Weekend Plans: Fair, Halloween train rides, anti-bullying concert, more

The N.C. State Fair continues through this Sunday. See my earlier post on tips and look at the Marbles and UNC-TV tent where you'll find activities for young children.

And Halloween is just about a week away! Check our database for haunted houses, pumpkin patches, fall festivals and more. Of note: New Hope Valley Railway's Halloween Express is this Saturday and Oct. 29 in southwestern Wake County. The hour-long rides start at 4 p.m. and continue until 7:45 p.m. Tickets are still available (though not many for the 4 p.m. departure). Best to get your tickets in advance. Click here for details.

A special concert in Cary on Sunday will raise awareness of bullying. The N.C. Psychoanalytic Foundation will host the family-friendly benefit concert Back Off Bully: Be Bold from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at Koka Booth Amphitheatre. The concert will share tips for parents and students about bullying prevention. The all-teen lineup features rising star Gabbie Rae; Roxanna and The Rusty Bucket Band; and the Sacrificial Poets. You'll also find inflatables, a photo booth, crafts, demonstrations of anti-bullying techniques, and more. Proceeds from this concert will support the North Carolina Psychoanalytic Foundation’s Peaceful Schools-NC program. Tickets are $10 for 5 year olds and up. Kids under age 5 are free. October is National Bullying Prevention Month.

This is more of a date night or moms' night out option, but .... if you went to the Playhouse Parade in Cameron Village during the last couple of weekends and want to bid on one of the amazing playhouses (six for kids, six for adults), Saturday's your day. The Playhouse Parade Gala and Auction is Saturday at Cameron Village. Tickets are $50. The benefit supports Sassafras All Children's Playground, a project to build a new playground at Laurel Hills Park in north Raleigh for children of all abilities. See my earlier post for details and to see the playhouses.

The Chapel Hill 2020 Commmunity Open House from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at University Mall in Chapel Hill will feature activities for kids, along with a town services fair. Chapel Hill 2020 is a year-long community project to create a comprehensive plan for the town's next decade. A ribbon cutting at 11 a.m. will celebrate the opening of the Chapel Hill Public Library at University Mall, its temporary home while the existing building is expanded. There also will be a fire truck, public works truck, a Chapel Hill Transit bus and other town vehicles on display in the parking lot. Activities for children include storytelling from Dancing Storytelling Adventures and the Chapel Hill Fire Department. The Traveling Teacher Show will lead an art project.

Cary Diwali, which celebrates Indian culture with music, dance, crafts and more, is from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday at Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary. It's free and closes with fireworks at 8 p.m.

From 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., the Bull City Coop Tour will give visitors a birds'-eye view of chicken coops in Durham. Maps for the self-guided tour are available at the Durham Farmers Market and Bull City Burger and Brewery. A suggested donation is $5 per adult and $20 per carload. Kids under 12 are free. All proceeds will benefit Welcome Baby Durham's Cribs for Kids program. After the tour, head over to Bull City Burger and Brewery from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, for the Chickenstock Festival, which will focus on urban chicken-raising and sustainable living and offer live music, vendors and awards for Durham's top-rated roosts.

The Chapel Hill Philharmonia will perform a free children's concert "Ole! Oompah! Ove! (Bravo!)" at 3 p.m., Sunday. Conductor Donald Oehler will lead the orchestra in Copland’s lively “El Salon Mexico” accompanied by Tamarind King’s award-winning animated short film. The program includes Humperdinck’s “Prelude to Hansel and Gretel,” Bartok’s charming “Romanian Folk Dances,” and Strauss’s clap-along “Radetzky March.” The concert will be in the Kenan Music Building Rehearsal Hall on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. Kids can meet orchestra members and check out some instruments after the concert.

Arts for Awareness will feature youth performers who will inspire and entertain to raise awareness about InterAct during Domestic Violence Awareness Month. It's at 6 p.m. Saturday at Carolina Dance Center, 9101 Leesville Rd., #169, in Raleigh. Admission is free, but donations will be accepted for InterAct, which provides safety, support, and awareness to victims and survivors of domestic violence and rape/sexual assault.

Morehead Planetarium and Science Center will offer a free sky watching session at Little River Regional Park in Orange County from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday. It's one of Morehead's regular sky watching sessions. Be sure to check the website for more information before you go, including exact directions.

Halle Cultural Arts Center in Apex will host its Goblins Groove Family Dance from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., Friday. Tickets are $5 per couple and $2 per additional child. There will be music from the 80s and 90s along with a "Haunted Theatre" and a pumpkin contest. This is a dance for parents and kids. Youth and teens must be with adults. Halloween costumes are strongly encouraged. Punch and snacks provided. Check the website for more information (including about the pumpkin contest).

NCSKids from the N.C. Symphony will bring instruments to the kids at Marbles Kids Museum from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Kids can check out all kinds of instruments during an Instrument Zoo and celebrate Beethoven as he prepares for his performance of "Beethoven Lives Upstairs" with the symphony's Young People's Series on Nov. 19. Saturday's event is free with admission to Marbles, which is $5 per person. Click here for more information about the Nov. 19 performance.

And Duke Gardens will open up its Nature Ranger Cart, a traveling science cart, from 10 a.m. to noon on Friday. And it will offer a drop-in storytime for kids ages 5 to 8 from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday. Both are free.