Taking place this weekend (June 26-28, 2026) at North Little Rock’s Riverfront Park, the Arkansas Folklife Festival invites people to experience all aspects of the state’s cultural identity in a celebration of art, crafts, music, and food. Presented in partnership with “Of the People: The Smithsonian Festival of Festivals,” the event is a chance to be immersed in traditions from across the state, from the Ozarks to the Delta.
The schedule includes gardening and craft demonstrations, art installations, folk dance workshops, food vendors, and lots of live music, the most noteworthy being headliners Bobby Rush and Lucinda Williams. In short, expect an atmosphere that touches all the senses—from the twang of banjo strings and flash of colorful quilt squares to the scent of homemade sauerkraut and Arkansas-grown spirits.
Speaking of, it’s no surprise we’re excited about the chance to learn more about Arkansas foodways from a thoughtful array of presenters. Here’s a tidbit from the festival’s website about their cuisine-centered programming:
Food is never just food. It carries the land it came from, the hands that prepared it, and the stories passed down through every generation that knew how to feed a community. The Arkansas Folklife Festival Foodways program brings together the cooks, herbalists, distillers, and tradition bearers whose work connects us to the wild game traditions of the Ozarks, the herb gardens of the hill country, and the crops Delta families have tended for over a century.
Conversations will cover catfish, cheese dip, campfire cooking, craft beer, distilling, the pawpaw fruit, and indigenous foodways from these Arkansas treasures:
- Barrett Tillman, founder of BlackMan Brewing
- Crescent Dragonwagon, James Beard Award-winning cookbook writer
- Kat Robinson, food writer and broadcaster
- Lisa Joyner, owner of Leon’s Catfish & Shrimp in Pine Bluff
- Mark Abernathy, Little Rock restaurateur and Arkansas Food Hall of Fame inductee
- Marty Shutter, co-founder of Ozark Beer Co. in Rogers
- Matt Feyerabend, founder of Pure Joy Ice Cream in Siloam Springs
- Mike Poe, descendent of Freda La Ferney, considered to be the “Queen of Queso”
- Nico Albert Williams, Cherokee Nation chef and founder of Burning Cedar Sovereign Wellness
- Philip Wood, representative of the Arkansas Boy Scouts
- Susan Belsinger, food writer, editor, photographer, and herbalist
- Thomas Williams, head distiller with Delta Dirt Distillery in Helena
- Tina Marie Wilcox, gardener and herbalist
The festival kicks off Friday with a set by alt-country singer-songwriter Dylan Earl and continues with concerts, conversations, and more through the weekend. Find the full schedule at arkansasfolklifefestival.org.
