Category Archives: Outdoors

Music on the Porch (5/24/2012)

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Music on the Porch is another grass-roots project that makes downtown a great place to be. No major label, no national operator, not even a local bar trying to sell a few extra beers: Music on The Porch has grown from a neighborhood party to a nice and regular event the is now in its 4th season and is a 12-concert series this year. This is decidedly a family event, but responsible BYOB is the norm (for the adults of course!) Hitting the stage this weekend is Raleigh’s own Andy Coats & the Bank Walkers, playing “the genres in which so much rock is rooted: the blues and other roots based music”. Pack the kids and the picnic basket and head out to Mordecai Historic Park at 6pm. Pay a $5 donation upfront on their website to support this amazing event.Andy Coats & the Bank Walkers

Got to Be NC Festival (5/18-20/2012)

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I have a feeling that calling the good old “NC Ag Fest” a smaller version of the State Fair will offend some Agricultural Commissioners, but if you’ve never been, that is probably a good comparison. The Festival draws over 100,000 people, a lot, but also much less than the State Fair. There a rides and food stands, and anything you would expect to find on a farm: tractors, hogs, country music, and cows with big ass horns. (I’ve been told that ‘ass’ is appropriate when used for livestock…)

Specifically for the little ones I would point out the pig races, the petting zoo (with a porcupine?), and the antique tractors and cars. And maybe some of the tamer rides.
(if you follow the links, click Animal Encounters, Motorized Muscle, and Rides, respectively.)

Moving slightly outside the traditional scope of a farm, there will be a Roller Derby on Saturday and a BMX contest on Sunday. There are also country music concerts at night.

Support local agriculture and visit this annual event! It takes place out at the fairgrounds, and admission is free. (But rides, concerts and some other stuff require tickets.)

Pig Race at the Orange County Fair by szeke , used under the  CC BY-NC-SA license

Artsplosure/Kidsplosure (5/19-20, 2012)

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Update: I added links to all the performers here.

Another annual event is taking place this weekend: Artsplosure. Centered around Moore Square, but with locations throughout downtown, this is a festival that celebrates the visual and performing arts. Art exhibits, three stages and of course the necessary food and drink offerings. For Kids, there is Kidsplosure, featuring three kinds of craft activities (weaving, paper flowers, and headbands). A dedicated stage brings music, theatre and acrobatics. The website unfortunately does not link to the acts. Taylor Slay, Acroentertainment and the NC theatre will certainly excite the kids. There are also some kids ensembles/band performing Jazz, classical and rock music. Kidsplosure takes place on Moore Square on the side towards Marbles. Art booths can be found around Moore Square and Blount Street, and there is an “Impressionist Garden” on City Plaza.

Learning to Work the New “Yo-Yo” (from Artsplosure 2007) by abbyladybug, used under the  CC BY-NC license

First Friday: Circus and Art (5/4/2012)

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CircusSPARK Parade

CircusSPARK Parade

This is another First Friday where the warehouse district is drawing all (our) attention. You may hesitate to bring your children to a “PBR-inspired art show”, especially once you realize that it doesn’t stand for Parents Best Reasoning, but simply Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Fire Performance

Fire Performance (CircusSPARK)

But read on. The PBaRt event on Martin street also features several street performances. First on, at 6:30 and 8:00 is Cirque de Vol, the newly opened/opening Aerial Acrobatics Studio in Hue. (Note: They have circus camp and kids yoga!) Finally, if your kids last until 8:30 they can see a fire performance by the CircusSpark team.

In addition to the abundant regular food options in the area, Baguettaboutit will be at CAM and Klausie’s Pizza at PBaRt.

Capital City BMX race (4/29/2012)

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838 BMX

Go 838!

Did you know that there is a BMX race track inside the belt line? If you think the sport of BMX racing went out with Monchichi and Aerobics Leotards some time in the late 80s, you are mistaken. BMX (unlike Monchichi and Aerobics) is alive and kicking the pedal. And while there are adults and even professional riders using this course, there are races are for all age groups. (I wasn’t able to find out what their specific groups are, but the youngest nationally sanctioned age is “under 5”, and some of the photos on website show kids that could fit very well in this group.) [I heard back from Capital City BMX.]

Capital City BMX has riders as young as 3 and as experienced as 65, but most are somewhere between 8 and 15. Also, BMX is certainly not just for boys, and a professional woman BMX rider recently held a clinic at the course. According to CCBMX, about 1/3 of the riders are girls.

But just watching the race is fun for every age, and probably a good way to determine if that sport is something for your youngen – or for you!

Sunday, registration at noon, racing at 1pm. (There are races most Sundays.)

The track is located in Lions Park at 516 Dennis Ave, Raleigh, NC 27604. (Between Capital Blvd and Raleigh Blvd, 5 minutes NE of Downtown Raleigh) Lions Park is a nice but little known park, so if you get tired of BMX you can always head over to the playground, which has a pretty awesome play structure.

Update: I edited the age group and the gender ratio after CCBMX replied to my last-minute inquiry. They also shared that will add strider bikes this year for the under 4 crowd. Rest assured that The Daddy is very excited about that and will keep you posted on that topic in a future post!

838 by Scott, used under the CC BY-NC-SA license

Mount Olive Pickle Festival (4/27-29 2012)

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Pickles!

If you love pickles, this is your weekend! Mount Olive, NC is the unofficial “Pickle Capital of the World”, complete with a Pickle Drop on New Years’ Eve and a Pickle Festival in Spring. It is taking place this weekend, and if you’re longing for a present-day Mayberry Town Fair, this is the place to be. There is live music, there are dance performances. There is food (not just pickles), there are craft vendors.

For “little girls (any age) and their very special guest” there is the “Pickle Me Pink Tea Party“, a “dill-ightful occasion” for $25/couple. 2p-4p, tickets required.

For the less pink inclined, there is the Antique Car Show taking place on Saturday as well.

Finally, don’t forget to bring a can of food for their food drive – Mt. Olive brand or other!

The picture of Cucumber and Vine is © Debbie Craft, used with permission.

Shakori Hills Festival (4/19-4/22 2012)

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Shakori Hills (2008)

If you’re one of those folks who used to go to festivals in the BC era (Before Children), this is the season where you start thinking back to the good old days of outdoors live music, bonfire-roasted marshmallows, beer spilled on your sleeping bag and not-finding-your-tent-anymore at three o’clock in the morning. But we’ve grown up, moved on, and little kids and rowdy festivals don’t mix well. Or do they? If you want to  Continue reading →

ClydeFEST (4/5/2013)

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The original article below is from 2012; everything should be the same in 2013 except for the new date Apr-6 and some minor corrections.

Chatham Orange (oops) County does have its share of eclectic characters, and Clyde Jones is one of them. Clyde however, has the pretty unique distinction of having his own event, that annual ClydeFEST which is held for the 11th time in 2012 12th time in 2013. If you’ve never heard of Clyde, here an (older) video about him:

[vimeo https://vimeo.com/8196961]

As you can see in the video, ClydeFEST is not some high-brow art happening. This is an event for kids! The website of the Chatham Arts Council who organizes this event annually says that “ClydeFEST is an all day Kids’ Carnival Folk Art Festival of Art, Games, Music, Magic, Clowns, Hula Hoops, Local Food, and loads of other fun and excitement.” In addition, there are several performers scheduled on the stage, and food and drinks for several vendors will not be in short supply either.

ClydeFEST takes place in Bynum; Bynum is where 15-501 crosses the Haw river, and once you’re in Bynum, you can’t miss it. To get there, take 64 West and then 15-501 North, or 40 West and 15-501 South.