FUN
The Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St., Little Rock, holds its 52nd Territorial Fair, noon-4 p.m. Sunday, with musical performers including Lark in the Morning, Ricky Russell, Artists United, Sugar on the Floor and Rocky Clements. The Arkansas Country Dancers will lead attendees in old-time dances, including around the Maypole. Also on tap: a 19th-century photo booth; blacksmithing and printing demonstrations; lawn bowling; leather stamping; and a session on pollinators in gardening. Loblolly Ice Cream will serve the fair’s signature beverage, raspberry lemon shrub, and ice cream. arkansasheritage.com/events.
501Fest, celebrating the area covered by Central Arkansas’ 501 telephone area code, extends to two days, 5-9 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, with the biggest celebration centering on Little Rock’s River Market District and particularly on the Ottenheimer Market Hall, 400 President Clinton Ave. Friday’s agenda, in the space adjoining the Ron Robinson Theater, includes the “Slappetizer” Culinary Competition, with a lineup of area food trucks supplying samples for attendees to taste and vote upon, plus musical performances and various panel discussions. On Saturday, the “Main Event” includes a “massive” vendor marketplace with offerings ranging from handmade goods and vintage clothing to local art; all-day live entertainment (performers included); food trucks; games; and a kids zone. littlerock.com/events.
And speaking of the River Market District, the Little Rock Farmers Market returns Saturday to the River Market pavilions, 400 President Clinton Ave., offering farm-fresh produce, locally prepared food and handmade artisan goods. littlerock.com/river-market.
MUSIC
The Arkansas Symphony and conductor Geoffrey Robson close out their 2024-25 Masterworks season with Gustav Mahler’s massive Symphony No. 7, titled “Song of the Night,” 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at Little Rock’s Robinson Center Performance Hall, 426 W. Markham St. at Broadway.(501) 666-1761; ArkansasSymphony.org.
Bab L’Bluz, a Franco-Moroccan group known for elements of psychedelic rock, performs at 7:30 p.m. today THURSDAY at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, 501 E. Ninth St. (501) 372-4000; Arkmfa.org.
Rock band Shinedown perform sat 7 p.m. Sunday, with Beartooth and Morgan Wade,, at North Little Rock’s Simmons Bank Arena. (501) 975-9000; simmonsbankarena.com.
Bonnie Raitt performs at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Little Rock’s Robinson Center Performance Hall. (501) 255-3300; littlerock.com.
And the University of Arkansas at Little Rock choirs perform in a concert titled “Beautiful Wild Forces” at 7:30 p.m. Friday at St. Edward Catholic Church, 801 Sherman St., Little Rock. Lorissa Mason conducts. (501) 916-3291.
THEATER
The Weekend Theater, 1001 W. Seventh Street at Chester Street, Little Rock, stages “Carrie the Musical,” based on the Stephen King novel and the 1976 film, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday through May 18. WeekendTheater.org.
Students from 12 area secondary schools are participating in the inaugural Broadway Bound Awards of Central Arkansas, a partnership between Celebrity Attractions and Argenta Contemporary Theater, with a showcase at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Robinson Center Performance Hall. The regional program highlights and awards excellence in Central Arkansas high school musical theater; the top male and female selected from a season of shows will represent Central Arkansas at the National High School Musical Theatre Awards, aka the Jimmy Awards, in June in New York. (501) 244-8800; Ticketmaster.com.
Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock, continues its run of “Leading Ladies” by Ken Ludwig, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday (12:30 p.m. matinees May 7 and 14), 12:45 and 6:45 p.m. Sunday through May 24. Buffet opens 90 minutes before curtain. (501) 562-3131; murrysdp.com.
ART AND EXHIBITS
Opening this weekend:
“BFA Projects,” an annual showcase of the work of University of Arkansas at Little Rock Bachelor of Fine Arts students, opens with a 5 p.m. reception today Thursday in the Brad Cushman Gallery in the UA Little Rock Windgate Center of Art + Design, 2801 S. University Ave., Little Rock. The exhibition will be up through May 17. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. .
Continuing:
The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, 501 E. Ninth St., Little Rock, is displaying studio photographs by the late Kwame Brathwaite, who started out in the 1960s using photography to promote “Black is Beautiful,” through Oct. 12. The exhibition highlights the artist’s independent studio work in the 1970s, including a portrait of singer Nina Simone and a mid-performance capture of singer Marvin Gaye. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday. (501) 372-4000; arkmfa.org.
The Arkansas League of Artists Member Show remains up through May 9 at the Argenta Library Gallery, 420 Main St., North Little Rock, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday. (501) 687-1061; NLRlibrary.org.
Cantrell Gallery, officially reopened in its new space, 8202 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, is showing “Treehouse Treasures: a collector’s collection” Part 2, artworks from the collection of the gallery’s original owner, Helen Scott, who is down-sized her home. The gallery is also celebrating 55 years in business. The new space is in the same strip center, three doors west of the previous gallery. The exhibition remains up through May 24. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. (501) 224-1335.
“The Creative Collective III,” 80 artworks by high school students and faculty at Little Rock Central, Conway, Joe T. Robinson, Parkview, Bryant, Maumelle and North Little Rock, is on display through May 22, in the Thea Foundation Gallery, 401 Main St., North Little Rock, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday, with extended hours (5-8 p.m.) during Argenta Arts District Third Friday Art Walk. theafoundation.org.
At UA Little Rock’s Windgate Center of Art + Design, “Beverly Buys: Gone But Not,” 11 cyanotypes by Hot Springs photographer Beverly Buys, is on display through May 30 in the Focus Gallery, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. “Dawn Holder: Strange Meetings,” mixed-media ceramics by Holder, a sculptor and installation artist, is on display through July 11 in the North and South Galleries, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. And in UA Little Rock’s Fine Arts Building, “On the Horizon,” oil paintings by William Beckman, is on display 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays through June 30 in Gallery One.
The 55th Juried Exhibition by the Mid-Southern Watercolorists remains on display, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday-Saturday through Friday May 2 at the William F. Laman Public Library, 2801 Orange St., North Little Rock. (501) 758-1720; NLRlibrary.org.
And “Crimson Moon,” pieces from the jewelry collection of Leesa Renshaw, remains on display, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday through June 1 at ESSE Museum and Store, 1510 Main St., Little Rock, (501) 916-9022; essepursemuseum.com.