Arts & The Park 2024

Arts & The Park: Celebrate Imagination will be held from April 26 through May 5, 2024 with indoor, outdoor, in-person, and virtual offerings. The theme for the festival, “Celebrate Imagination”, will focus on on cleverness, originality, ingenuity, and the limitlessness of the mind. Celebrate Imagination hopes to highlight how the imagination supports and benefits not just the artistic process, but other areas of life such as technology.

The printed program for Arts & The Park is published in the April issue of The Springs Magazine. Click here to view the program.

Arts & The Park is hosted each year by the Hot Springs Area Cultural Alliance as part of the organization’s mission to celebrate the arts and culture of the Hot Springs area. Arts & The Park 2024 will include live performances, workshops, children’s events, and art exhibitions. 

All Arts & The Park events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. All events are “family friendly.”

Some of the highlights of the 2024 festival included:

Art Moves – Friday, April 26, 5 PM, 411 Hollywood Ave. – The annual Art Moves exhibit, made up of 20 original works of art reproduced onto 30″ x 40″ metal sheets, is installed along the Hot Springs Creek Greenway Trail and will remain there until the springs of 2025. This outdoor exhibition encourages everyone to go outdoors to enjoy nature year-round. For information about the 2023 Art Moves, visit the page on this website.  

Art Springs –  Saturday and Sunday, April 27-28 – Art Springs, the free 2-day outdoor festival, takes place the first weekend of Arts & The Park at Hill Wheatley Plaza in the heart of historic Hot Springs. Art Springs is an annual juried festival filled with talented artists, artisans, and fine crafts. Food trucks, beverages for purchase, a children’s area with a book giveaway, the Renaissance Fair, and storytelling make it an annual favorite for the entire family. Also included in the Art Springs festivities:

• Chalk Walk: A Sidewalk Chalk Event 
• Under Pressure a steamroller block printing event on Spring St. – Rain location 324 Malvern Ave. enter on Broadway.
• Children’s Book Giveaway presented in partnership with the Hot Springs Community Foundation.  
• Glover Awards for Songwriting Excellence – The fourth annual contest, paid homage to local music legend singer/songwriter, Henry Glover and the final round will take place on the Art Springs Stage, Saturday afternoon, April 27, at 6 PM.

Hot Springs Children’s Dance Theatre The festivities will begin with a special one-time-only free professional ballet performance offered by the Hot Springs Children’s Dance Theatre.

Garland County Library Events – The Garland County Library will host multiple events during the festival including a Children’s Fruit Fairy Tea Party featuring the new children’s book The Lovely Fruit Fairies, by Conway artist Faye Hedera, Three Springs with Charlie Mink, Local Author’s Day, All Things Fiber, and a follow-up presentation of The Architect’s Daughter featuring Diana McDaniel Hampo – Diana will be present to offer additional information, photographs, and answer questions, as well as a re-play of the original program.

Ibla – Monday, April 29, 6 PM, 841 Quapaw Ave – The IBLA Foundation in New York City organizes annual music competitions for pianists, singers, instrumentalists and composers which take place in Ragusa Ibla, Italy. Winners have been presented in prestigious venues such as Weill Hall at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center Alice Tully Hall, KIOI Hall and Tokyo Opera City Hal in Japan, Tchaikovsky Bolshoi Hall in Moscow, and other prestigious venues globally.

Virtual Cooking – Tuesday, April 30, 6 PM via Zoom – Hot Springs very own interactive cooking show! A wildly popular virtual event where participants will cook along with the Head Chef of Oaklawn Resort, Racing, Casino, virtually, from the comfort of their own kitchen. Participants are encouraged to ask the chef questions as we cook together. This event has a $30 workshop fee.

Wednesday Night Poetry – Wednesday, May 1, at 110 Central Ave. 6:30 PM- Wednesday Night Poetry in Hot Springs is the longest-running consecutive weekly open mic in the country.

Take a Hike with Gene – Thursday, May 2 – Beloved local legend and iconic woodturning artist, Gene Sparling will lead participants through the beautiful hiking trails on his land nestled at the foot of the Ouchitas. Hikers will see out at 10 am and stay together for the first portion, then the group will split in two with one group headed on to a medium difficulty trail, and the other group to remain on a low difficulty trail and head back to the entrance. Hikers will need to pack their own supplies and are encouraged to focus on how getting back to nature helps spark imagination.

Gallery Walk – Friday, May 3, 5 PM – 9 PM – The first Friday of every month, Hot Springs area galleries and participating studio spaces opened their doors for Gallery Walk. 

Studio Tours –  Saturday and Sunday, May 4-5, from 10 AM – 4 PM – Artists open their studios for on-site tours.

Hot Springs Music Trail Grand Opening– Sunday, May 5, at 3 P -A special new addition to Hot Springs, the presentation of the first historical marker will take place at the Arlington Hotel on Sunday, May 5.

If you are looking for accommodations during Arts & The Park, please check with our festival hotel partners, who will be happy to assist you.