Correction: The 2015 Faulkner Chamber Music Festival’s opening faculty recital starts at 3 p.m. Saturday Aug. 1 in the Stella Boyle Smith Auditorium, Fine Arts Building, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, 2801 S. University Ave. Because of incorrect information from UALR, an item in this article gave an incorrect starting time.
1 PITS
Clarksville hosts its annual salute to fuzzy, juicy fruit with the Johnson County Peach Festival, today-Saturday. The party will include all the usual activities, including arts and crafts, games, music, children's activities, tours, bake-offs and peach pie-eating contests. General admission is free. (479) 754-9152 or visit jocopeachfestival.8m.com/main.html. See story on Page 5E.
2 POISON
Former Poison frontman Bret Michaels, in the midst of his solo "True Grit" tour, performs at 8 p.m. Saturday in Timberwood Amphitheater at Magic Springs, U.S. 70 East (East Grand Avenue), Hot Springs. Reserved seating is sold out but lawn seating is part of the gate admission: $59.99, $36.99 for children under 4 feet tall and adults 55 and older, free for kids 3 and younger. Call (501) 624-0100 or visit MagicSprings.com.
3 PROTRACTORS
Parents on the lookout for school supplies and uniforms -- or nonparents looking for good deals -- will be out in droves for the annual Arkansas Sales Tax Holiday. Starting at 12:01 a.m. Saturday and ending at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, a variety of goods, including book bags, protractors, uniforms and shoes, will be free of sales tax. Call (501) 682-7104 or visit freetaxweekend.com.
4 PILSNER
The Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock will be a frothy, foamy playground at the Great Arkansas Beer Festival, 5:30-9 p.m. Saturday. The craft beer celebration will offer samples from more than 100 breweries around Arkansas. Admission is $30 in advance, $35 at the door and attendees must be 21 or older. Email 5zero1promotions@gmail.com or visit garbf.com.
5 PINTS
And speaking of beer, Stone's Throw Brewing, 402 E. Ninth St., Little Rock, hosts its second annual "Block on Rock" beer, music and food festival, 3-10 p.m. Saturday. The event, marking the second anniversary of the opening of its taproom and benefiting Preserve Arkansas and the Arkansas Brewers Guild, will close off the 300 block of East Eighth Street and the 800 block of Rock Street, along which 15 food trucks will set up; six area beer and cocktail vendors will be in the parking lot behind the brewery. On the Rock Street stage, Cindy Woolf and Mark Bilyeu will perform at 4 p.m., followed at 7 by the Big Dam Horns. Admission is $5; discounted armbands are $3 in advance. Take chairs. A quarter of gate revenue and Stone's Throw sales will go to Preserve Arkansas; individual vendors are supporting other nonprofits. Visit stonesthrowbeer.com.
6 PORTER
Jazz saxophonist Gerald Albright headlines a concert at 8 p.m. Saturday at Wildwood Park for the Arts, 20919 Denny Road, Little Rock, capping off the week-long fifth annual "A Work of Art," a fundraiser for Art Porter Music Education Inc. honoring the memory of late jazzmen Art Porter Sr. and Art Porter Jr. Tickets are $45, $60 VIP. Call (501) 492-9120 or visit artporter.org/work-of-art-2015. Heading into the weekend: Cynthia Scott performs at 7 and 9 p.m. today at Club Sway, 412 Louisiana St., Little Rock ($35, $50 VIP) and a free Porter Players Jam Session takes place 7 and 9 p.m. Friday at Afterthought Bistro & Bar, 2721 Kavanaugh Blvd., Little Rock.
7 PIAZZOLLA, ETC.
The 2015 Faulkner Chamber Music Festival, getting underway this weekend, will include five free chamber music performances at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. Local and guest musicians will perform the String Quintet by Franz Schubert and works for violin and cello by Augusta Read Thomas and Zoltan Kodaly in the first of two faculty recitals, noon Saturday in the Stella Boyle Smith Auditorium, Fine Arts Building, UALR, 2801 S. University Ave., Little Rock. The second includes the Piano Quintet by Edward Elgar and Astor Piazzolla's Histoire du Tango, 7 p.m. Aug. 6 in the Stella Boyle Smith hall. The festival concludes with a student recital at 3 p.m. Aug. 8 in UCA's Snow Fine Arts Center, 201 Donaghey Ave., Conway. Find a complete schedule at faulknerchambermusicfestival.com; call (773) 251-4719.
8 PUNCHLINE
San Antonio native Rick Gutierrez returns to the Loony Bin, in the Breckenridge Village Shopping Center, Interstate 430 and North Rodney Parham Road, for a handful of special performances, 7:30 p.m. today ($8), 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday-Saturday ($12). Call (501) 228-5555 or visit loonybincomedy.com/LittleRock.
9 PORTRAYAL
The Film Society of Little Rock's four-day Kaleidoscope Film Festival, seeking to "present the beautiful mosaic of the LGBT experience through film," kicks off at 7 p.m. today and continues through Sunday at Studio Theatre, 320 W. Seventh St., Little Rock (with some screenings and events at Club Sway, 412 Louisiana St.) Many of the films -- made by or about lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people -- are Arkansas or regional premieres; see the complete schedule at kaleidoscopefilmfestival.com. Individual tickets are $8, a four-day film pass is $30 and a $100 VIP pass allows access to all screenings, panels and the filmmaker lounge. Seating for most screenings is limited. Call (501) 454-6510.
10 PARTY
Fairfield Bay throws a New Orleans-style party as it celebrates Boati Gras on Saturday. It all begins at 11 a.m. at the Fairfield Marina and activities will include Second Line Band, a boat parade and Cajun food. General admission is free and there will be rentals of canoes, kayaks, paddle and pontoon boats. Call (501) 884-6020 or visit somedaystartstoday.tv/cms/boati-gras.
Weekend on 07/30/2015