WEEKEND TEN
1 PILAF
Handmade gifts, traditional art and dancing and tasty dishes will welcome visitors to the Turkish Food Festival, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday at the Raindrop Turkish House, 1501 Market St., Little Rock. General admission is free. Call (501) 223-2155 or visit turkishfoodfest.com.
2 ‘PLEASURE PRINCIPLE’
Janet Jackson — that’s Miss Jackson if you’re nasty — is now on her 2017 State of the World tour, performing at 8 p.m. Saturday at North Little Rock’s Verizon Arena. Tickets $29.95-$110 (plus applicable service charges); there’s an eight-ticket-per-household limit. The arena will honor tickets for the Unbreakable tour show originally scheduled for May 31, 2016. Call (800) 745-3000 or visit ticketmaster.com or livenation.com.
3 PAVEMENT
After an extensive renovation, the Thea
Foundation will reopen its doors at 401 Main St., North Little Rock, with a party, 5-8 p.m. Friday during the Argenta Art Walk. Then, 8 a.m.-noon Saturday, clouds of colorful dust will settle around the front lawn of the Clinton Presidential Center, 1200 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock, during the annual Thea Paves the Way. Groups, organizations and families will decorate the sidewalks on the grounds while face painters and mimes entertain participants and spectators. Admission is free but registration is required for participants. Call (501) 379-9512 or visit theafoundation.org.
4 PUTTERING
The annual construction and deconstruction extravaganza, Tinkerfest, returns to the Museum of Discovery, 500 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock. From 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, visitors can get hands-on with activities including the Car Take-Apart, Tinkering with Food, Lock Picking, Battle Bots and Costume Making. Admission is $10; $8 for senior citizens, teachers, military, Little Rock city employees and children 1-12. Call (501) 396-7050 or visit museumofdiscovery.org.
5 POWER/PONTIACS
It’s not just motorcycles. Cars and trucks are also welcome to take part in the Arkansas Bikers for Children’s Annual Bike Rally, 9 a.m. Sunday. Pre-ride activities at Burns Park’s Pavilion 10 in North Little Rock will include a barbecue lunch, music and a silent auction. At 2 p.m., the ride heads out for Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Registration is $25 and all proceeds benefit the hospital. Call (501) 920-3830.
The Arkansas Pontiac Association presents its 15th annual Wheelin’ & Healin’ Car Show, a benefit for Arkansas Children’s Hospital, 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday at Lake Willastein, Maumelle. In addition to the cars, there will be food, prizes and music. Registration is $20 and starts at 8 a.m. Call (501) 416-6107 or visit arkansaspontiacs.org.
6 PERIPATETIC PROGRAM
The River City Men’s Chorus will open its 15th season with a program titled “From Sea to Shining Sea … A Musical Road Trip,” 3 p.m. Sunday and 7 p.m. and Sept. 21 at Second Presbyterian Church, 600 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock. The program will include show tunes (from Oklahoma! and 42nd Street), standards with regional themes (including “Georgia on My Mind,” “New York State of Mind,” “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” “Walkin’ in Memphis” and “My Old Kentucky Home”) and an arrangement of “America, the Beautiful.” David Glaze conducts. Admission is free. Doors open one hour ahead of “curtain” time. Call (501) 377-1080 or visit rivercitymenschorus.com.
7 PERILOUS PLAY
Truant San Francisco teens playing an alternate reality game end up in the middle of a terrorist attack and on the wrong side of the Department of Homeland Security in Little Brother, adapted by Josh Costello from the novel by Cory Doctorow, 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 2:30 p.m. Sunday through Sept. 30 at the Weekend Theater, West Seventh and Chester streets, Little Rock. Tickets are $16, $12 for students and senior citizens; visit weekendtheater.org/little-brother.
8 (FUNERAL) PARLOR
Growing up playing at the family funeral home doesn’t much sound like the material for a musical, but writer-lyricist Lisa Kron, adapting from Alison Bechdel’s 2006 graphic novel/ memoir of the same name, and composer Jeanine Tesori created Fun Home. It’s onstage, 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and Sept 21-23 and 2:30 p.m. Sunday and Sept. 24 at the Studio Theatre, 320 W. Seventh St., Little Rock. The play contains mature language, themes and situations. Tickets are $25, $20 for senior citizens (65-plus), military and students. Call (501) 374-2615 or visit studiotheatrelr.com or centralarkansastickets.com.
9 PLASTIC PURSES
The “opening” celebration for “The Power of Plastics: Reshaping Midcentury Fashion,” already on display at the ESSE Purse Museum, 1510 Main St., Little Rock, is set for 5-7 p.m. today. The exhibit showcases handbags and accessories from Anita Davis’ private collection from the 1930s-50s. Museum hours are 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday and admission is $10 and $8. Reception admission is half-price. Call (501) 916-9022 or visit essepursemuseum.com.
10 PAINTING AND POTTERY
Mountain View-area artists will open their doors for the annual Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour.
Artists within 30 miles of downtown Mountain View will demonstrate their skills in everything from painting to pottery, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Maps for the self-guided driving tour are available at the Chamber of Commerce in downtown Mountain View and at other locations in the area. Call (870) 615-4825 or visit offthebeatenpathstudiotour.com.
Whirling dervishes, henna tattoos and kebabs galore will add some extra spice to Little Rock during the annual Turkish Food Festival, 11 a.m.6 p.m. Saturday.
This is the seventh year for the festival, presented by the Raindrop Turkish House.
Raindrop Foundation volunteer Mehmet Ulupinar explains, “The purpose is to reach out to the local community. There are Turkish Americans living in Arkansas. We’re trying to help those Turkish Americans better integrate into local society.”
That means sharing, literally, a taste of Turkish culture with the community. It’s a chance “to look, to experience, a little bit of everything.”
That “little bit of everything” includes art and cultural traditions such as Turkish tile painting and ebru, a traditional art form that uses water to create marble patterns on paper or fabric. Artists will demonstrate their crafts and sell handmade gifts and souvenirs.
There will be entertainment throughout the day, too. The lineup includes traditional Kazakh music, Turkish and Spanish folk dances and a performance by the Parkstone Band.
There will be a kid-friendly area with a bounce house, but, really, the whole festival is designed for families.
And, of course, the main attraction is the food. There should be plenty from which to choose.
There are some items that are particularly popular.
“Kebabs always hit the spot,” Ulupinar says. And lahmajoon, a “Turkish pizza” that is a thin layer of bread topped with meat, herbs and spices, is another favorite.
There also will be kofte (Turkish meatballs), yaprak samasi (stuffed vine leaves), manti (steamed dumplings) and etimek tatlisi with kaymak (toasted bread dessert with clotted cream).
All the food is made by volunteers using family recipes.
For those planning their visit, Ulupinar says the peak time is around noon, with things slowing down considerably after 4 p.m.
Admission to the festival is free so, Ulupinar says, “If you want, you can just come in and walk around. They don’t have to purchase anything if they don’t want to.”
But for those who can’t resist the lure of revani (semolina cake) and balli kek (honey cake), there will be fees. Tables
will be set up at the entrance to the festival where people can use cash or credit cards to buy tickets, which they can then trade for food at the various booths.
Money raised will go to fund Raindrop Foundation activities and outreach projects.
Through the festival, Turkish Arkansans can share their traditions with the community and the community can, in turn, sample new dishes and make a few new friends.
“It’s a kind of reaching-out event for the foundation,” Ulupinar says. “It’s a way to let the local community know that we are mixed. We are a little bit of this and a little bit of that. We’re trying to add to the diversity of this city and state.”