Beach sounds
The Beach Boys are in town, Hot Springs, actually for a concert of their California sounds at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 26, at Timberwood Amphitheater, Magic Springs. The event is free for season pass holders ($39.95), $20 for one-time concert admission, $5 upgrade for reserved seats. Call 501-624-0100. for more information.
Mountain View going Blue
To wrap up the Ozark Folk Center’s Resophonic Guitar Festival in Mountain View, progressive bluegrass super group, Blue Highway will appear in concert Saturday, May 28, from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. The show, part of the Ozark Folk Center’s summer Celebrity Concert Series, will be held at the 1,000-seat Ozark Folk Center Theater. Tickets are $15.
The band is features an award-winning lineup: Tim Stafford on guitar, Rob Ickes on dobro, multi-instrumentalist Shawn Lane, bassist Wayne Taylor and banjoist Jason Burleson. Blue Highway’s members individually have won numerous awards for their musicianship and songwriting abilities and have worked with such acts Alison Krauss and Union Station, Earl Scruggs and Ricky Skaggs. Collectively, they have released six albums and received a Grammy nomination and won a Dove Award. Their next CD release, “Marbletown,” is due out June 7.
For tickets or more information, call 870-269-3851 or visit www.ozarkfolkcenter.com.
Writer Cochran discusses folklorist
Robert Cochran, an English professor and director the Center for Arkansas and Regional Studies at the University of Arkansas, will present a program on Ozark folklore documentarian Vance Randolph at the next “Legacies and Lunch” program Wednesday, June 1, at the Main Library. Cochran’s program, “The Truth About Lies (and Vice-Versa): Vance Randolph Tells The World About the Ozarks,” begins at noon in the Darragh Center and is free. Bring a sack lunck; drinks are provided. Cochran has written the book “Vance Randolph: An Ozark Life,” and describes Randolph as a character as interesting as the people he studied.
For more information, call 918-3049.
Mustangs return to Petit Jean
Mustangs will be on the loose on Petit Jean Mountain on Sunday, May 29. The Ford Mustang returns to the Museum of Automobiles for “Mustangs On The Mountain.” The annual “Show & Shine” outside event will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is free. Approximately 60 Mustangs from Arkansas and surrounding states will participate. The event is open to all Ford Mustangs, although most of the entries are 1960s and 1970s models.
The Museum of Automobiles is open year round from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, closing only on Christmas Day. On exhibit in the museum is President Clinton’s 1967 Mustang Convertible. Admission is $6 for adults 18 to 64, $5.50 for seniors 65 and older, and $3 for students ages 6-17, with no charge for children under 6. Call 501-727-5427.
Delta Gospel Festival in Helena
Gospel music will fill the air Saturday, May 28, in Helena at the fifth annual Arkansas Delta Family Gospel Festival, presented by the Delta Cultural Center’s Delta Music Documentation Project and will feature live musical performances throughout the day.
The best of traditional and contemporary gospel music will be in concert at the Delta Cultural Center’s Cherry Street Pavilion, just a block from the Helena levee and across Cherry Street from the Delta Cultural Center’s Visitor Center. Performers scheduled to appear include Lee Williams and the Spiritual QC’s, Ollabelle, Doc McKenzie and the Hi Lites, LaShun Pace, the Selvy Singers, the Stillwells and other local, regional and national groups and performers.
The festival is free. Call 870-338-4350 or 800-358-0972 or visit the museum’s website at www.deltaculturalcenter.com.
Oval’s fiesta
Mexican food, dancing, Mayan ballads and folk music will be featured at Oval Gallery’s authentic Mexican fiesta from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, May 27. Tickets are $20. Call the gallery at 244-0800.
Last weekend for Weekend’s musical
“The Cradle Will Rock” a daring musical from the 1930s that focuses on the themes of unionism, corruption and prostitution, will conclude its run this weekend at the Weekend Theater. The show is directed by Ralph Hyman. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $18 for adults and $14 for students and seniors. Call 374-3761.
Farmers Market heads downtown
Because Riverfest has taken over the River Market pavilions for the weekend, the Farmers Market will take up space Saturday where it originated, at the parking deck at Sixth and Scott streets from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Farmers will sell Arkansas produce out of their trucks. Admission is free. Call 375-2552.
Next Tuesday, the Farmers Market will be back at the River Market starting at 7 a.m.
Spend weekend at DeGray Lake
DeGray Lake Resort State Park has scheduled an assortment of programs for families on a Memorial Day weekend getaway. The holiday weekend starts off with several musicians taking the stage in two concerts. Corey Pelton, a Civil War Era banjo player from Hot Springs, will perform Saturday at 7 p.m., followed by the bluegrass tunes of the Hartley Family Band. Admission is $2 (children 5 and younger are admitted free). On Sunday, the one-man gospel band of Ray Holliday will follow a 9 a.m. non-denominational worship service with a free concert.
Along with the music, visitors will find 22 other activities suitable for all ages, including hikes, snorkeling, kayaking, making home-made ice cream, sandcastle building, volleyball, night hiking for owls and more. All programs are free except those on the lake. Snorkeling and lake tours cost $6 adult, $3 per child 6-12 and free for children under 6 (snorkelers must be 6 or older). The kayaking tour costs $10 per paddler or $5 per child riding with an adult (limited space available). Call 501-865-2809. DeGray Lake Resort State Park is off Highway 7 six miles north of I-30 at exit 78 near Arkadelphia.

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