Category Archives: Raleigh

Milagro Saints play Fletcher Park on Sun, 6/2/13 6pm

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Milagro Saints, a local band firmly rooted in downtown Raleigh, will kick off this year’s concert series in Fletcher Park. Last year, we went to see a show that didn’t take place due to a thunderstorm, and ever since I’ve been waiting for a chance to go back. (That band, Sandbox will play in two weeks, I’ll remind you.)

Milagro Saints play “Americana Poetic Roots Rock”, and their music is perfect for hanging out in the park on a lazy, hot Sunday afternoon. Fletcher Park is a good destination for a Sunday picnic anyway, so pack up the kids and a picnic and head on out – this Sunday, 6pm, Fletcher Park.

Fletcher Amphitheater

Fill this place with music! (Photo (c) City of Raleigh)

NC Junior Beef Round-Up (Sat/Sun 6/1-2, 2013)

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Update: Scroll down for a video I took this morning

Were you a member of the 4-H as a kid? If so, you can go back to your roots this weekend. (And let me know, I’m curious to hear the story.) If you weren’t, even better to get you some real farm experience.

Even though I featured the Beef Round-Up last year, I didn’t make it there, but I’m hoping to go this year. You can basically think if as a dog show, only that the middle-aged ladies with their poodles are replaced by farm boys and girls and their livestock.

There is not too much information for visitors (I’m not even 100% sure if this is open to the public), and the website has not too much information. We’ll see! Update: Walter Earle with NCSU commented that this is indeed open to the public. Thank you, Walter!

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4H Cows By Lewis Hines [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons. This is image is from Charleston WV, and was taken back in 1921.

Here is a video from the event I took today.

Video from the NC Beef Round-Up 2013

Caribbean Instrument Petting Zoo (5/25 2p)

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This Saturday, the Cameron Village will turn into a zoo of sorts, but no animals will be there; no, the “petting zoo” will be filled with exotic instruments from various Caribbean islands and from Nigeria. Members of the Raleigh/Durham Afro-Caribbean Association will show the instruments and provide opportunities to explore them up close.

Pool season starts this weekend! (5/25)

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This Saturday, Lake Johnson Pool opens at 10 a.m. and officially starts the pool season. The pool will be open daily until the fall and is also open on Monday (Memorial Day). The other pools will open soon as well, Ridge Road on June-1, and Chavis on June-8. Finally, I also want to mention Buffaloe Road Aquatic Center, which is indoors and open year-round, and a great alternative during the summer as well.

Zoppe Family Circus in Raleigh (5/17-5/19, 2013)

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Update: We didn’t make it to the circus unfortunately, but a fellow local blogger (and clown!) wrote a very nice three-post series (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3) with many pictures about his visit to the Zoppe Family Circus. Go have a look!

I featured another circus a few weeks ago, and we’ll remember that one fondly as our family’s first circus experience. But depending on how the weekend pans out, we may go to the circus again, since Zoppe promises a small intimate circus right within walking distance.

Zoppe is a family circus, and its history is a marvelous read: Back in 1842 (no typo), a young clown from France (Napoline Zoppe) fell in love with an equestrian ballerina in Budapest, Hungary, much to the chagrin of the ballerina’s father. A clown just didn’t cut it. The young lovers ran away to Venice Italy and founded the circus. Napoline’s great-grandson Alberto came to the US to work for Ringling Brothers (in exchange for an elephant), and brought the circus over here. He performed in the circus until recently, well into his 80s, and today the circus is run by his son Giovanni, great-great-grandson of Napoline and pictured above as clown Nino.

Zoppe features clowns, acrobats, horses and dancing dogs. They perform Friday – Sunday in front of the Duke Energy Center for Performing Arts. No online tickets – Advance Tickets at the box office or at the door.

Image (c) Zoppe Family Circus.

Play a Public Piano (5/15-5/30)

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As part of Artsplosure, the City has placed six artfully adorned pianos at various downtown locations. The public is invited to play them – no skills required! The pianos are placed at the following locations:

  • outside City Hall (Hargett&Dawson)
  • in front of Duke Energy Center
  • on City Plaza
  • in City Market (across from Big Ed’s)
  • in Moore Square (by Marbles)
  • in Marbles’ courtyard

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Photo (c) City of Raleigh.

Got to be NC Festival 2013

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Do you feel like the State Fair is a “must-see” for your kids, but do you loathe the crazy crowds? Try the Got to Be NC Festival instead.

Less crowded, less crazy, more family-friendly, more exciting. You still get all the main State Fair ingredients (rides, tractor pulls, lawn mower racing, farm animals, fried food), but in a more relaxed atmosphere.

The event kicks off Friday afternoon and continues through Sunday. Admission and parking is free.

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Image (c) NC Department of Agriculture.

F as in Fun…draising (4/28/2012)

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Fundraising for education, a constant topic across the nation.

Two events I came across have as goal to raise awareness and raise funds for schools, and both are part of the Wake County Public School System.

First, Project Enlightenment holds its now annual Project Palooza, a “…community-wide family fun event celebrating Project Enlightenment’s forty-three years of outstanding service…” If you always wondered what Project Enlightenment does, read a more conceptual explanation or some real-life examples. With all the changes in WCPSS, its future seemed threatened for a while, and they can always use support for their work. Saturday, 4/28, 10am-1pm.

Second, similar but different, Middle Creek Elementary School in Apex holds its annual PTA fundraiser, the MCES Spring Carnival, also on Saturday. Maybe I don’t know enough about PTA’s, but this seems to be the “Rolls Royce” of PTA fundraisers. (A quick search at other Wake schools didn’t bring up anything similar.) They have food vendors, a ton of games (Lollipop Tree! Lego Speed Build! Nail/Tattoo Shop! BeanBag Toss! and so on…), many of them tied into a raffle that will yield cool prices, but also some spare change for the PTA’s initiatives. Again, with the future of the WCPSS assignment plan also uncertain, it might as well be that your Raleigh child will end up in an Apex school. Why not check them out, and have some fun while doing so!
Saturday, 4/28, 4pm-8pm. (So you can go to both of them!)

Lemonade Stand with staff by Harris County Public Library, used under the  CC BY-NC-SA license