The Easter rabbit hops into the picture today, bringing with him warm months and festivals old and new around Arkansas.
This is the time of year that the state blooms with spring festivals and other events that celebrate all kinds of things: books and beer and crawdads and Mustangs on the mountain.
Some of the festivals are state traditions, such as the 15th annual Ozark Foothills FilmFest that opens Friday in Batesville.
"People talk about the word 'milestone,'" festival director Judy Pest says, "but every year is a milestone for us."
Others are new, including one coming this weekend: Springfest, a Riverfest-sponsored family fun day Saturday in Little Rock.
"Springfest is really targeted to families, children's entertainment and children's activities," Riverfest executive director DeAnna Korte says. "We envision lots of strollers, and moms and dads and kids downtown."
The Ruff on the River Pooch Parade and a concert by Trout Fishing in America will be among the day's free highlights.
Except for family activities, everything else about Riverfest has moved to June 3-5 in downtown Little Rock: the opening night party, bands, arts and crafts tents, concession stands, crawfish, barbecue, gator-on-a-stick, chocolate-dipped bananas and all. Little Rock's rite of spring along the Arkansas River comes a week later this year.
This year is the first time that Riverfest will have separate dates for family and older crowds, and the first time in 39 years that Riverfest will not be on Memorial Day weekend.
The new arrangement allows for family fun at no charge, Memorial Day vacation get-aways and a fresh approach to one of the state's longest-going festivities, Korte says.
"I think change is good," she says. "To stay relevant, you have to change."
These and more of the season's festive events are scattered from now into June like Easter eggs -- just as colorful, easier to find and more than could fit in one bonnet. Here's a partial listing.
TODAY
Easter comes early this year -- the
first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring. The timing most often favors April, and Easter won't be in March again for another eight years.
• Community Easter Sunrise Service, 7 a.m. at First Security Amphitheater in
Riverfront Park, Little Rock. Thousands attend each year's nondenominational ceremony -- 2,200 last year -- sponsored by Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church. Details at communitysunriseservice.com. Call (501) 664-3600.
• Easter Egg Hunt, 2 p.m. at Lake Catherine State Park near Hot Springs. Details at arkansasstateparks.com. Call (501) 844-4176.
• Easter Brunch and Egg Hunt at the Crescent Hotel, Eureka Springs. Details at crescent-hotel.com. Call (800) 342-9766.
• Daffodil Days and Tulip Extravaganza through April 9 at Garvan Woodland Gardens, Hot Springs. Details at garvangardens.org. Call (501) 262-9300.
APRIL
April "has put a spirit of youth in everything," as Shakespeare might as well have said about Arkansas. Nature spreads a blanket of green, and weekends are packed like picnic baskets.
• Friday: Food & Foam Fest restaurant, beer and wine sampler, 6-9 p.m. at Dickey-Stephens Park, North Little Rock, benefits the Arthritis Foundation. Details at arthritis.org/arkansas. Call (501) 664-4591.
• Friday-Saturday and April 8-9: Ozark Foothills FilmFest at venues including University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville. Details at ozarkfoothillsfilmfest.org. Call (870) 251-1189.
Most of the festival's array of nearly 40 features and shorts are state premieres, including Frank vs. God (2014), in which a lawyer sues the Almighty, and The Stressful Adventures of Boxhead and Roundhead (2014), an animated feature about a hapless pair in search of a home. The classic French documentary The Mystery of Picasso (1956) shows the artist at work.
Besides screenings, the festival offers workshops, receptions for visiting filmmakers, a night of re-created vaudeville and a concert of vaudeville-era music by the Side Street Steppers from Memphis.
Batesville might seem an unlikely site for a film festival -- a place of about 10,500 population, otherwise known for Lyon College and its bagpipe band. But this year's festival received 120 entries, Pest says.
It keeps going thanks to community and state support and a crew of longtime volunteers. "Folks you've worked with for years," as Pest says.
• Saturday: Springfest hot dog and funnel cake-fueled family outing, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. in Riverfront Park, downtown Little Rock. Details at riverfestarkansas.com. Call (501) 255-3378.
Festival events include the Springfest 5K Fun Run and Walk, 9 a.m. (with registration fee); pooch parade, 10 a.m.; short-legged dog races, 10:30 a.m.; children's arts and crafts, educational programming and steak cook-off, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; and Arkansas-based musical duo Trout Fishing in America ("Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers") in concert, 4:30 p.m.
A related event, CALS Con, celebrates comics, science fiction and costuming Saturday at the Central Arkansas Library System's Main Library, downtown Little Rock. Details at CALS Con 2016 on Facebook.
• Saturday: Railroadiana Show and Sale at Arkansas Railroad Museum, Pine Bluff. Details at arkansasrailroadmuseum.org. Call (870) 535-8819.
Along with 100 vendors selling model trains and accessories, exhibits include the 100-foot-long Cotton Belt steam locomotive Engine 819, historic passenger cars and a railroad snowplow. The museum's gift shop is the place to pick up an engineer's cap.
• April 7-10: Fantastic Cinema and Craft Beer Festival at Riverdale 10, Little Rock. Details at fantasticcinema.com.
The lineup of science fiction, fantasy and horror movies includes Female Werewolf, The Alchemist Cookbook and Lake Nowhere -- titles that just might hold a clue to what's coming.
• April 10: Jewish Food and Cultural Festival, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at War Memorial Stadium, Little Rock. Details at jewisharkansas.org. Call (501) 663-3571.
