Weekend Highlights: Fair, Festival and Arts in Arkansas

The 53rd Territorial Fair opens Saturday from ten to four on the historic Arkansas Museum grounds. A partnership with the Quapaw Nation showcases native traditions and early settlers. Visitors can learn how to dry, pound, and cook corn while playing dice games and running foot races. Crafts include making cornhusk dolls, folding paper, and spinning natural fibers. The museum’s print shop, blacksmith shop, cabinet‑making area, millinery and textile rooms all offer live demos. The fair’s special drink is raspberry lemon shrub. Entry costs nothing, and parking across the street is free. Friday and Saturday bring the 58th Jonquil Festival to Washington State Park. The park hosts blacksmith demonstrations, a car and tractor show, handmade craft vendors, live music, and food stalls. Tours of historic houses are available, and a surrey ride can be taken for the usual fee. The park restaurant opens at eleven for lunch, and parking is five dollars a car.Art lovers can visit the Argenta Public Library for an exhibition called Architecture, Rust, Treasures. The show features pastel, pencil, ink and acrylic works by mother‑daughter artists Caprise Cooper and Evelyn Laurence. A young artist from the family also contributes. The exhibit runs until early April, free to enter, and a reception follows each Friday evening. The Delta Cultural Center in Helena‑West Helena opens an exhibit titled Arkansas in Song. It explores how music shaped the Delta region and its people. A free reception with live entertainment starts at five each Friday, followed by gallery tours until November. The visitor center remains open weekdays. Music enthusiasts should not miss the Ouachita Baptist University competition concert on Thursday evening. Five students compete for cash prizes in a recital hall setting. Admission is free, and the event highlights local talent from Texas and Arkansas. Other events include a live broadcast of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at regional cinemas, library wrestling nights for all ages, and a week‑long “Spring Break for Good” series in Little Rock. Activities range from family fun days with free giveaways to dress‑donation drives and sustainability workshops, all tied to the touring production of Wicked.