BugFest

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Another annual event that we’re looking forward to each fall is BugFest. It is organized by the Science Museum, and it clearly deserves being called a “Fest”. Live Bugs, Dead Bugs, Small Bugs, Big Bugs, Bug Movies, Bug Crafts, Bug Races, Bug Art: It is BugFest. To point out my personal favorites:

  • The Alberti Flea Circus: We’ve all heard of a Flea Circus, but have you actually seen one? Performing at BugFest throughout the day.
  • Cafe Insecta: They serve bugs. No kidding! Fried Grasshoppers, anyone?
  • Horseshoe Crabs: If you’ve been to an aquarium around here, you’ll know that they are among the most fascinating sea creatures.
  • Cyborg Insects: NC State’s iBionics Lab connects microcontrollers to cockroach brains, and makes them run left or right.
  • Stump the Experts: Bring any bug to the examination table and the experts will identify it. (We did that last year, and brought what turned out to be a Phidippus Audax we found earlier that day.)

Visit the BugFest website for detailed directions, or just head out to the museum and the Plaza and enjoy what you find.

Phidippus audax

Phidippus audax (yes, we singlehandedly caught one last year)

Eastern Triangle Farm Tour

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First off, I was wondering why this is the Eastern Triangle Farm Tour. Is there a competing Western Triangle Farm Tour? Is it only in the Eastern part of the Triangle? Neither is the case, so it will have to stay a mystery. (Unless you know and tell me!) 27 farms, all over the Triangle and beyond, are opening their gates and barns to curious foodies, goat fans, and homesick farmer’s granddaughters.

You need to buy a ticket ($30 per car), and can visit as many farms as you can squeeze into four hours. (Or eight, if you go both days.) Farms are open from 1p-5p, so it pays to plan your route if you want to really see more than just 1-2 farms. Print the guidebook ahead of time.

One potentially good route would be to head out towards Bunn, where four farms are relatively close together. Don’t try to squeeze all four in, consider it three visits with one backup. Another option is to head South, where three farms are scattered around the Holly Springs / Fuquay-Varina area.

Here my personally picked tour: Leave Raleigh on Capital Blvd. and continue on to Hwy-401. Eventually you take 98-East and follow directions to Ray Family Farms, a meat farm with large black hogs, cows and free range chicken. If you’re vegan, you’ll like the next stop, Vollmer Farms, focusing on berries and vegetables. They also have a large unique playground (“The Back Forty”). Next stop could be Sun Raised Foods, a solar powered farm that raises lamb (sold at Whole Foods). Rare Earth Farms, if you still have time, focuses on Natural Grass-Fed Beef. Continue down Hwy. 39S and then on Hwy 64/264 back home. To conveniently load all addresses and directions in Google Maps, use this link.

SparkCon

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sparkconThis weekend is SparkCon, a mixture of all sorts of creative expression, from Programming to Painting to Poetry.

SparkCon is for all ages (but not everything is for every age), and kids have their own Kids Zone at Hargett and Fayetteville as well as a City Design workshop for budding city planners. (Our City, Your Design: Design a City Workshop for Kids).

But SparkCon is a lot of fun to just walk around, watch the street artists, join a drum circle, or enjoy a short pop-up theater performance.

Browse the comprehensive schedule at http://www.sparkcon.com. Thu-Sun 9/12-9/15.

The picture is from a previous SparkCon. I also wrote an article about SparkCon last year.

Paperhand Puppet Intervention

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paperhand

There are theaters, there are puppeteers, and then there is Paperhand Puppet Intervention. Located more on the eclectic fringe of the Triangle’s performing arts scene, and based in Saxapahaw, Paperhand Puppet is nevertheless a stable, long-running operation, and has been producing shows for over a decade now. Like last year, Paperhand is taking their show from the main location in Chapel Hill to the Art Museum here in Raleigh for the last weekend. Starting today, they perform for three nights at 7pm. A pre-show concert starts around 6:20pm.

Paperhand tells fantastic tales with fantastic puppets. This year’s show is called Invisible Earth. In their own words, “The great unfolding mystery of the Invisible Earth is upon us!  Featuring the Dance of Domestication and a cast of goats, chickens, pigs and trilobites.”

Tickets are $17 for adults, kids under 6 are free.

The picture is an older photo of a Paperhand Puppet Intervention show by digitalpapercuts, used under the CC-BY license.

Inside Out Global Art Project

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inside_out_smIf you can spare 5 minutes on this Friday afternoon, I recommend you head over to explore
http://www.insideoutproject.net. This is a global art project, which places large portraits in public spaces. (My words don’t do it justice, go look at the images.) The posters are large, about 3’x4′, and so far 120,000 of them have been posted around the world. Inside Out, which began in 2011, has spawned multiple projects-in-the-project, one of which is InsideOut11M; it tours 20 US cities, one of which is Raleigh. (Yes, this was a long intro to a local event!)

