FUN
SoMa 501 occupies Main and several side streets in Little Rock’s South Main neighborhood for SoMardi Gras, a celebration and street festival, on Saturday. The parade gets underway at noon, starting at 22nd and Main and heading north to 12th Street. The street festival kicks off at 10:30 a.m. and runs to 5 p.m. Vendors, food trucks, beer tents and family activities will occupy Main Street between 17th and 12th streets. There will be a Kid Zone and all-day live music and entertainment. The now-annual Beard and Mustache Contest takes place at 1:30 p.m. in the Bernice Garden. somalittlerock.com/somardigras.
DANCE
Ballet Arkansas stages its world-premiere production of a “grand-scale reimagining” of Sergei Prokofiev’s ballet “Cinderella,” 7:30 p.m. Friday, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Little Rock’s Robinson Center Performance Hall, 426 W. Markham St. at Broadway. balletarkansas.org
MUSIC
Eric Church, with opening act 49 Winchester, 7:30 p.m. Thursday at North Little Rock’s Simmons Bank Arena. (501) 340-5660; ticketmaster.com.
Lost Bayou Ramblers perform at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, 501 E. Ninth St. $48. (501) 372-4000; arkmfa.org.
The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s Quapaw Quartet plays pieces “that (explore) the elements of American folk music, including old-time fiddle music, string bands and bluegrass,” in a sensory-friendly family concert titled “Fiddle Time,” 11 a.m. Saturday at the orchestra’s Stella Boyle Smith Music Center, 1101 E. Third St. in Little Rock’s East Village. (501) 666-1761, Ext. 1, or visit arkansassymphony.org.
Pianist-composer Michael Stephen Brown will play a solo recital under the auspices of the Chamber Music Society of Little Rock, 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Center for Humanities & Arts Theater, the University of Arkansas-Pulaski Technical College, 3000 W. Scenic Drive, North Little Rock. A food-and-wine reception will follow. chambermusicLR.com.
Mezzo-soprano Joana Rusche joins Little Rock Winds for a concert of Spanish music titled “España!”, 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Second Presbyterian Church, 600 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock. Israel Getzov conducts. lrwinds.org.
Arkansas Symphony Music Director Geoffrey Robson provides behind-the-scenes insights, play musical snippets and answer questions regarding the orchestra’s Feb. 28-March 1 Masterworks concerts and Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana,” in an Inside the Music lecture, noon Friday at the orchestra’s Stella Boyle Smith Music Center, 1101 E. Third St. in Little Rock’s East Village. (501) 666-1761, Ext. 1; arkansassymphony.org.
THEATER
The Argenta Contemporary Theatre stages “Always … Patsy Cline,” 7 p.m. Thursday, 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb 28, March 5 and March 7; 2 p.m. Sunday and March 1, 7 p.m. Feb. 24-27, March 3-4 and March 6 in its Act II space, 315 Main St., North Little Rock. argentacontemporarytheatre.org.
Touring concert-style tribute show “The Simon & Garfunkel Story” is onstage at 7 p.m. Friday at Reynolds Performance Hall at the University of Central Arkansas, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. The show contains adult themes and mature content. (501) 450-3265 or (866) 810-0012; uca.edu/publicappearances.
Onstage through March 7 at Murry’s Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock: “Butterflies Are Free” by Leonard Gershe, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday (except matinee only Wednesday, Feb. 25), 12:45 and 6:45 Sunday. Buffet opens 30 minutes before curtain time. (501) 562-3131; murrysdp.com.
And the Royal Theatre, 111 S. Market St., Benton, wraps up its run of Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express,” 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. onthestage.tickets.
ART AND EXHIBITS
New this week
Two Central Arkansas Library System exhibitions:
• “From the Vault: A Survey of the CALS Art Collection,” marking Black History Month, through Feb. 28 in the Fifth Floor Gallery at the Main Library, 100 Rock St., Little Rock. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday.
m Arkansas Women to Watch 2026: Words Become Matter,” up through April 18 in the Underground Gallery at the CALS Roberts Library, 401 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, noon-4 p.m. Saturday. robertslibrary.org/current-exhibitions.
“Waiting For It …,” paintings by Reginald Tyler, goes on display during Third Friday Art Walk, Friday at the Argenta Public Library, 420 Main St., North Little Rock. It remains up through March 13 during regular library hours, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday. (501) 687-1061; NLRlibrary.org.
Continuing:
The ESSE Purse Museum & Store, 1510 Main St., Little Rock, has extended through March 1 its “Henry and Nolan” exhibition, photographs by Rita Henry and Nancy Nolan along with their collections of cameras, photography tools and materials. (501) 916-9022.
“FORM/Formation,” abstract landscapes and linen works by Laura Welshans “that explore how land is shaped by time and erosion,” up through March 8 at Art Group Gallery, in the Pleasant Ridge Town Center, 11525 Cantrell Road, Little Rock. artgrouparkansas.com.
“Under A Restless Sky,” a site-specific installation by Boston-based artist Nathalie Miebach, on display through April 4 in the Jackson T. Stephens Gallery of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, 501 E. Ninth St., Little Rock. (501) 372-4000; arkmfa.org.
“My Creeks,” recent paintings by Fayetteville artist and illustrator Daniel Coston that reflect his fondness for creeks, on display through April 18 at Cantrell Gallery, 8202 Cantrell Road, Little Rock. Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. (501) 224-1335; cantrellgallery.com.
“Disfarmer: Portraits of Rural Arkansas,” early 20th-century black-and-white portraits of Arkansans by Mike Disfarmer, is up through June, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday, at the Old State House Museum in Little Rock. (501) 324-9685.
“Thomas Hart Benton,” a traveling exhibition of original artwork created by the artist during World War II, is up through July 31 at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, 503 E. Ninth St., Little Rock. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday. (501) 376-4602; littlerock.gov/macarthur.
And “Kuimeaux’s World,” drawings and paintings by late Little Rock native Dwight “Kuimeaux” Drennan, is on display through spring 2027 at Little Rock’s Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday. (501) 324-9351.