Arkansauce / Courtesy

The UA will be back in session next week, students are rolling back into town, and likely as a result of that, there are quite a few options for entertainment this weekend.

There’s music, of course. George’s will kick off the weekend with local classic rockers, Honeyjack for a happy hour show. Later on Friday, Funk Factory will perform, and on Saturday night, bluegrass band Arkansauce will take the stage. Arkansauce is requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test for entry to their show, FYI. Here’s more about that.

Also in tunes, Farmer & The Markets – the band that got its start playing the farmers market and made up of folks who’ve gone on to be a huge part of the local music scene, will play at Kingfish Friday night.

There are a couple choices for checking out a play this weekend. TheatreSquared has their musical American Mariachi playing, with several performances scheduled this weekend (here’s ticket info). TheatreSquared will also begin their annual New Play Festival, featuring staged readings of new work by emerging playwrights from around the country. T2 will host three in-person readings of new work on Sunday this week. Here’s more.

Also up in Springdale, a group of players will perform Next to Normal, an award-winning rock musical about mental illness, at 214 (formerly Arts Center of the Ozarks). Here’s ticket info for that one.

How about showing off your putt-putt skills for a great cause? Foghorn’s Wings will host their annual Putt for Paws mini-golf benefit for the Humane Society of the Ozarks at Locomotion on Saturday. This year’s event will begin at 9 a.m. at Lokomotion with a mini-golf tourney, followed my lunch, music, raffle, and more at Foghorns at around 11 a.m. The entry fee is $25, and includes a round of mini-golf, a t-shirt, and a buffet-style lunch at Foghorn’s. Here’s more info.

There’s more below. Welcome back students, and have fun / be safe, everyone.

Friday, August 20

Saturday, August 21

Sunday, August 22