Downtown on Farm

I spent a terrific afternoon on Oct. 27 at the Downtown on the Farm event in the River Market area of downtown Little Rock. Kudos to the Arkansas Rice Federation in conjunction with the Downtown Little Rock Partnership as well as the sponsors, participants, and volunteers.

The event itself couldn’t have asked for better weather or a more interested and enthusiastic crowd, especially the kids, who got to pet a lot of different farm animals, milk an unsettlingly realistic plastic cow, plant a few seeds, paint a pumpkin, eat a lot of sweet stuff, get a sparkly tattoo, and ride a pony.

Several downtown restaurants served free samples of dishes featuring rice. Dragged through the food area toward the animals by a sharply focused granddaughter, I had time to sample only the seafood gumbo, the black beans and rice, the red beans and rice, and the cold chicken curry salad with slivered almonds. OK, I did manage to put together a delicious free lunch. Wish I could recall the restaurant names; I’d recommend them all. The food was phenomenal.

We loaded up on lots of fun freebies, bags to put them in, and had wonderful conversations with animal owners, farmers (one especially nice young rice farmer and family and their new dog), conservation folks, sellers of things, and many, many friendly people having a good time on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

Shopping opportunities included some vendors and food trucks. The live music featured really good local groups. There was music for pretty much every taste. And the saddest hog in all of Razorback Nation, Tusk V, even put in an appearance.

If you missed Downtown on the Farm, put a note in your phone to watch for it next year. You will not be sorry.

CHUCK ANDERSON Little Rock