozark Folk Center square dancers runs 7 to 9 p.m.
Germany’s Great Bavarian Circus performs at the Pope County Fairgrounds in Russellville through Sunday. Showtimes vary.
Back 2 School Bash, Knockouts Haircuts and Grooming in Fort Smith, Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free haircuts, a backpack raffle and giveaways.
Delta
“Painting the Arkansas Parks” is on display at the Mississippi River State Park Visitor Center in Marianna, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The traveling exhibition features 25 artists who painted on location at seven Arkansas parks. It moves on to Little Rock, Fort Smith, Cane Hill, Mena and Texarkana later this year.
Saracen Landing Farmers Market, Pine Bluff, Saturday from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Still running
Bugtopia at the Little Rock Zoo, through Sept. 20. “Where the Wind Lives,” the kinetic sky sculpture exhibition at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs, through Oct. 31. The Big Fun in Little Rock scavenger hunt, through Oct. 20.
Farmers markets run Saturday morning in Little Rock, Fayetteville, Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale, Conway, Fort Smith, Hot Springs, Jonesboro, Paragould, Searcy, Benton, Cabot, Siloam Springs, Huntsville and Dardanelle.
Looking ahead
SOAR NWA brings glowing hot air balloons to the Benton County Fairgrounds Aug. 14 and 15. The Bluegrass and Fried Chicken Festival is in Mountain View Aug. 20 and 21.
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