While Hot Springs is known for its cultural opportunities, two internationally acclaimed events each year mark it as a major “city of the arts”—the Hot Springs Music Festival and the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival.

Hot Springs Music Festival

More than 250 musicians from around the world come to Hot Springs for two weeks each June in this one-of-a kind gathering of apprentices and professionals. First-class mentor musicians are paired with pre-professional apprentices for side-by-side rehearsals and performances of orchestra, chamber orchestra, choral and chamber music, as well as opera, recitals, master classes, and improvisatory events.

The product, 20 concerts and more than 250 open rehearsals, attracts thousands of music lovers from around the world who get to mingle with musicians before and after performances in Hot Springs’ many restaurants, cafés, art galleries and other non-traditional venues.

“The Sound of Dreams,” a 2001 documentary film about the Hot Springs Music Festival, won an Emmy Award and continues to be seen on Public Broadcasting Service stations around the country.

For more information on the Hot Springs Music Festival, call (501) 623-4763 or visit HotMusic.org.

Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival

In October, as summer gives way to fall, the Malco Theater at 817 Central Ave. lights up as the headquarters of the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival. Launched in 1992, the festival has acquired international renown as a showcase for documentary films. Among the long list of past notable guests are James Earl Jones, Mary Lambert and Jack Valenti.

Recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the International Documentary Association, the festival is one of only a handful of national Academy Award-qualifying venues. The festival’s screening committee views nearly 1,000 films submitted from around the world and selects 100 to be showcased at the festival. More than 400,000 people have participated in the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute’s educational, cultural and special programs.

The 2011 festival – which marked the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute’s 20th anniversary of documentary films – showcased seven world premieres and featured more than 40 filmmakers from as far away as Norway and the Czech Republic.

For more information on the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival, call (501) 321-4747 or visit HSDFI.org.