Festivals & Events

three white women on float decorated with flowers with "Pea Ridge Heart of the Ozarks" on the side
Arkansas Apple Festival
The Arkansas Apple Festival in Lincoln (Washington County), held the first weekend of October, has been a feat...
Two white men smiling with books on table in front of them
Arkansas Cornbread Festival
The Arkansas Cornbread Festival, an annual celebration of Southern culinary heritage, was inaugurated in 2011...
jockey sitting astride horse draped with flowers while woman the lead, with logo in top-right corner reading, "Hot Springs National Park Arkansas," and text at bottom reading, Smarty Jones, Oaklawn"
Arkansas Derby
The Arkansas Derby is the most lucrative thoroughbred horse race in Arkansas, currently offering a “purse”...
Old white man playing a fiddle on stage with old white woman and white guitarists
Arkansas Folk Festival
The annual Arkansas Folk Festival takes place on the third weekend in April in Mountain View (Stone County). H...
White woman and children dancing with goats in costumes
Arkansas Goat Festival
The first Arkansas Goat Festival was held in Perryville (Perry County) on the first weekend in October in 2016...
Arkansas Rice Festival
The Arkansas Rice Festival, held during the second weekend of October in Weiner (Poinsett County), was founded...
Circle of white bagpipers wearing kilts at festival with people and tents in the background
Arkansas Scottish Festival
The Arkansas Scottish Festival is held each year in October on the campus of Lyon College in Batesville (Indep...
White man on stage
Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre
The Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre (AST), Arkansas’s only professional Shakespeare theater company, was origin...
"Arkansas State Fair" arch sign over double gate with fence with single-story building and enclosed stadium in the background
Arkansas State Fair and Livestock Show
aka: Arkansas State Fair
The Arkansas State Fair and Livestock Show (usually just called the...
Balding white man in suit and tie sitting in a wooden chair
Arkansas Territorial Centennial
In observance of the centennial anniversary of the creation of the Arkansas Territory, Governor Charles Hillma...
Bentonville Film Festival
The Bentonville Film Festival (BFF) is held annually in Bentonville (Benton County), with the main focus of th...
Ripe red tomato on green vines with leaves in pot
Bradley County Pink Tomato Festival
The Bradley County Pink Tomato Festival celebrates the pink tomato industry in southeastern Arkansas. Origina...
"Arkansas is natural" hot air balloon on street with crowd
Cabotfest
Cabotfest, an annual celebration hosted by the city of Cabot (Lonoke County), was first held in 1978 to commem...
Two story wood frame home with long porch rocking chairs chimney yard tree limbs foreground
Camden Daffodil Festival
The Camden Daffodil Festival originated from a move to raise money for the restoration of a historic building ...
three-cent postage stamp featuring renderings of Arkansas Post, Old State House, and State Capitol
Centennial Celebration
Arkansas’s centennial preparations launched early, expanded rapidly to a galaxy committee, descended into fi...
Illustrated movie theater with event title between silhouette of guitar and microphone on left side film projector and film reel on right
Delta Symposium
The Delta Symposium is an annual conference sponsored by the Department of English, Philosophy, and World Lang...
White man in cap and sunglasses watching white man in cap and sunglasses with crawfish in a shovel
Dermott Crawfish Festival
The Dermott Crawfish Festival is one of the longest continuously running festivals in Arkansas. Every third we...
Farm rows of purple hull peas in soft dirt with pine forest in background
Emerson PurpleHull Pea Festival & World Championship Rotary Tiller Race
From 1990 to 2023, Emerson (Columbia County) hosted an annual gathering for fans of purple hull peas. The Purp...
White men racing covered wagons with crowds of spectators in background
Festivals and Parades
Arkansas hosts a variety of annual festivals, fairs, and parades throughout the year. Some of the more well-kn...
people admiring and working on train-shaped cake on display outside
Fordyce on the Cotton Belt Festival
The small town of Fordyce (Dallas County) celebrates the railroad and its historical significance with the ann...
"Welcome to Gillett" sign with lake and ducks painted on it
Gillett Coon Supper
In Arkansas, one of the most acknowledged, anticipated, and attended wild game dinners is the annual Gillett C...
White women and children in eastern European costume
Greek Food Festival
aka: International Greek Food Festival
The Greek Food Festival, which is organized by the Annunciation Gre...
White man in suit and tie posing on a porch with a large watermelon
Hope Watermelon Festival
Hope (Hempstead County) annually celebrates its claim as the home of the world’s largest watermelons with a ...
Mixed group of people standing under theater marquee advertising "The magic of Maxwell Blade"
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival (HSDFF)
Billing itself as the longest-running documentary film festival in North America, the internationally recogniz...
Hot Springs Music Festival
The Hot Springs Music Festival is a non-profit organization whose dual mission is, first, to provide exception...
white man in hat standing outside
John Huddleston Day
Since 1984, Crater of Diamonds State Park near Murfreesboro (Pike County) has been sponsoring John Huddleston ...
Single-story house with white paneling and historical marker sign on grass with tree
Johnny Cash Heritage Festival
The Johnny Cash Heritage Festival is an annual event held in Dyess (Mississippi County), the small town where...
White children eating peaches with white man and building behind them
Johnson County Peach Festival
The Johnson County Peach Festival arose from the area’s successful peach industry, which got its start in t...
Jonquil Festival
The Jonquil Festival takes place the third weekend of March each year at Historic Washington State Park in Was...
Group of people of various races dancing in a line behind an African American man playing trumpet
Juneteenth
Juneteenth is a celebration held during the month of June in Arkansas and throughout the nation to commemorate...
African-American man in white shirt suspenders and hat sitting and laughing with white women posing with him outside brick building
King Biscuit Blues Festival
aka: Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival
The first weekend in October, the Mississippi River town of Helena-...
"Welcome to Lepanto Arkansas since 1895 home of the terrapin derby" sign above sign for "John Grisham's A Painted House"
Lepanto Terrapin Derby
The Lepanto Terrapin Derby is a festival that has been held in Lepanto (Poinsett County) every year since 1930...