Good morning.
There’s plenty happening this weekend, but two stories are bigger than a normal event listing.
Germany’s first F-35 is headed to Ebbing, adding another country to the international training mission taking shape here. And Saturday night, the Fort Smith Symphony is giving a world-premiere performance with a Grammy-winning cast and a Fort Chaffee connection worth knowing about.
Peacemaker takes over the riverfront, the Arkansas-Oklahoma State Fair reaches its final day, haunted attractions start opening for October and Saturday gets crowded in a hurry.
Here’s where I’d start.
WEEKEND AT A GLANCE
THURSDAY: Free Levitt AMP music at The Bakery District, A Streetcar Named Desire and a free figure-drawing session at RAM.
FRIDAY: Peacemaker begins at the riverfront, Nosferatu plays inside Miss Laura’s and Hackett’s House of the Damned opens for October.
SATURDAY: The fair’s final day, Peacemaker, a Symphony world premiere, River Valley Nightmare opening night, the St. Boniface Lawn Social, a Van Buren fall festival and the Saturday train.
SUNDAY: A quieter finish with live music and dinner in Fort Smith or a $10 afternoon at MackMazing Acres.
GOOD TO KNOW
Illustration created for Sweet Home River Valley.
Germany is next at Ebbing
If you’ve been following the changes at Ebbing Air National Guard Base, another piece of the international F-35 mission is about to arrive.
Germany’s first F-35A is scheduled to reach Ebbing during the first week of October.
The aircraft was formally rolled out in Fort Worth on Sept. 18. Germany’s first eight F-35s are coming to Fort Smith for pilot training, with all eight expected at Ebbing by April 2027.
Polish and Finnish F-35s are already training here. Germany will add another country to a mission that is becoming a much more visible part of daily life around the River Valley.
German pilots are expected to train at Ebbing for five years.
So if the mix of aircraft around Fort Smith starts looking a little different again, there’s a reason.
THURSDAY
Levitt AMP moves to The Bakery District
Thursday’s free Levitt AMP concert has a different home this week.
Mexicuba and Revolución Latina play The Bakery District beginning at 6 p.m.
Admission is free.
Also Thursday
Fort Smith Little Theatre continues its run of A Streetcar Named Desire at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $14.
RAM also has a free Drawing From the Figure session with Amy Holmes Scoggins from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Participants must be 16 or older, and supplies are provided.
FRIDAY
Illustration created for Sweet Home River Valley.
Peacemaker takes over the riverfront
Peacemaker Music Festival returns to the Fort Smith riverfront Friday and Saturday.
This year’s lineup includes JJ Grey & Mofro, William Clark Green, Tanner Usrey, Pecos & The Rooftops, Drake White, Giovannie and The Hired Guns and several more.
The festival is all ages, and everyone entering the park needs a ticket.
There’s another piece of Peacemaker that sometimes gets lost behind the lineup. It’s run by a volunteer-led nonprofit that puts a portion of its proceeds back into local charities, artists’ charities and downtown development.
A 104-year-old horror movie inside Miss Laura’s
This setting almost writes the pitch for itself.
Miss Laura’s Brothel Museum is screening the 1922 silent horror film Nosferatu Friday from 6 to 8 p.m.
Admission is free. Seating is limited, so reservations are encouraged.
Halloween season starts in Hackett
Hackett Volunteer Fire Department’s House of the Damned opens Friday night at the Amity Masonic Lodge.
The haunted house runs Friday and Saturday nights throughout October from 7 p.m. to midnight. Admission is $20 per person, cash only, with proceeds benefiting the volunteer fire department.
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SATURDAY
Saturday is doing a lot.
Last call for the fair
Saturday is the final day of the 90th Arkansas-Oklahoma State Fair at Kay Rodgers Park.
If you’ve been meaning to make it out this year, this is it.
Gate admission is $15 for adults and $8 for ages 4–11. Children 3 and under are free. Rides are extra.
Illustration created for Sweet Home River Valley.
There’s more behind Saturday’s Symphony concert
The Fort Smith Symphony is giving the world premiere of MYTHOLOGIES Saturday night at the ArcBest Performing Arts Center.
On its own, that’s a substantial concert.
The multimedia work by composer Danaë Xanthe Vlasse combines orchestra, piano, three vocalists, narration and video around stories from Greek mythology.
The original Mythologies album won the 2022 Grammy for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album. Its follow-up, Mythologies II, was nominated for Best Classical Compendium.
Then there’s the Fort Smith connection.
One of Saturday’s featured vocalists is Sangeeta Kaur, also known as Teresa Mai. Her parents came to the United States as Vietnamese refugees following the events of 1975.
Fort Chaffee became the largest of four U.S. processing centers established for Vietnamese refugees that year.
Kaur was scheduled to meet with the community Wednesday evening at the Chaffee Barbershop and Military Museum before Saturday’s performance.
The concert itself is about Greek mythology, not Fort Chaffee. But her story adds another local layer to a world premiere that just happens to be taking place here.
The Symphony begins at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Illustration created for Sweet Home River Valley.
ALSO HAPPENING SATURDAY
St. Boniface 138th Annual Lawn Social begins at 5 p.m. with food, games, music, a silent auction and a 10 p.m. raffle drawing. Admission is free, with $1 event tickets used for food, drinks and games.
River Valley Nightmare opens its 2026 haunted-trail season. Gates open at 7 p.m., the trail opens at 8 and general admission is $20. Get Tickets
Fall Festival on 4th Street runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Van Buren with more than 25 vendors, makers and bakers, plus food trucks and free family activities.
Ride the Train from Van Buren leaves the Old Frisco Depot at 11 a.m. for a scenic excursion through the Boston Mountains.
And Peacemaker is back for night two at the riverfront.
There’s more than that on the calendar. Saturday is one of those days when the full list is probably more useful than trying to squeeze every event into one email.
SUNDAY
Sunday gives you a little more breathing room.
Dinner and Shaun Munday at The Candy Loft
The Secret Spoon Society is hosting Tapas and Tunes with Shaun Munday Sunday evening at The Candy Loft.
Doors open at 5 p.m. for a sparkling-wine and small-bite reception, with music and dinner beginning at 6.
The menu is built around Argentine-inspired small plates and shared dishes paired with Tercos wines.
Tickets are $60 before ticketing fees.
Or head to the farm
MackMazing Acres in Spiro has Faith, Family & Fun on the Farm from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Regular farm activities run from 1 to 4, followed by live music, praise and worship and a church service beginning at 4.
Admission is reduced to $10 per person for the day.
BEFORE YOU GO
This is only part of what’s happening around the River Valley this weekend.
The full SHRV calendar has the rest, and we keep updating it when times, tickets or event details change.
THE FULL CALENDAR
Looking for more?
We picked the highlights. The full Sweet Home River Valley calendar has everything we've found happening around Fort Smith and the River Valley.