Want to enjoy some of Arkansas’s unique food festivals this summer? Make plans now to hit the road, enjoy festival fare, see the local sights and even dine at a fine local establishment. Here are some must-try itineraries.

Fleur Delicious


July 2-13, Eureka Springs, FleurDeliciousWeekend.com

Celebrate the joy of French cooking and culture in the Ozarks with this fanciful festival that stretches out over two summer weekends. Each year, Eureka Springs explodes in a hot summer party filled with fleur de lis, cocktails and fine food over this week-and-a-half soiree. Be sure to take in cooking classes, visit the farmers market and meet some chefs.

Visit: The wild cats at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge. More than 100 tigers, cougars, leopards and lions share this refuge (along with bears!) where they live out their lives in carefully maintained mountaintop habitats. For an extra thrill, stay overnight in one of the on-site Zulu Safari Lodges.

Dine: If you’re looking for fine French cooking, check in with Chef Dave at The Grand Taverne, inside The Grand Central Hotel on Main Street. For the whole family, get a table at Local Flavor Café for a wide variety of Eureka Springs favorites.

Altus Grape Festival


July 24-25, Altus, AltusGrapeFest.com

Dress like Bacchus, stomp some grapes, have some wine or muscadine juice, and hear some great music all on the downtown square.

Visit: Arkansas wineries throughout the area on the Arkansas Wine Country tour. Several wineries call the Altus area home, including Post Familie, Mount Bethel and Chateau aux Arc in Altus, and Wiederkehr Wine Cellar in Wiederkehr Village. Learn how grapes are grown and processed for wine. Samples are available, including samples of grape and muscadine juices.

Dine: At Wiederkehr Wine Cellar. This restaurant is housed underground in a cellar built by Johannas Wiederkehr back in 1880. Steaks are phenomenal, and the fondue is a family favorite.

World Championship Cardboard Boat Races


July 25, Heber Springs, Heber-Springs.com

Can you make a buoyant watercraft with nothing but cardboard, duct tape and ingenuity? Even if you don’t dare to make such a challenge, you can really enjoy the efforts (and failures) of others who make the attempt to float their handcrafted boats on Greers Ferry Lake.

Visit: Bridal Veil Falls. Waterfalls are always popular, and this one near Heber Springs is a true treasure.

Dine: At Brothers BBQ (362-5712). Larry Cordell’s beautifully smoked pork and beef are tantalizing, and his restaurant is welcoming. It’s a great place to wrap up a fun-filled day.

Johnson County Peach Festival


July 30-August 1, Clarksville, click here for website

The oldest festival in the state, this festival celebrates everything about the peach and then some. In addition to peach eating and peach cobbler competitions, enjoy toad jumping and terrapin races, dozens of kid-related competitions, parades and floats and a general good time.

Visit: The Oark General Store in nearby Oark. This place is the oldest general store in the state of Arkansas, and though it’s a high-climbing drive to get there, you’ll enjoy yourself when you make it to the front porch.

Dine: El Taco Placero (479-754-0081). This great little authentic Mexican restaurant west of downtown Clarksville offers up plenty of reasonably priced tacos and sopes, but the dish you want is the Parrallada Azteca, a platform that includes a variety of meats, vegetables and cheese, more fun than fajitas and enough to serve your family.

Hope Watermelon Festival


August 6-8, Hope, HopeChamberOfCommerce.com

The world’s largest watermelons, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, are raised in Hempstead County. Enjoy this festival, which includes everything from seed spitting to mini-tractor racing, concerts, vendors and crafts.

Visit: The William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Birthplace. This National Parks Service facility includes the very home where the 42nd president spent his earliest years. See Virginia Kelly’s makeup table, the living area shared with her parents and the upstairs corner bedroom where the young Bill Clinton once played and slept.

Dine: Williams Tavern Restaurant at nearby Historic Washington State Park. The second oldest extant restaurant building in the state has been restored and now offers some of the finest southern Arkansas cuisine around. The chicken fried steak and black-eyed pea salad are out of this world. Have dessert.