Festiville in Jacksonville will held at Dupree Park from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday. Admission and parking are free.
A carnival will kick things off Thursday with a carnival family night with a $20 armband for the rides.
There will be hot-air balloon rides available and performances by Lighthouse Charter School and the Arkansas Platinum Diamondettes dance group on Friday.
The movie “Zootopia” will be shown at 7 p.m. Friday.
The Arkansas Street Machines will host a car show.
There will be a 5K run, a volleyball tournament, a climbing rock wall, a children’s area with inflatables, a petting zoo and pony rides and a Senior Centers of Arkansas bean bag baseball tournament.
A barbecue contest will also be held for which teams are still invited to register.
CABOT
CabotFest is Saturday, Oct. 8 and features country music band Ricochet as the headliner for this year’s festival. Admission is free.
Ricochet, from Oklahoma, released their debut single 20 years ago in 1996, “What Do I Know” with their follow up single, “Daddy’s Money” reaching No. 1 on the Billboard County Singles Chart for two consecutive weeks.
The festival will have two stages of live music and performances.
The second stage will feature performances by Cabot public school students from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. followed by local bands to 5:45 p.m.
The CabotFest pageant will be held 10 a.m. at Cabot Freshman Academy, 18 Spirit Drive.
More than 90 vendors have signed up for CabotFest. Applications are available at the chamber’s website, www.cabotcc.org.
The cricket-spitting contest is back with three age divisions. A spit-off is scheduled at 5 p.m.
The carnival will start on Thursday, Oct. 7 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., Friday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Armbands for Thursday and Fridays nights are $20 in advance and $25 at the gate.
On Saturday, Oct. 8, the carnival will operate from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The Cabot Lions Club will hold a pancake breakfast fundraiser from 6 till 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 8 to kickoff CabotFest.
The breakfast will be in First Baptist Church’s Fellowship Hall. Tickets are $5 and $2 for kids under 10.
Proceeds will help buy eyeglasses for local school children and adults; assist local applicants with vital glaucoma and cataract surgeries; provide vision screenings at local daycares, preschools, churches, health fairs and the Lonoke County Christian Clinic, as well as supporting the Cabot Lions Scholarship Fund.
Guests are asked to bring their old or unused eyeglasses to be recycled for the less fortunate.
Cabot’s AARP chapter will have a bingo booth at CabotFest from 9 a.m. till 5 p.m. at Regions Bank, 102 South Second St.
Each card will cost 50 cents, and prizes include gift cards, dog grooming, cologne and more. People will be able to sit and rest while playing.
“This is our largest annual fundraiser, and the proceeds are used to fund a college scholarship for a deserving Cabot High School graduating senior,” according to the announcement.
BEEBE
The 20th annual Beebe Fall Festival will be held from 10 a.m. till 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15 at the Beebe Ballpark.
The free event will have live entertainment, vendors, the Miss Beebe Fall Festival Pageant, carnival rides, an antique car show, a kids zone, food vendors, a duck-calling contest, a chili cookoff and more.
To register as a vendor, or for more information, call the chamber at 501-882-8135 or email chamberinfo@beebeark.org.
WARD
Ward’s Harvest Fest will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29 at the Ward Chamber Building, 80 W. Second St.
The event is free.
There will be hayrides, a petting zoo, games, an outdoor concert, a cake walk, bounces houses.
Food and concessions will be available for purchase.
