FUN
501FEST 2026
501FEST 2026, “a celebration of our community and the people who sustain it” marking 501 Day, which happened on May 1, features live entertainment, a Creators’ Village marketplace of local vendors, interactive art installations, food trucks and “engaging activities designed for the entire family,” 4-8 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday at 350 E. Second St. in Little Rock’s River Market Entertainment District. Admission is free but advance registration helps planners in estimating crowd capacity. Visit 501festival.com.
Dogtown Throwdown
Main Street in North Little Rock’s Argenta District shuts down between Fourth and Fifth streets for Dogtown Throwdown, 4 p.m. Friday-10 p.m. Saturday, as restaurants along the strip extend service into the street and musicians perform for the resulting block party.
Whoa Dakota performs at 7 p.m. Friday at Argenta Library, 420 Main St. Saturday’s lineup includes a champagne brunch, noon-2 p.m.; a Kids Zone sponsored by First Security Bank, including outdoor activities and story time and crafts inside Argenta Library, noon-4 p.m.; a Vintage Market at Flyway Brewing, 314 Maple St., 2-6 p.m.; and a performance by the Chris DeClerk Band starting at 7 p.m. at the Main Stage next to Argenta Library. Visit argentaartsdistrict.org/event/dogtown-throwdown-14 or the Facebook event page.
Southwest Bike Rodeo
The Central Arkansas Library System Dee Brown Library and Recycle Bikes for Kids team up for the third annual Southwest Bike Rodeo, 10 a.m.-noon Saturday at the Southwest Community Center parking lot, 6401 Baseline Road, Little Rock. Volunteers will help conduct bike safety inspections, guide young riders through a series of skills stations and fit protective helmets. It’s aimed at youngsters 8 and older who can already balance and pedal a bicycle. For those who don’t already own a bike, Recycle Bikes for Kids is providing free bicycles for the first 30 registered participants. Rock Region Metro will have a full-size bus on the grounds with a bike rack for kids to practice loading their bikes. Register at CALS.org; for more information call (501) 568-7494.
MUSIC
‘Parables’ premiere
The Arkansas Chamber Singers perform the world premiere of “Parables,” a collaboration between composer William Averitt and musician and poet Robert Bode, in a concert titled “Parables and Poetry: A Celebration of Composer William Averitt and Poet Robert Bode,” 5 p.m. Saturday in the sanctuary of St. James United Methodist Church, 321 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock. Lorissa Mason conducts.
Attendees are invited to “Meet the Composer & Poet” at 3 p.m. in the church’s Welcome Center. A reception will follow the concert. Admission is free; the group accepts donations. Visit arkansaschambersingers.org.
Bode, visiting professor of choral music at Arizona State University for the 2024-25 academic year, has commissioned more than 50 choral pieces from American composers and has written texts for more than 75 choral works.
Competition winners
Pianist Casia Keiser of Rogers performed the first movement of the Piano Concerto No. 2 by Camille Saint-Saëns to snag the top $1,000 prize at the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra Guild’s Stella Boyle Smith Trust Young Artist Competition on April 25 at the orchestra’s Stella Boyle Smith Music Center in Little Rock’s East Village. The winner typically gets to perform with the Arkansas Symphony at its annual children’s concert.
Division/category winners, who receive $250 each, were French horn player William McCandless for brass, Ryan Li for piano and violinist Vann Lee for strings, all from the Little Rock/North Little Rock area, and clarinetist Matthew Sontoski of Bella Vista for woodwinds. The competition included 23 players who supplied preliminary video performances; adjudicators selected 12 finalists.
THEATER
Broadway Season
Celebrity Attractions opens its 2026-27 Broadway Season Oct. 30-Nov. 1 with “Beetlejuice” (music and lyrics by Eddie Perfect, book by Scott Brown and Anthony King, based on the Tim Burton film) at Little Rock’s Robinson Center Performance Hall.
The rest of the lineup (all shows at Robinson):
◼️ Jan. 8-10: “The Wiz” (music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls, book by William F. Brown with additional material by Amber Ruffin, an urban retelling of “The Wizard of Oz”
◼️ May 19-23, 2027: “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” (music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, book by Linda Woolverton based on the 1991 animated film)
◼️ July 30-Aug, 1, 2027: “A Beautiful Noise: The Neal Diamond Musical.”
Holders of season tickets — $116-$409 — get first crack at the return of “Hamilton” (book, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda), a season add-on, Aug. 25-30, 2026.
Visit celebrityattractions.com for information on when tickets go on sale.
ART
‘Outermost’ in El Dorado
“Outermost,” watercolors, pastels and collages by retired El Dorado teacher Gay Bechtelheimer, go on display with a 6:30 p.m. reception Friday in the Merkle Gallery at the South Arkansas Arts Center, 110 E. Fifth St., El Dorado. The exhibition remains up through May 28. Admission to the reception and exhibition is free. Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. Call (870) 862-5474 or visit saac-arts.org.
ETC.
QQA Tour of Homes
The 61st QQA Tour of Homes spotlights historic houses in North Little Rock’s Argenta District this year, 1-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, starting at 800 Main St. in North Little Rock (the old North Little Rock Electric Building). More information on the tour and the houses on it are at quapaw.com. Tickets are $35 for QQA members, $38 for non-members, free for children 8 and younger are free. Visit tix.com.
The Candlelight Tour and Dinner, 5-7 p.m. Saturday, includes properties not available on the day tours, plus champagne stations and hors d’ouevres throughout the tour. The dinner is 7-9:30 p.m. at the Sanctuary at Argenta, previously known as the First Presbyterian Church of North Little Rock, Fourth and Maple streets. Tickets — $165 for members, $185 for non-members — include access to Saturday and Sunday’s day tours. Visit tix.com.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.arkansasonline.com ’
