Step back in time to the wilder Hot Springs of the 1920’s, 30’s, and 40’s with a visit to The Gangster Museum of America!
Hot Springs, AR is known for its heated springs, historic architecture, diverse art community, hiking, biking, festivals, and more – but gangsters? The concept seems pretty unlikely until you discover that, before there was Las Vegas, there was Hot Springs.
The Arkansas Railroad Museum, in Pine Bluff, AR, is a hands-on museum containing one of the largest collections of historic railroad equipment in the state.
The museum is housed in the shops of the former St. Louis Southwestern (SSW) Railway Cotton Belt Route yard. The museum collection includes an impressive array of rolling stock, railroad memorabilia, and two steam-powered engines, including the last ever built in Arkansas.
In fact, the museum wouldn’t even exist were it not for SSW 819.
The upcoming, Original Ozark Folk Festival is America’s longest, continuously running folk festival. Ozark Folk Festival 2019 marks the beloved tradition’s 72nd anniversary. Come see what all the fuss is about November 6th through the 10th in Eureka Springs, AR!
Eureka Springs’ Ozark Folk Festival has been an autumn tradition since 1948. The festival is a showcase of folk music mountain music in the Ozark tradition, often performed on handcrafted instruments. You’ll also be treated to big name, national acts, like headliners, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils and Marty Stuart.
This year’s event includes nearly 30 performances, many of which are free!
Get ready for 9 days of nonstop films, filmmakers, and film lovers at Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival 2019! October 18th through the 26th, 2019 in Hot Springs, AR.
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival 2019 (HSDFF) marks the 28th annual return of North America’s longest running, non-fiction film festival. Movie Maker Magazine has named it one of “50 Festivals Worth the Entry Fee,” and we agree.
Musicfest El Dorado 2019 is just weeks away. This year’s 2-day event sees headliners Walk the Moon and Brett Young with 7 others, plus food, drink, crafts, a kid’s world, and fun attractions like a zip line and obstacle course. September 27-28, 2019 in El Dorado, AR.
ACANSA Arts Festival is just around the corner, September 13th through the 28th, 2019. The 6th annual Arts Festival of the South will once again host a series of special weekend performances and events in various venues around Little Rock and North Little Rock, AR.
The annual ACANSA Arts Festival of the South has been bringing a diverse array of talent to Little Rock every September since 2014. The festival celebrates with live music, theater, workshops, symposiums, and art in all its myriad forms.
This year’s event continues the tradition with a roster that includes Latin pop sensation Gina Chavez, award-winning food historian Jessica B. Harris, contemporary dance troupe BODYTRAFFIC, and renowned jazz guitarist Bill Frisell!
Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane! No, wait. It’s much better than that. It’s Arkansas Balloon Festival 2019, Sept 6-8, 2019 in Harrison, AR!
The Arkansas Hot Air Balloon State Championships are a popular annual event, held in Harrison, AR since 1995. While the event is primarily a chance for balloon pilots to show off their skills, that’s not all. The three-day event also features helicopter rides, skydiving, tethered balloon rides, food, drink, and goods vendors, and live music.
Lions, tigers, and bears, oh, wow! See these beautiful animals and a whole lot more at the Wild Wilderness Drive-Through Safari in Gentry, AR!
If you enjoy animals, you’ll love the Wild Wilderness Drive-Through Safari! The 400-acre farm in Gentry Arkansas is home to more than 50 different species, ranging from sheep and pygmy goats to hippos and ligers.
The facility includes a 4-mile drive through section, a walk-through area, animal petting parks, and seasonal pony and camel rides.
“Chuck Wagon Racing” (detail) by xlibber is licensed under CC BY 2.0
If you’re looking for some good, old fashioned fun and excitement, look no further than the 33rd annual National Championship Chuckwagon Races, in Clinton AR!
Chuckwagon racing got its official start as a spectator sport at the 1923 Calgary Stampede. The U.S. National Championship Chuckwagon Races, on the other hand, have been a Labor Day weekend tradition in Clinton, AR since 1986.
Mystic Caverns, in Harrison, AR, is the site of not one but two spectacular show caves – one of which wasn’t discovered until a bulldozer broke through in the mid 1960’s!
Mystic Cavern has been around so long no one is even sure when it was first discovered. The region was settled in the 1830’s and the original entrance was pretty obvious so it can likely be dated to that time. The earliest physical evidence of visitors dates back to 1919 when someone by the name of “Adam Kolbe” carved his name and the date on a cave formation.
By the 1920’s, the cave was a functioning attraction, only the second or third Arkansas show cave to open in the state at that time. The cave was known as both “Mansion Cave” and “Wild Horse Cave” before being renamed “Mystic Caverns” in the 1950’s.