THE WEEKEND TEN

The top things to do and places to be

The annual Pops on the River celebration.
The annual Pops on the River celebration.

1 BOOM

Little Rock's River Market, along and north of President Clinton Avenue, will buzz with music, games and fireworks during the annual Pops on the River celebration, noon-10 p.m. Saturday. Presented by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and sponsored by Landers FIAT, the festival includes children's activities, a classic car show, vendors, the "Oh Say! Can You Sing?" contest and a concert by the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra. Admission is free. Call (501) 378-3807 or visit arkansasonline.com/pops.

• For an indoor view of the fireworks, Easter Seals Arkansas will host a Fireworks Frenzy fundraiser, 8 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom Terrace of the Little Rock Marriott, West Markham and Louisiana streets. Tickets -- $25, $10 for kids 12 and younger -- include snacks, a cash bar and DJ music. Call (501) 227-3706 or visit eastersealsar.com.

photo

The Charlie Daniels Band will celebrate Independence Day at Magic Springs.

photo

The Historic Arkansas Museum salutes the nation’s birthday with the annual Frontier Fourth of July.

2 BAND

The Charlie Daniels Band will celebrate Independence Day at 8 p.m. Saturday in the Timberwood Amphitheater at Magic Springs, U.S. 70 East (East Grand Avenue), Hot Springs. Spa City native Aaron Owens will open the show at 7 p.m.; country singer Blane Howard will perform for a pre-concert party at 3. Lawn seating is included in the park's gate admission: $59.99, $36.99 for children under 4 feet tall and adults 55 and older, free for kids 3 and younger; reserved seating is available for $10 or $8 at MagicSprings.com. Call (501) 624-0100. See story on Page 4E.

3 BLAST

Elsewhere in Hot Springs, Oaklawn gets its July 4 celebration in a day early with music, petting zoo, children's activities and fireworks at its Spa Blast, 4 p.m.-dark Friday. Activities, which will also include an exhibit from the Mid-America Science Museum, will be set up in the park's infield. The celebration ends with a fireworks display. Admission to the park, 2705 Central Ave., Hot Springs, is free. Call (501) 623-4411 or visit oaklawn.com.

4 BYGONE DAYS

The Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St., Little Rock, salutes the nation's birthday with old-fashioned patriotic fervor at the annual Frontier Fourth of July, 2-4 p.m. Saturday. Along with the reading of the Declaration of Independence and battle re-enactments, guests can hear 19th-century music, play games, make decorations for the patriotic parade and cool down with watermelon and lemonade. Admission is free. Call (501) 324-9351 or visit historicarkansas.org. See story on Page 4E.

5 BREWS AND BRIES

Guests are invited to sample the culinary treats Little Rock has to offer at A Very Veggie Fourth of July, 4-7 p.m. today, at the Bernice Garden, 1401 S. Main St., Little Rock. Vendors including Stone's Throw Brewing, Soulfood Catering, Kent Walker Cheese, The Veg LLC, Soulfood Catering, Geri's Jellies and Le Pops will share vegetarian dishes for the Independence Day holiday; Pup Eats Treats will cover four-legged vegetarians. Admission is free. Call (504) 232-8098, email Ameliafrobert@gmail.com or visit the Facebook event page.

6 BLUES

Blues and soul performers Sir Charles Jones, Calvin Richardson, Karen Wolfe and Terry Wright will be onstage for an Independence Day Weekend Concert, 6 p.m. Sunday, 100 Cherry St., Helena/West Helena. Tickets are $25, $45 for VIPs, plus handling fees. Call (870) 816-0227 or (662) 501-6163 or visit tinyurl.com/soul05.

7 BOATS, ETC.

And here's a more or less random selection of additional Independence Day weekend events around the state:

• Fifth annual Cardboard Boat Race & Fireworks Celebration, Friday, East Side Park, Gar Creek, 300 W. Commercial St., Ozark. The boat race parade gets things underway at 5:30 p.m.; the event encompasses the boat races, food, drinks, snacks and games, with fireworks at dark. Admission is free. (479) 667-2949; ozarkchamberofcommerce.com.

• It'll be a Super Summer Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Clinton Presidential Center, 1200 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock. In conjunction with the "Dinosaurs Around the World" exhibition, activities will include building-your-own dinosaur, creating fossil molds using clay and dinosaur digs. Admission to the event is free; usual Clinton Center admission fees apply. (501) 914-4242; tinyurl.com/supersat02.

• Sherwood Forest, 1111 W. Maryland Ave., Sherwood, will hold its 16th annual Fourth of July Family Celebration, 6-9 p.m. Saturday. Food (including free hot dogs), musical and magic performances, kids activities and, at 9 p.m., fireworks; patriotic giveaways while supplies last. Free shuttle service from Sylvan Hills High School. Lawn chairs welcome; no alcohol, pets, bikes, skateboards or coolers. Admission is free. (501) 835-8909; tinyurl.com/sherwood5.

• Independence Day fireworks will go off at dusk Saturday at Super Duty Docks and Lift, Arkansas 7 South, Hot Springs. Free. (501) 321-2027.

• Flood damage to the amphitheater in Pine Bluff/Jefferson County Regional Park has caused Pine Bluff Parks and Recreation and the Pine Bluff Festival Association to move and scale back their July 4 celebration Saturday to the Regional Park Softball Complex, Regional Park Drive off Harbor Oaks Drive, Pine Bluff. A DJ will play music starting at 8 p.m., with fireworks at 9. Admission is free. (870) 536-0920 or (870) 536-7600; pinebluffcvb.org.

8 BUFFET

The all-American girl next door (Jordan Phipps) sends two earnest young protest-magazine publishers (Devin Robertson and Norman Cornell) into a romantic tizzy in Neil Simon's The Star-Spangled Girl, onstage through July 18 at Murry's Dinner Playhouse, 6323 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock. Curtain times: 7:45 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday (12:45 p.m. Wednesday, July 8, matinee only), 12:45 and 6:45 p.m. Sunday. Doors and the buffet open 90 minutes before curtain. Tickets: $32-$36, $26 for children 15 and younger; show only, $25 and $15. Call (501) 562-3131 or visit murrysdp.com.

9 BUZZ

Get an extra jolt at the Museum of Discovery, 500 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, when it debuts its Guinness World Record musical bipolar Tesla coil on Saturday. The coil creates high-voltage electricity and will emit electrical discharges to various songs. Hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Museum admission is $10, $8 for ages 1-12; there will be a $2 additional charge for the Tesla Coil Theater. Call (501) 396-7050 or visit museumofdiscovery.org.

10 BRIDGES

"Warhol's Nature," an exhibit of Andy Warhol's engagement with nature, drawn primarily from the extensive collections of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, opens Saturday at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 600 Museum Way, Bentonville. The exhibit will be up through Oct. 5. Admission to the museum is free; to the exhibition, $4, free for youth 18 and younger. Museum hours: 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday, Thursday, Saturday-Sunday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday and Friday. Call (479) 418-5700 or visit crystalbridges.org.

Weekend on 07/02/2015

Upcoming Events