Besides a menu of bagels, lox, blintzes and kosher hot dogs, non-Jewish visitors can find out more about all things Jewish at the festival's ask-the-rabbi booth. How to pronounce "rugelach," for example: rug-eh-lach, a pastry made with cream cheese dough, best said with a mouthful.
• April 14-17: Arkansas Literary Festival at the Central Arkansas Library System's Main Library campus, Little Rock. Details at arkansasliteraryfestival.org. Call (501) 918-3098.
This year's nearly 80 authors include historian Adam Hochschild (Spain in Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939), comedian Anna Drezen (the coming How May We Hate You?: Notes From the Concierge Desk) and Nebula- and Hugo Award-winning science fiction author Ken Liu.
• April 18-23 Fordyce on the Cotton Belt Festival steak cook-off, motorcycle show and bull-riding, Fordyce. Details at fordyceonthecottonbelt.com. Call (870) 352-5125.
The point is that none of this would be happening except that, in 1908, the seat of Dallas County moved from Princeton to Fordyce. Princeton wasn't a railroad stop, and Fordyce was like they say -- on the Cotton Belt.
• April 29-May 1: Toad Suck Daze, downtown Conway. Details at toadsuck.org. Call (501) 327-7788.
One explanation for the name of this arts, eats and entertainment festival is an old tale about thirsty boatmen at a long-gone tavern close to Conway. These river rats drank too many hops. Sucked the bottle, they did, and puffed up like toads, and probably went around in a daze, too.
MAY
May is time to rally 'round the Maypole -- or its equivalent, which in Arkansas could be anything from a crawdad to a magnolia blossom.
• Festival of the Arts, music and shows all month, various venues, Eureka Springs; Artrageous Parade, 5 p.m. May 7. Details at eurekaspringsfestivalofthearts.com.
• May 3-8: Bentonville Film Festival, venues in and around Bentonville. Details at bentonvillefilmfestival.com. Call (479) 358-6244.
Co-founded by actress Geena Davis, the festival emphasizes women and minorities in the media.
• May 7: Mayhaw Festival at Newton House, El Dorado. Details at soarkhistory.com. Call (870) 862-9890.
Mayhaw berries look like tiny red apples, but are a Southern taste mostly to be found in mayhaw jelly. The Mayhaw Festival serves jelly with chicken wings and bluegrass.
• May 15: Books in Bloom Literary Festival at the Crescent Hotel, Eureka Springs. Details at booksinbloom.org. Call (870) 423-5300.
Sponsored by the Carroll and Madison County Library Foundation, the festival's guests include best-selling novelist Laura Lippman (Every Secret Thing) and Westerns writer Dusty Richards (The Mustanger and the Lady).
• May 20-21: Crawdad Days Festival, Harrison. Details at crawdaddays.org. Call (870) 741-2659.
Music, yes. Carnival, check. But this event at Lake Harrison centers on its namesake crawdads -- also known as crawfish and mudbugs -- including not just food vendors but also a crawdad-eating contest.
The boiled-red, freshwater crustacean can be a challenge for beginners, but here's the general idea: Twist 'em apart, suck on the heads and don't think about it too much.
• May 20-21: Magnolia Blossom Festival; World Championship Steak Cook-Off May 21, Magnolia. Details at blossomfestival.org. Call (870) 234-4352.
Steak chefs crowd their smoky grills around the downtown square, turning out some 4,000 sizzling rib-eyes as they compete for $10,000 in prize money. A $20 ticket buys a steak dinner. Who knows? Maybe it'll be one of the champ's best slabs.
• May 21: Hope/Hempstead County Bluegrass Festival, 10 a.m.-8 p.m. at Historic Washington State Park, about 10 miles northwest of Hope. Details at historicwashingtonstatepark.com. Call (870) 983-2684.
• May 21: Hot Springs Craft Beer Festival, 6 p.m. at Hot Springs Convention Center. Details at hscraftbeerfest.com.
• May 29: Mustangs on the Mountain: Show and Shine, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Museum of Automobiles on Petit Jean Mountain near Morrilton. Details at museumofautos.com. Call (501) 727-5427.
Why Mustangs? Why not Pintos instead? Or Colts or Broncos? Steve McQueen had the answer, but he's gone down the road with Mustang Sally.
JUNE
Summer starts June 20 but not before Arkansas does the ultimate spring fling.
• June 3-5: Riverfest at Riverfront Park, River Market and Clinton Presidential Center Park, Little Rock. Event opens with the separately ticketed Flowing on the River wine and beer sampler June 3. Riverfest concerts and related activities are June 4-5. Details at riverfestarkansas.com. Call (501) 255-3378.
About 225,000 people attended last year's Riverfest with its lineup of music headliners including Sheryl Crow and Kris Allen.
This year's headliners include country singer Chris Stapleton, rock band The Goo Goo Dolls and funkster George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic.
• June 10-12: Little Rock Picture Show science fiction and horror film festival combined with the River City Comic Expo, June 11-12, at the Statehouse Convention Center, Little Rock. Details at rivercitycomicexpo.com.
The picture show survives from the closing of its previous association, the Little Rock Film Festival. The comic expo features guests including artist Michael Golden (G.I. Joe) and the Frazetta Girls, the late fantasy painter Frank Frazetta's daughter and granddaughter.
The new partnership promises "cool things," Little Rock Picture Show director Justin Nickels says. "We will have things like panels with filmmakers and comics creators together.
"We're going to be showing The Crow with the comic's creator James O'Barr in attendance for a Q&A," he says. "We're also going to be doing a silent film screening of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde with a live score [with band Becoming Elephants]. It should be awesome."
Style on 03/27/2016