So come to First Friday between 5p and 10p, and get your chance of having your large portrait taken and within minutes posted on the walls of Artspace, with the goal of completely wrapping Artspace in portraits. (Second chance on Saturday afternoon.)

While you’re on that side of town, check out the other nearby First Friday participants, one of which it the relatively new kids boutique nüvonivo on Hargett Street. They have an interesting combination of online business and brick-and-mortar store, and offer a refreshing spectrum of European brands at decent prices.

The image is from Brent Granby, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA.

Not your average 5K…

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Running a 5K was once cool, but is now sooo 2012. These days, when you run a 5K, you do it in costume. Or barefoot. Or being hunted by zombies. Or, “muddy”:

Mud runs, basically 5Ks with obstacles, mud flats and other accoutrements are all the rage, and now also come in a family version! This Saturday, the Big Muddy Challenge takes place. And while registration has ended yesterday, some race-day spots should be available if you come early. The race is completed as a team of two – one parent and one child, age 6-12. Sounds like a lot of fun!

Not especially geared towards kids, but “for all ages” (kids under 7 run free and strollers are welcome) is a completely different race one week later, the Electric Run. Basically a linear rave, but possibly healthier and more fun, you don as many glow sticks and LED lights as you can find, and immerse yourself in a glowing, flickering landscape with pumping music.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQhChpneq3U]

With all these options – don’t take your kids to a dull, old school 5K!

Raleigh M.A.I.N Event

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MAINIf you’ve lived in Raleigh for a few years, you know that we’re getting ready for the busiest month: Babysitters are booked months in advance, OpenTable.com crashes and pedestrian traffic jams block downtown sidewalks. We used to call it just ‘busy September’, but this year it has become “The M.A.I.N. event“, a cleverly chosen acronym for music, art, innovation and, um, noise. So we’ll focus on the first two, since innovation is focused on grown-up stuff like entrepreneurship, angel funding and venture capital, and the noise, well, we parents have that year-round.

Of the 18 events that make up M.A.I.N, here are the best for families and kids:

  • The African-American Culture Festival is this weekend on City Plaza, and features a family village, including a stage with kids’ acts.
  • Hopscotch, a week later, has little to no kids-programming, but draws many fringe activities that make it fun to be downtown for all ages.
  • On that same Sunday, the Fiesta del Pueblo will have ‘Ninolandia’ for the kids.
  • Another week later, Sept. 12-15 is dedicated to SparkCon, with many options for kids, from music to street art to circus and fashion shows.
  • After catching our breath (or attending a few entrepreneur event without kids), we put in the ear plugs and get ready for Capital City Bikefest, organized by Ray Price Harley Davidson, and declared “family-friendly”. If you think kids and bikers don’t go together, read this article. There will be stunt shows and more to excite little vroom vroom fans.
  • As the bikers are rolling off into the sunset, we seamlessly shift into a quieter kind of noise, as Bluegrass takes over from Sept. 24-28. A whole week of music, trade fair and award show will offer plenty opportunities to bring your kids closer to this genre that is so closely tied to our state.
  • To round off the month, Marbles‘ birthday party is on 9/28, as is the (re-)opening of the City Museum.

Ready? As the wild things said, “Let the wild rumpus start!”

Back to School Safety Event (Sat 9-12)

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Many kids head back to school next week, some of the for the first time. To learn and re-learn all the traffic safety topics, head out to Leesville School where the Back to School Safety Day will be hosted. From Bike Rodeo, to Traffic Safety, to Helmet Fitting, to Air Quality Safety, everything will be there, even food trucks.

August 24, from 9a-12p.
Leesville Road Schools, 8401 Leesville Road, Raleigh, NC 27613

Bike Rodeo_22

Photo by USAG Vicenza.

Benefit for the Saturday Market (Sat 9:30a-1:30p)

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A visit to the Saturday Market often marks the beginning of the weekend for us. What has started as a food truck and a farm table a couple years ago has become a steady and year-round fixture in our Boylan Heights neighborhood.

The food truck(s) rotate, so it is always a surprise what you find. Captain Poncho and Chirba Chirba are among our favorites. You can always find coffee and sweets, and for “real groceries”, the LoMo Market has a wide variety of fresh vegetables, baked goods, meat, dairy and sometimes seafood.

For the kids, a visit to market is almost as cool as a visit to a farm. Besides the chicken coops, which are the main draw, it is interesting to see what is growing in the garden, watch a train maneuver through the Boylan Wye, or just run around.

This Saturday, a special Benefit event is taking place. You’ll need tickets ($10/adult $5/kid), and will get roasted pork, sides, drink and beer.

To me, the Saturday Market is probably the most authentic Farmers Market we have around, and it is well worth a visit even if you live further away.

Saturday Market