FUN
The Little Rock Convention & Visitors Bureau’s BIG Little Rock Holiday Parade through downtown Little Rock starts at 3 p.m. Saturday at Broadway and West Markham Street (flanked by City Hall and Robinson Center), continuing east along Markham street through the River Market and concluding near Interstate 30. Pre-parade, beginning at 2 p.m., an array of downtown holiday experiences will include photos with Santa, an ornament craft station and more at the Statehouse Convention Center, Markham and Main streets. And after the parade, the Arkansas State Capitol Lighting Ceremony gets underway at 5:30 p.m., with the official lighting set for approximately 6:15 p.m. Littlerock.com.
A pecan pie championship, food trucks and vendors, live music, pictures with Santa, a cycling event called the “Pie Ride,” bounce houses, a petting zoo, a car show and a squirrel calling contest are all part of the fourth annual Arkansas Pecan Festival, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday in downtown Keo. (501) 285-5051 or visit facebook.com/keopecanfest.
Three downtown Little Rock museums — the Old State House, 300 W. Markham St.; Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St.; and the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, 501 W. Ninth St. — host their annual Holiday Open Houses on Sunday. Visitors can participate in historic crafts and music, eat holiday treats and get a picture with Santa Claus. Admission to all three is free.
MUSIC
The Arkansas Choral Society is tuning up for its 95th annual performance of Handel’s “Messiah” with soloists and members of the Arkansas Symphony, 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Calvary Baptist Church, 5700 Cantrell Road, Little Rock. lovetosing.org.
The Trans-Siberian Orchestra brings its touring “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve: the Best of TSO and More,” Including a 25th-anniversary salute to “Beethoven’s Last Night,” 7 p.m. Thursday, North Little Rock’s Simmons Bank Arena. ticketmaster.com
The Little Rock Winds offer a “Happy Holidays” concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Center for Humanities and Arts Theater at the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College main campus, 3000 W. Scenic Drive, North Little Rock. Bass-baritone George Mayo sings “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” and will narrate Clement Clarke Moore’s “A Visit From St. Nicholas,” aka “The Night Before Christmas.” The performance also incorporates tap-dance troupe UnTapped and the Sylvan Hills High School Chorus. Israel Getzov conducts. lrwinds.org.
The Natural State Brass Band offers a concert titled “A Brass Band Christmas,” 7 p.m. Friday at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 4106 John F. Kennedy Blvd., North Little Rock, part of the church’s Festival of the Senses series. (501) 753-3578 or email baxternan@aol.com.
The Five Star Brass, the 106th Army Band’s brass quintet, performs a holiday program at 2 p.m. Saturday at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, 503 E. Ninth St. in Little Rock’s MacArthur Park. (501) 376-4602; littlerock.gov/macarthur.
The Conway Symphony Orchestra swings in the holiday season with singer Shaleah Adkisson and the Cool Yule’s, a group of 28 young Conway area singers and dancers, 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Reynolds Performance Hall at the University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. (501) 450-3265; conwaysymphony.org.
And Needtobreathe, with opening act Bre Kennedy, performs at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Little Rock’s Robinson Center Performance Hall, 426 W. Markham St. (501) 244-8800; robinsoncenter.com.
THEATER
The national touring production of “The Book of Mormon” has a three-show sit-down this weekend — 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday — Little Rock’s Robinson Center Performance Hall, 426 W. Markham St. at Broadway. (501) 244-8800; CelebrityAttractions.com or Ticketmaster.com.
The Argenta Contemporary Theatre, 405 Main St., North Little Rock, is reprising its 2024 production of “A Christmas Story: The Musical” 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday and Dec. 16-18, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday and Dec. 20 and 2 p.m. Sunday and Dec. 21. argentacontemporarytheatre.org.
Actors Theatre of Little Rock is putting on an “immersive” production of the musical “Hairspray,” based on John Waters’ 1988 film, 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 10-13 and Dec. 17-19, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20 at Quapaw Quarter United Methodist Church, 1601 Louisiana St., Little Rock. (“Immersive” means the action takes place throughout the play space and includes portions of the audience.) actorstheatrelr.org/tickets.
The Children’s Theatre at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts stages “Junie B. in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells!” by Allison Gregory, based on Barbara Park’s bestselling book series, 10:30 and 2 p.m. Saturday and Dec. 20; 2 p.m. Sunday and Dec. 21 at the museum, 501 E. Ninth St., Little Rock. events.arkmfa.org.
The Royal Players stage “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever: The Musical,” 7 p.m.
Thursday-Saturday and Dec. 11-13 and 2 p.m. Sunday and Dec. 14 at the Royal Theatre, 111 S. Market St., Benton.
Four well-meaning but inept white people struggle to write a historically accurate first-Thanksgiving play for children that doesn’t tick off the funders, the founders, the parents or the universe in “The Thanksgiving Play” by Larissa FastHorse. The Weekend Theater, 1001 W. Seventh St. at Chester Street, Little Rock, closes out its run, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday. centralarkansastickets.com.
And “Frozen: The Musical” is onstage Wednesday-Sunday through Dec. 31 at Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock. Buffet opens 90 minutes before curtain time. (501) 562-3131; murrysdp.com.