Events in Little Rock December 2015

The Tree 

     First Baptist Little Rock, 62 Pleasant Valley Drive, will present The Tree again this year.

     It was scheduled for December 11, 12 and 13, but another performance has been added on December 10 because of the great ticket sales.

     The Tree will have a cast of more than 250 people and a 40-foot living Christmas tree. There will be 150 singers, a 35 piece orchestra, dancing, dramatic presentations and more. 

    Performance times are 7 p.m. December 10, 11 and 12, and 3 p.m. December 12 and 13. Tickets are $5 for reserved seating. Visit thetree.christmas to order your tickets.   

Holiday Crafts Open House 

    The Plantation Agriculture Museum will open its grounds and buildings to the public for its fifth annual Holiday Crafts Open House 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. December 19. 

   You can enjoy making crafts while sipping hot cocoa and nibbling on family favorite treats.  Crafts that can be taken home include: felted soap, gilded walnut Christmas ornaments, cotton boll angels, holiday cotton potholders and more.  The museum’s annual Christmas graham-cracker house contest will be conducted while crafts and activities are presented to visitors. The museum’s gift shop will have storewide 20% discounts.  

    Admission to the museum and Christmas treats are free. Participation in the craft making is $2 per craft or $20 for the entire family. The Museum is 20 minutes from Little Rock at the junction of U.S. Hwy. 165 and Arkansas Hwy. 161. For information, call Linda Leatherwood at 961-1409. 

Nog-off

     Historic Arkansas Museum has one of the most fun holiday events each year with its Nog-off.

     The Museum’s 11th Nog-off, a culinary celebration of this favorite Christmas drink and a friendly competition for the best eggnog in town, will be held 5 - 8 p.m. December 11.

     It is free and open to the public.  The Museum is located at 202 East Third St. Free parking is available.  

Tim Ernst Photography

    Experience the stunning nature photography of Tim Ernst ”A Rare Quality of Light- 40 Years of Wilderness Photography,” which will be exhibited 1 - 4 p.m. December 13 at the Witt Stephens Jr. Central Arkansas Nature Center downtown. It is free and open to the public. 

     Mr. Ernst is a nationally recognized photographer, and his images will inspire you to explore the natural beauty of our state. The center is located at 602 President Clinton Avenue. 

The Gingerbread Man’s Excellent Christmas Adventure

  “The Gingerbread Man’s Excellent Christmas Adventure” will be presented at the Arkansas Arts Center’s Children’s Theatre December 4 - 20.

      Tickets are $12.50 or $10 for Arts Center members and groups of 10 or more.  Children under the age of 2 will be admitted free.

  Enjoy this wacky holiday adventure with your kids.  arkarts.com.

Holiday Pops 

     The Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s most popular and longest running tradition brings holiday cheer to music lovers of all ages.  

   Performances will be 7:30 p.m. December 18 and 19 and 3 p.m. December 20 at the Connor Performing Arts Center, 12701 Hinson Road in west Little Rock. 

     Adult tickets range from $19 to $58. Student and active military tickets will be $10.  Kids will be admitted free. For more information, visit arkansassymphony.org.  

The Circus

     Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus will be at Verizon Arena December 23, 26 and 27.  Show times are: 7 p.m. December 23; 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. December 26; and 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. December 27.

     Tickets start at $10 for kids and $20 for adults.  975-9131. 

     The Arkansas Chamber Singers will present The Peace of Christmas December 11-13 at the Old State House Museum.  This concert is free and open to the public.

     It will be held 7 p.m. December 11 and 12 and 3 p.m. December 13.  It will feature traditional music for the season.

Santa at the Capital Hotel

     Inside the Capital Hotel’s festively decorated lobby, Santa will meet with kids to hear their Christmas wishes.  Bring your children to meet Santa 1 - 3 p.m. December 6, 13 and 20. This event is free and open to the public. 

     In addition, there will be two opportunities to hear stories read by Santa around the Capital Hotel Christmas tree:  6 - 8 p.m. December 21 and 22.  The cost is $10.

Christmas Cookies 

     The Capital Hotel pastry chef will give a lesson in cookie decorating 10 a.m. and 1-2:30 p.m. December 19.  

    The cost is $55 for one adult and one child. Decorate cookies and take them home. 

Bowie Knife Exhibit at Historic Arkansas Museum

The Largest and Most Important Bowie Knife Exhibit Ever Assembled Opens in December 

      Historic Arkansas Museum is proud to present A Sure Defense: The Bowie Knife in America  in the Horace C. Cabe Gallery, December 13 through June 22. There will be a free opening reception 5 - 8 p.m. December 13 in conjunction with downtown Little Rock’s 2nd Friday Art Night and the museum’s eggnog competition, the 9th Ever Nog-off. 

       There will be live music, and a surprise guest of bowie knife fame is planned. As part of Art Night, a free shuttle is available to transport visitors to other Art Night venues. Shuttle service ends at 8:30 p.m. Admission to the gallery is free.

    “This exhibit is the largest and most important ever done on America’s iconic contribution to the world of blades,” Historic Arkansas Museum Director Bill Worthen said.  A Sure Defense: The Bowie Knife in America will trace the history of this country’s most famous knife from just before its birth in a rough melee on a sandbar above Natchez, Mississippi, in 1827, to the skilled craftsmen who keep the classic blade alive to this day in the form of hand-crafted reproductions and modernized versions. 

     More than 200 knives are included in the exhibit. A full-color catalog documenting this historic exhibit is planned and will be available from the museum’s gift shop and online store.

       Visitors to the public exhibit will have the opportunity to see knife designs associated with Alamo martyr James Bowie and his less famous brother, Rezin, and to examine bowie knives once owned by such historic figures as Davy Crockett, Theodore Roosevelt, General Winfield Scott and John Fox “Bowie Knife” Potter. The role of the bowie knife in the Antebellum era is explored along with the Civil War and the opening of the west, and there’s a special focus on the role bowie knives played in the events surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. 

     Among the 19th century knives featured will be those attributed to Arkansas’s own James Black, known knifemakers to the Bowie brothers Henry Schively and Daniel Searles, master silversmith of Texas and Tennessee Samuel Bell, and the highly skilled makers of the California school including Michael Price and Will & Finck. Fine English Bowies are also well represented with knives by such makers as Samuel Wragg, W. & S. Butcher, J. Walters and Charles Congreve, as are some of the finest known Northern and Southern blades from the Civil War. Visitors can also expect to see a superb group of folding bowie knives, and a variety of other knives that served as backup weapons during the bowie knife era, such as push daggers and dirk knives.