1 SAINT Downtown Little Rock and North Little Rock will be awash in a sea of green as the Irish Cultural Society of Arkansas presents its annual Rock to North Little Rock St. Patrick’s Day Parade, 1 p.m. Saturday. The parade route travels from Third and Rockstreets in Little Rock to Fifth and Main streets across the river with stops for special performances along the way. From 2-4 p.m., Dancing at the Crossroads will take place at Fourth and Main streets in North Little Rock. Admission is free, but people are encouraged to take donations of nonperishable food for the Arkansas Rice Depot.
Call (501) 868-6416 or visit irisharkansas.org.
2 SHINEDOWN, ETC.
Three Days Grace and Shinedown will co-headline a concert (with “special guest” P.O.D.) at 7 p.m. Saturday at North Little Rock’s Verizon Arena. Tickets are $35.50 and $52. The arena’s paperless ticket system will be in force. Call (800) 745-3000 or visit ticketmaster.
com or livenation.com. See story Page 4E.
3 STRUCTURE Children in central Arkansas will have a new place to learn and play when the 30,000-square-foot Central Arkansas Library System’s Children’s Library and Learning Center opens its doors Saturday. The new facility includes a teaching kitchen, activity area, study rooms, theater, community room and many opportunities for hands-on learning. Admission to the library, 4800 W. 10th St., is free. Library hours are 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday-Saturday. Call (501) 918-3086.
4 SHORT A lot of fun is packed into a tiny space Sunday as Hot Springs celebrates the World’s Shortest St. Patrick’s Day Parade on downtown’s Bridge Street. The festivities start with the Harlem Shake dancing contest at 4 p.m. and the Blarney Stone Kissing Contest at 4:30. The parade itself with grand marshals John Corbett and Bo Derek starts at 6:30 p.m. and is followed by a concert by the John Corbett Band. Admission is free. Call (501) 321-2027 or visit shorteststpats.com.
5 SOUNDS The ninth annual Valley of the Vapors Independent Music Festival will host 42 acts, mostly underground rock bands, from eight countries (South Korea, Japan, Ireland, Iran, the Netherlands, Sudan, Canada and the United States), today-Tuesday in Hot Springs.
Main events, featuring five to seven bands,start each day at 7 p.m. at Low Key Arts, 118 Arbor St. Each day the festival will also include Trail Shows, workshops and “Secret Shows” (announcements of times and locations via Facebook and Twitter).
Admission to all events is $7.
Call (501) 282-9056 or e-mail bill@valleyofthevapors.com;
for a complete schedule, visit valleyofthevapors.com.
6 STEMS Come see the historic 19th-century homes at their spring best at Historic Washington State Park’s annualJonquil Festival, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Sunday. Craftsmen, entertainers and lots and lots of flowers are planned for the celebration. There is a $5 parking fee and tours of the historic buildings are $8, $4 for children ages 6-12. Call (870) 983-2684 or visit historicwashingtonstatepark.com.
7 SYMPHONY The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra goes from intimate tonight to big as all America on Saturday and Sunday - call (501) 666-1761 or visit ArkansasSymphony.org:
Beth Wheeler, English horn, joins the members of the orchestra’s Quapaw Quartet (Eric Hayward and Meredith Maddox Hicks, violins; Ryan Mooney, viola;
and David Gerstein, cello) and Rockefeller Quartet(Christian Baker and Darby BeDell, violins;
Katherine Reynolds, viola; Daniel Cline, cello) for an Intimate Neighborhood Concert at 7 p.m. today at Christ Episcopal Church, 509 Scott St., Little Rock. The program: Edward Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro, Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Bela Bartok’s Romanian Folk Dances. Tickets are $25 general admission, $35 preferred seating, $10 for students and active military.
Soprano Rachel E. Copeland and tenor Chauncey Packer will join conductor Philip Mann and the Arkansas Symphony for a pair of “American Songbook” pops concerts at 8 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at Robinson Center Music Hall, West Markham Street and Broadway, Little Rock. Tickets are $18-$58, $10 for active military and college students, free for K-12 kids with a paying adult for the Sunday matinee.
8 “STAY (A LITTLE LONGER)” Music legend Willie Nelson arrives in El Dorado tonight for a concert at the El Dorado Municipal Auditorium, 100 W. Eighth St., at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30-$100. Call (870) 862-4747 or visit mainstreeteldorado.
org.
9 SOLO Thomas Murray, Yale’s university organist, will give a recital at 8 p.m.
Friday at First Presbyterian Church, 800 Scott St., Little Rock, sponsored by Central Arkansas Chapter, American Guild of Organists. Murray's program will include the Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor, BWV 582, by Johann Sebastian Bach; and Grande Piece Symphonique by Cesar Franck. Admission is free. Call (501) 372-2512.
10 (PHILANDER) SMITH KTM Productions and Positive Images in Christ will debut The Best Thing That Happened to Me, an original musical with book, music and lyrics by Kyle T. Miller, at 7:30 p.m. today-Saturday in Harris Auditorium, Philander Smith College, 900 W. Daisy L. Gatson Bates Drive, Little Rock.
Tickets are $25-$40. Call (501) 420-3704 or visit thebestthing.eventbrite.com. The show then goes on the road, 7:30 p.m. March 21-22 at the West Memphis Civic Center, 228 Polk Ave., West Memphis. (Same ticket prices and contact information.)
Weekend, Pages 33 on 03/14/2013