Gem, mineral show to take place in April
by February 10, 2026 11:48 am 416 views
The Northwest Arkansas Gem & Mineral Society will host its Gem, Mineral and Jewelry Show from April 18-19 in Bentonville. The show will include 20 vendors and several demonstrations by club members.
Vendors will come from the region and surrounding states, including Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. Depending on the weather, the club hopes to attract 2,500 to 3,000 attendees.
For the second consecutive year the show will be hosted at the Northwest Arkansas Armed Forces Reserve Center, 6800 S.W. Minuteman Ave., west of Arkansas Highway 12 and north of Northwest Arkansas National Airport.
New this year will be a vendor with a large variety of beads for sale. Other vendors will have stones, crystals, minerals, fossils and other earth forms. A gem sluice trailer will be set up outside, where attendees can purchase a dirt bag and wash the dirt out of it in the water flume to reveal a variety of gems, fossils, crystals, polished rocks and shells. Attendees keep what they find.
Club members will demonstrate lapidary equipment used to make cabochons for jewelry. A sphere machine will show how to make round rocks from odd-shaped ones. And a faceting demonstration will show how “that sparkling rock in mom’s jewelry was made,” according to a news release. There will also be a blacklight box displaying various fluorescent rocks and a flintknapper making arrow points with rocks. Club members will also identify attendees’ unknown rocks and stones.
Food truck, silent auction, and door prizes will also be available at the show. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 18 and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 19.
Entry is a $5 donation, and children under 10 are free with an adult.