Fayetteville has a rich performing arts community featuring both local acts and internationally known touring productions throughout the year. Many people who visit Fayetteville come for a weekend getaway, and one of the most popular things to do is immerse themselves in the region’s most eclectic arts scene, which also includes an abundance of visual artists and live-music venues.
However, performing arts offerings in Fayetteville have grown exponentially in recent years. The most notable venues are the Walton Arts Center and TheatreSquared, which are located near each other in the heart of the famed Downtown and Dickson Street Entertainment District. But other local theater troupes — the University of Arkansas Theatre Department, Arts Live Theatre, The Artist’s Laboratory Theatre and Pilot Arts — also offer community based performances year round at a variety of locations to enrich the lives of our community and everyone who visits.
Bottom line: If you’re a fan of theater, dance and music, you need to get to Fayetteville!
The Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville brings in artists and entertainers from all over the world to create unforgettable performances. The facility offers diversified programming, large-scale touring productions and unparalleled performing-arts opportunities.
Its Broadway Series — one of the most popular things to do in Northwest Arkansas — brings to Fayetteville some of the most heralded theatrical productions in the world. The 2021-22 Broadway Series includes Mean Girls, Fiddler on the Roof, Hamilton, and more.
Other series at the WAC — 10x10 Arts Series, Concert Series, Night Out Series, Starlight Jazz Club, Family Fun Series, Kids Series and West Street Live — offer guests to Fayetteville a wide variety of entertainment and live-performance opportunities.
A local company, TheatreSquared, is Northwest Arkansas’s only year-round professional theater, offering a unique audience experience of locally produced and nationally acclaimed productions in an intimate space at WAC’s Nadine Baum Studios.
In case you haven’t heard, TheatreSquared has recently completed a new, architecturally-significant, permanent home for professional theater in Northwest Arkansas. This 50,000 square-foot cultural landmark unites two intimate theaters, includes rehearsal space, a three-level commons and café, outdoor gathering spaces, production workshops, offices, and artists’ apartments.
So, start planning your trip to Fayetteville. To learn more about everything else to do, check out our Visitor’s Guide and click the links at the top of the page — we’ve got something for everyone and can’t wait to see you!
