FUN
The Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau, in collaboration with the Downtown Little Rock Partnership and city officials, is celebrating the upcoming fifth anniversary of the River Market Entertainment District with a birthday party, Friday 6-8 p.m. with live entertainment. Some River Market establishments offer special discounts and promotions. Parking is free in the parking garage at 500 E. Second St.
The entertainment district designation allows guests age 21 and older who have purchased official wristbands and cups to carry their alcoholic beverages into public areas and in and out of local businesses within the district boundaries. Visit littlerock.com/river-market/play/rmed.
CAR AND MOTORCYCLE SHOW
The Cedar Mountain Boys & Girls Club is hosting its eighth Car and motorcycle show – club festivalSaturday 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Saline County, Riverside Club, 1810 Citizens Drive, Benton. The festival includes a Kids & Kars Show and showcases battery-powered cars (Power Wheels), ATVs, motorcycles, bicycles and more, with “family-friendly” activities, vendors and live entertainment.
All types of vehicles are welcome, including classics, street rods, imports, rat rods, military vehicles, custom vehicles, ATVs, tractors, motorcycles and Jeeps. Professional judges will award more than 80 awards in multiple class categories. Kids & Karts participants must be under 13 years of age and accompanied by a parent.
Tickets are $5. All proceeds benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Saline County, Cedar Mountain Club. Visit weblink.donorperfect.com/BGCcarshowClubFest.
MUSIC
Bluegrass and fried chicken
The Ozark Folk Center State Park, 1032 Park Ave., Mountain View, hosts its annual Bluegrass & Fried Chicken Festival Friday-Saturday.
At the park’s 1,000-seat Ozark Highlands Theater, the Music Roots Ensemble will open Friday’s music program at 7 p.m., followed at 7:20 p.m. by the Charla Freeland Band, runner-up in the last International Bluegrass Band Championship, and at 8:45 p.m. by the champions, the Waddington Brothers Band.
The Saturday matinee will kick off at 1 p.m. with national old time banjo champion Lillyanne McCool and her band Ozark Legacy, followed by the Harman & Ruble Band at 2 p.m. and the Finley River Boys at 3 p.m.
Saturday night’s show begins at 7:00 p.m. with the Waddington Brothers, followed at 8:40 p.m. by Authentic Unlimited, winners of the International Bluegrass Music Award for Vocal Group of the Year and New Artist of the Year.
Tickets are $25 for the Friday night performance, $35 for the Saturday matinee or evening performance, $50 for both days, and include admission to the Folk Center’s Craft Village. Visit OzarkFolkCenter.Ticketleap.com.
The Folk Center’s Skillet Restaurant serves its chicken buffet between music shows – a dinner buffet every day from 4 to 7 p.m.; on Saturdays there is a breakfast buffet from 8 to 10:45 a.m. and a lunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Breakfast is $13, lunch is $14 and dinner is $16.
Visit OzarkFolkCenter.com.
Banjo master Lillyanne McCool and her band Ozark Legacy lead the musical portion of the annual Bluegrass & Fried Chicken Festival Saturday afternoon at the Ozark Folk Center. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette/Evangeline Grace)
“Glimmer 1,” “After,” “Daylight,” and “Nocturne,” tapestries by Heidi Carlsen-Rogers, are part of the “Glimmer” exhibit at the Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas in Pine Bluff. (Special to the Democrat-Gazette)
ART
Large format tapestries
“Mica,” Large-scale tapestries by Heidi Carlsen-Rogers will be on display Thursday at a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas, 701 S. Main St., Pine Bluff. The tapestries depict “a tranquil simulated 24-hour period that shows what it might feel like to walk through the garden at different times of day, with background colors that reference dawn, daylight, noon, dusk and night,” a news release said. This exhibition runs through Jan. 10. Admission is free. The gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call (870) 536-3375 or email [email protected].
THEATER
Benton Seasons
Benton’s Royal Players open their 2024-25 season with a Fifth Annual Royal Haunted HouseOctober 17-31, at the Royal Theatre, 111 S. Market St., Benton.
The rest of the season (exact dates to be announced):
◼️ December: “Meet Me in St. Louis” (music and lyrics by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, book by Hugh Wheeler, based on the 1944 film and the 1942 novel by Sally Benson)
◼️ March: “Into the Woods” (music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine)
◼️ April: “Rumors” by Neil Simon
◼️ June: “The Sound of Music” (music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse)
◼️ September 2025: “Jekyll & Hyde” (music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Wildhorn, Leslie Bricusse and Steve Cuden, book by Bricusse, based on the classic by Robert Louis Stevenson).
Meanwhile, the theatre group YYoung players open their 2024-25 season at the Royal Theatre from 5 to 15 September with “Matilda The Musical” (music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, book by Dennis Kelly, based on the classic children’s book by Roald Dahl).
The rest of the lineup (some exact dates to be announced):
◼️ January: “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical” (music and lyrics by Rob Rolbicki, book by Joe Track, adapted from the bestseller by Rick Riordan)
◼️ February 13-23: “Seussical Jr.” (music by Lynn Ahrens, lyrics by Stephen Flaherty, book by Ahrens and Flaherty, based on characters created by Dr. Seuss)
◼️ July: “Newsies” and “Newsies Jr.” (music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, book by Harvey Fierstein).
TICKETS
“Dear Evan Hansen”
Celebrity Attractions will begin selling tickets ($34-$114) for performances of the Tony and Grammy-winning musical on October 11 at 7:30 p.m., October 12 at 2 p.m. and October 13 at 1 p.m. at 10 a.m. Monday. “Dear Evan Hansen” (Music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, book by Steven Levenson) at Robinson Center Performance Hall, 426 W. Markham St., Little Rock. Call (501) 244-8800 or visit CelebrityAttractions.com or Ticketmaster.com. A special charity presale follows through Sunday; $5 from each ticket sold will benefit the Broadway Bound Awards of Central Arkansas, part of the National High School Musical Theatre Awards (also known as the Jimmy Awards). For more information, visit CelebrityAttractions.com.
