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It’s the Halloween weekend! Get your fill of treats and tricks around the state with these great events. Then enjoy spooktacular tours and performances or celebrate the harvest and fall seasons with food festivals. All right here in The Natural State!
Mountain Village 1890 Haunted History Tour – Bull Shoals
Join an experienced paranormal investigator as you tour an authentic, actively haunted, 19th-century ghost town while searching for the ghosts who still inhabit it. This is a real ghost town with real ghosts and an experience you won’t soon forget.
October 20, 2016 – October 31, 2016, 7:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m.
Mountain Village 1890 / Bull Shoals Caverns
1011 C.S. Woods Blvd.
Bull Shoals, AR 72619
Admission: $12
website
Thriller – Fort Smith
Enjoy a performance of Thriller by Western Arkansas Ballet on the street in front of the Fort Smith Museum of History on October 21, 22, 18, 29 and 31 at 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. Then check out Western Arkansas Ballet’s excellent performance of the 1980s classic. Donations to both organizations are appreciated.
October 21, 2016 – October 31, 2016, 7:00 p.m. – 8:15 p.m.
Fort Smith Museum of History
320 Rogers Avenue
Fort Smith, AR 72901
Admission: Free
www.fortsmithmuseum.org
4th Annual Night at the Museum – Batesville
Join the fun as the exhibits come to life. Living history characters interact with guests in each exhibit of the museum. Spooky crafts and activities are available for kids. Punch and cookies are served.
October 27, 2016, 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Old Independence Regional Museum
380 South 9th Street
Batesville, AR 72501
Admission: $5 per person
website
21st Annual Big BOO-seum! Bash – Little Rock
The Big Booseum Bash incorporates several of Little Rock’s museums into one giant storytelling, trick-or-treating, fun and games evening that is safe and accessible for children and their families.
October 28, 2016, 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Partnering Downtown Museums
Little Rock, AR 72201
Admission: Free
http://LittleRock.com
34th Annual Bean Fest & Great Arkansas Championship Outhouse Races – Mountain View
At Bean Fest there are beans and cornbread, music, dancing on the courthouse stage, handmade crafts and outrageous outhouse races, all day on Saturday. You can also enjoy crafts and music on Friday. This event always promises great fun for the whole family.
October 28, 2016 – October 29, 2016, 10:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Courthouse Square
107 N. Peabody Avenue
Mountain View, AR 72396
Admission: Free
www.yourplaceinthemountains.com
Fall Foliage Weekend – Mountain Pine
Fall is here. It’s time to get outdoors and enjoy the cooler temperatures and beautiful autumn colors of Arkansas. Catch a glimpse of nature’s splendor during the Fall Foliage Weekend at Lake Ouachita State Park. Take a hike along one of the park trails, explore your creative side by making a nature journal, discover native trees in our tree maze, embark on a scavenger hunt, or enjoy a Fall Foliage Tour by barge on spectacular Lake Ouachita. Make a day of it. Pack a lunch, grab the kids, and come out for a nature experience with the whole family. Contact the park for tour ticket information or a detailed schedule.
October 29, 2016 – October 30, 2016, 12:00 a.m.
Lake Ouachita State Park
Visitor Center
Mountain Pine, AR 71956
Admission: Free
Phone: 501-767-9366
25th Annual Downtown Fall Festival & Chili Cook-Off – Russellville
Started in 1992, Russellville’s Downtown Fall Festival & Chili Cook-Off is a fun-filled street festival held each year on the last Saturday in October. This day-long celebration hearkens back to the “good ole days” when carnivals set up on the streets of Russellville’s Downtown. The day’s activities include a chili cook-off, Tour de Pumpkin bike ride, K-9 Capers dog show, 5K/1K run, children’s costume contest, car & truck show, pony rides, arts & crafts, pie contest, games, live music and lots of great festival food.
October 29, 2016, 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Historic Russellville Downtown
320 W. ‘C’ Street
Russellville, AR 72801
Admission: Free
www.mainstreetrussellville.com
6th Annual Arkansas Cornbread Festival – Little Rock
The Arkansas Cornbread Festival is one of the state’s yummiest festivals of the year celebrating Southern culture and heritage through food, artisan crafts and music, while simultaneously benefiting local non-profit organizations: Arkansas Hunger Relief Alliance, Our House, and studioMAIN. Visitors will be treated to music from several regional bands, and vendors and food trucks will sell Arkansas art, handmade crafts, clothes, jewelry, home furnishings, locally produced food and gifts of all sorts. Everyone attending the Arkansas Cornbread Festival, as well as a panel of celebrity judges, will have the opportunity to sample cornbread recipes as well as side dishes, and then vote for their favorite entries.
October 29, 2016, 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
SoMa – South Main
1401 S. Main Street
Little Rock, AR 72202
Admission: Ages 13 and up: $8 in advance, $10 at the door; Ages 6-12: $4 in advance, $5 at the door; Children under 6 are free. Advance tickets available from The Green Corner Store and Eventbrite.
http://www.arkansascornbreadfestival.com
40th Annual Grand Prairie Rice Festival – Hazen
Celebrate the harvest with an antique farm equipment show and parade, food booths, vendors, children’s events and attractions, music and entertainment byThe Brad Knupp Band and The Kinders.
October 29, 2016, 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
East City Park
Highway 70 at South Grove
Hazen, AR 72064
Admission: Free
Phone: 870-255-3042
We covered last year’s event here.
Jonesboro Ghost Tour – Jonesboro
Take a stroll through the darker side of Jonesboro’s history with historian-speaker-magician, Ed Underwood, the author of “Haunted Jonesboro”. Visit the locations of the town’s most notorious haunts and hear tales of tragedy, triumph, and terror. See ghostly photographs and (if you dare) touch actual artifacts from the people and places who haunt the “City of Churches.”
October 29, 2016, 7:00 p.m. – 8:45 p.m.
The Forum Theatre Park
115 E Monroe Ave.
Jonesboro, AR 72401
Admission: $16
Phone: 417-771-7641
*Header Image Courtesy of Arkansas Parks and Tourism
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