What's on in Hot Springs National Park, United States through the year

Peak crowds — Oaklawn racing season, Winter / Christmas break in United States

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Oaklawn racing season (27 Nov – 1 May (usually))

Busy — Oaklawn racing season

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Oaklawn racing season (27 Nov – 1 May (usually))

Peak crowds — World's Shortest St. Patrick's Parade, Arkansas Derby

• Festival

  World's Shortest St. Patrick's Parade

  17 MarMajor festivalCrowded

  Every 17 March a parade of floats, bands and Irish Elvis impersonators marches the length of Bridge Street, a single short block downtown, while tens of thousands pack the streets around it; rooms for that night go early. Source ↗

• Festival

  Arkansas Derby

  28 MarSporting eventCrowded

  Oaklawn's biggest race day and a points race on the road to the Kentucky Derby, run on a spring Saturday; it has moved between late March and mid-April, and room rates in town jump that weekend. Source ↗

Still on: Oaklawn racing season (27 Nov – 1 May (usually))

Busy — Oaklawn racing season

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Arkansas Derby (28 Mar), Oaklawn racing season (27 Nov – 1 May (usually))

Peak crowds — Memorial Day weekend, Oaklawn racing season

• Holiday

  Memorial Day weekend

  23–25 MayNational holidayCrowdedBook early

  Memorial Day, the last Monday of May, opens the summer travel season: over the long weekend campsites and lodging book out, roads are slow, and parking at the most popular spots fills early in the day. Source ↗

Still on: Oaklawn racing season (27 Nov – 1 May (usually))

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in July.

Busy — Summer break in United States, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Holiday

  Labor Day weekend

  5–7 SepNational holidayCrowdedBook early

  Labor Day, the first Monday of September, is the last big getaway of summer: the long weekend books out campsites and lodging and fills parking early, and families thin out quickly once it has passed. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Labor Day weekend, Summer break in United States

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Labor Day weekend (5–7 Sep)

Busy — Hot Springs Documentary Film Fest

• Festival

  Hot Springs Documentary Film Fest

  9–17 OctFilm festivalCrowdedBook early

  The longest-running all-documentary festival in North America takes over the venues along and around Bathhouse Row for nine days in October, which is also the best fortnight of the year for the hills behind the town. Source ↗

Peak crowds — travelers describe it as peak season, Garvan Gardens Holiday Lights

• Festival

  Garvan Gardens Holiday Lights

  21 Nov – 31 DecLights & fireCrowded

  Millions of lights fill the university's woodland garden on Lake Hamilton from late November to New Year's Eve, evenings only and closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas; weekend nights bring long queues at the gate. Source ↗

• Season

  Oaklawn racing season

  27 Nov – 1 May · usuallySporting eventCrowdedBook early

  Live thoroughbred racing runs from late November to the start of May, which is why the town's winter is busier than its autumn. The stakes days in spring, ending with the Arkansas Derby meeting, are when the rooms go first. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Garvan Gardens Holiday Lights, Oaklawn racing season

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Garvan Gardens Holiday Lights (21 Nov – 31 Dec), Oaklawn racing season (27 Nov – 1 May (usually))