SPECIAL EVENT: Museum of Discovery's Springfest in Little Rock: 'Big, fun, free'

It's spring, and just as the trees and flowers that seemed dead, a festival that might have been gone for good is blossoming back to life.

Springfest has had an interesting life, so far. It started in 2016 when Riverfest organizers took most of the more child-friendly activities and created a free family festival. With the announcement of Riverfest's demise in 2017, it seemed the fledgling festival would also be kaput.

Enter the Museum of Discovery, which picked up the ball and, starting this year, will run with it.

"It just seemed like a logical thing for us to do," museum Chief Executive Officer Kelley Bass says. "Because there were a lot of people concerned about what might happen with Springfest after Riverfest went away."

The museum had been involved in Springfest and Riverfest in the past and Bass had served on the Riverfest board for 12 years so there was an organizational connection.

Also, while the museum draws thousands of visitors a year, it does charge an admission fee. Bass and the other museum directors saw taking over the free Springfest as a way to offer some of the museum's science-based programming at no cost.

With the Museum of Discovery at the helm, Springfest will be tweaked a bit.

"Of course, we're not the only attraction," Bass says. "We have all kinds of fun things for people to do and see. But at the core of it, it's going to have a Museum of Discovery feel to it."

That will be especially apparent at the "Awesome Science Shows" performed four times during the day at First Security Amphitheater. They've taken the show they presented at last year's Arkansas State Fair and "made it even more dynamic and a bigger 'wow' factor."

The popular dog-centric activities will be back: the Super Retriever Series, the Ruff on the River Pooch Parade and the Short Legged Dog Race.

There will be fees for bungee jumping and for the dog parade and race. And visitors can buy food and drinks from the on-site food trucks.

But, otherwise, everything is free.

"You can spend some money on food and drink or bungee jumping if you want or you can come and not spend one penny and have a fabulous time," Bass says. "There will be a lot to do and see all day long."

Those activities will include a Hero Zone with police, EMTs and firefighters, bounce houses, a Construction Zone with real construction equipment and kid-size toys and performances by area dance teams, cheer teams and bands.

Bass sees a lot of potential and promise in the young festival: "It offers people the chance to come do some free stuff the museum's happy to provide. Hopefully we'll continue to lead this for years in terms of just having a big, fun, free day in downtown Little Rock."

Weekend on 04/05/2018