The 2025 World Cheese Dip Championship & Foam Fest bubbles up,
noon-3 p.m. Saturday at Dickey-Stephens Park, at the North Little Rock end of the Broadway Bridge. Professionals and amateurs from across the state will be competing for awards for judges’ and attendees’ favorite; the Foam Fest part of the event offers samples of hundreds of varieties of craft beer, cider and libations from around the world. The event will also feature vendors and musical and other performers.
The championship is consistent with the brag that Little Rock is the place where cheese dip was invented in 1935. Veteran cheese-dippers recommend bringing a muffin tin to hold cheese dip samples. It’s a fundraiser for Harmony Health Clinic. secure.qgiv.com/for/izxgum/event/wcdc. Free parking is availble across the street from the stadium.
Central Arkansas celebrates LGBTQ+ pride this weekend in SoMa's second annual Pride festival. The celebration begins at 10:30 AM Saturday, June 7th along Little Rock's South Main Street with food trucks, art vendors and activities for all ages. The parade kicks off at noon, and afterwards attendees can watch live music, performances, and entertainment all day long. Local and regional artists will take the stage to bring the energy up with a variety of musical genres that will keep the crowd dancing and celebrating all day long. More information is available at somalittlerock.com/soma-pride.
MUSIC
Little Rock Winds celebrates Flag Day a little early with a concert at 7 p.m. Sunday at the City Center, 315 N. Shackleford Road, Little Rock. Israel Getzov conducts a program of patriotic marches and popular American favorites. Admission is free. Bluebell Creameries is providing ice cream, Central Arkansas Water is supplying water and Woodmen Life is distributing American flags. (501) 376-4602.
Chamber ensemble Camerata Little Rock will offer an all-Vivaldi concert titled “Vivaldi: The Red Priest of Venice,” 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, 310 W. 17th St., Little Rock. The rotating roster of musicians includes members of the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra and University of Central Arkansas faculty members.
THEATER
The world premiere of Steve H. Broadnax III’s play with music, “Me and the Devil,” based upon the legend of Robert Johnson selling his soul to the Infernal One at a Southern crossroads to achieve supernatural mastery of the guitar, closes out its run at the at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre, 601 Main St., Little Rock. 7 p.m. today Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. (501) 378-0405; TheRep.org. Opening June 17: Yazmin Reza’s “God of Carnage.”
Four eccentric Broadway stars are in desperate need of a new stage and when they hear that trouble is brewing around a small-town prom, it’s time to put a spotlight on the issue — and themselves — in “The Prom.” Actors Theatre of Little Rock stages the Central Arkansas premiere of the musical at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday through June 21 at Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church, 1601 Louisiana St., Little Rock. actorstheatrelr.org/tickets
Benton’s Royal Players stage Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The Sound of Music,” 7 p.m. Friday-Saturday and June 19-21 and 2 p.m. Sunday, June 15 and 23 at the Royal Theatre, 111 S. Market St., Benton. our.show/egg21cxa8u.
At Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock, “Driving Miss Daisy” by Alfred Uhry is onstage through June 21, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday (but 12:30 p.m. Wednesday matinees only June 4 and 11), 12:45 and 6:45 p.m. Sunday. The buffet opens 90 minutes before curtain. (501) 562-3131; murrysdp.com.
ART AND EXHIBITS
New this weekend:
“Wish You Were Here!,” portraits of “distant friends” by Adaja Cooper that explore the “fleeting nature of memory,” according to a news release, goes on display with a 5-7:30 p.m. reception today Thursday at Thea Foundation, 401 Main St., North Little Rock. The show remains on display through June. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 5-8 p.m. during Argenta’s Third Friday Art Walk June 20. theafoundation.org.
Continuing:
“I Am My Mother’s Daughter,” paintings by Kennedi Benjamin that, “(capture) a facet of what it means to deeply remember the Houston-based artist’s mom and how much they’re alike,” on display at Cantrell Gallery, 8202 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, through July 19, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday (except July 4 and during a two-day summer break, July 11-12). (501) 224-1335; cantrellgallery.com.
“After the Fire,” paintings that Andrew Deiser created before and after a March fire destroyed Deiser’s studio and much of his artwork at the St. Joseph Center of Arkansas, on display through July 31 at Laman Library Gallery, 2801 Orange St., North Little Rock, with a reception, 5-7 p.m. June 17. The exhibition includes oil paintings the fire spared, along with new works “reflecting on home, resilience and artistic renewal.” (501) 758-1720; NLRlibrary.org.
“Things Remembered,” an exhibition of “watercolor memories and timeless treasures” by Donna Twyford, on display through June 30 at Art Group Gallery, in the Pleasant Ridge Shopping Center, 11525 Cantrell Road, Little Rock. Gallery hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday or by appointment. (501) 690-2193; artgrouparkansas.com.
The “64th Young Arkansas Artists” exhibition, showcasing works by K-12 students from across the state, on display through Aug. 10 at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, 501 E. Ninth St., Little Rock. The exhibition includes 39 works — three per grade level — chosen by a panel of museum and art professionals. Amfa.org.
Also at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, 501 E. Ninth St., Little Rock, studio photographs by the late Kwame Brathwaite, who started out in the 1960s using photography to promote “Black is Beautiful,” through Oct. 12. 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.
Work by five 2024 recipients of artLAUNCH grants that provide early-career alumni with funding and mentorship opportunities to accelerate their artistry, opens Saturday and remains on display through June 30 in the Ann Maners and Alex Pappas Gallery in the Windgate Center of Art + Design at UA Little Rock, 2801 S. University Ave., Little Rock. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. Email byoung2@ualr.edu.
“Scenes from the 5 a.m. Studio,” drawings by Robert Bean, the former chair of the Painting and Drawing department at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts’ Windgate Art School and a former instructor at UA Little Rock’s School of Art, remains on display through June 13 at Acansa Gallery, 413A Main St., North Little Rock. The show consists of 70 works, including quick gesture drawings that Bean created in his studio after waking up long before the crack of dawn and drawings he created later in the day for his art students at Mills University Studies High School in Little Rock. Gallery hours are 9:30 s.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. (501) 416-0973; ACANSA.org.