holidays

On today's show, about 100 Afghan refugees in Northwest Arkansas gathered to celebrate Nowruz, or Persian New Year. Also, how picking up after pets can improve water quality, the first episode of "The BeLOVED Community" is available, local music and the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal.

Tuesday is Valentine's Day and Becca Martin Brown, the features editor with Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, wants you to know there are holiday-themed things to do and see. For instance, the Eureka Springs Chocolate Lover's Festival and Chocolate Tour.

Fayetteville-based Gar Hole Records is hosting a musical showcase over two days this month at George's Majestic Lounge. Dubbed "The Gar Hole-Iday Showcase," the two nights of music will feature music from Chris Acker, Willi Carlisle, The Lostines and many more. We speak with Kurt DeLashmet and Jude Brothers from the label about the showcase, and Jude gives us a preview of some of the music they will perform during the event.

TheatreSquared is staging "A Christmas Carol," and we asked the actor portraying Scrooge, James Taylor Odom, how he digs into the character.

The Springdale Rotary Club is hosting the first Santa Claus Used Book Fare at the Jones Center tomorrow. There will be more than 6,000 used books for ages 0-12 and people can select two per child, for free.

Becca Martin Brown, the features editor with the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, can't list every holiday-related event taking place in the next few days. She tries, though.

After nearly two years of uncertainty from the COVID-19 pandemic, independent booksellers are having a resurgence, according to a study from the American…

One third of people report a spike in mental health problems around the holidays, says Sacha McBain with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.…

More than 109 million Americans are expected to travel between Decmber 23 and January 2, according to estimates from AAA. Despite COVID-19 concerns and…

Randy Dixon, with the David and Barbara Pryor Center for Arkansas Oral and Visual History, lets us listen to sounds of Christmas from Arkansas's past. He…