Weekend Plans: 'Beauty and the Beast,' consignment sale, soccer, Japan Summer Festival, more

Happy weekend! As always, check WRAL.com’s Out & About calendar for more weekend activities. And our list of 41 summer fun activities include lots of ideas to keep you busy.

It’s a tale as old as time … N.C. Theatre presents “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.” Shows run through Sunday at the Duke Energy Center for Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh. Tickets start at $25 (though there aren’t many left at that level). I saw it with my kids on Tuesday. It is fantastic!

Raleigh Little Theatre’s summer programs for teens will culminate in “The Tempest,” a 90-minute musical based on the Shakespeare play. The show runs through this weekend. Tickets are $12. This is best for middle schoolers and up.

Just 4 Kids children’s consignment sale offers deals on clothes, toys and gear for kids this Thursday through Saturday at Cary Towne Center.

If you extend the weekend to include Thursday … Raleigh Little Theatre will host an outdoor screening of “Cinderella,” the live action version from 2015. The movie starts at 8:30 p.m., Thursday. Concessions open up at 7 p.m. Disney Trivia will be the pre-show activity. Could be especially fun for tweens and older. It’s free.

North Carolina FC, the professional men’s soccer team, has a 7:30 p.m., Saturday, game against Puerto Rico FC at WakeMed Soccer Park.

Jacqueline Leigh is marking the release of her first picture book, “Time for Bed with Ford and Red,” at Bond Brothers Brewery in Cary. I featured Leigh earlier this week. The party, which is free and open to the public, is 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday.

And Jacqueline K. Ogburn, author of 10 picture books, is debuting her first middle grade novel, “The Unicorn in the Barn.” She’ll share her book at 2 p.m., Saturday, at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh.

The 12th annual NC Japan Summer Festival is 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, at the N.C. State Fairgrounds. Tickets are $5 at the door. The afternoon includes Japanese food, cultural displays, music, dancing, games for families and more.

Marbles Kids Museum in downtown Raleigh will offer a couple of its Innovation Play Labs, which are workshops for older kids. You can drop your older kids - ages 8 and up - off while you follow around your younger ones as they play. The 45-minute workshops are offered at 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m., Sunday. The theme: Learn hand sewing techniques to make one-of-a-kind plushie pals. They are free with admission, which is $5 per person.