Weekend Plans: Groundhog Day, Gustafer Yellowgold, parade, more

Here’s what’s happening this weekend. As always, check WRAL.com’s Out & About calendar for more ideas.

Sunday is Groundhog Day. We have two local events that mark the day with actual groundhogs. One is at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences. The other is at White Deer Park in Garner. Read my earlier post for all of the details.

This weekend is the closing weekend for the N.C. Museum of Art’s Porsche by Design exhibit. The museum will be giving away prizes, including Porsche merchandise, Charlotte Motor Speedway driving experiences, gift cards and more, throughout each day. Tickets to see the Porsche exhibit are $18 for adults; $15 for seniors; $12 for kids ages 7 to 18; and free for kids ages 6 and under. The art museum also will offer free, 30-minute family tours of the museum (not the Porsche exhibit), best for kids ages 5 to 10 and their families, at 10:30 on Saturday and Sunday. The tours are first come, first served. Sign up at the West Building information desk.

Storybook Theater children’s theater series presents “Pinkalicious the Musical” based on the popular children’s book series. Tickets start at $14 for the hour-long show at the Duke Energy Center for Performing Arts. The show, which began last week, runs through Sunday with shows planned most days. This is the second season for the series, which supports Marbles Kids Museum. For more about this show and the rest of the schedule, read my earlier post.

The 12th annual MLK/Black History Month Parade starts at noon, Saturday, in Durham. The parade runs down Fayetteville Street from W.G. Pearson Elementary School to N.C. Central.

The ArtsCenter’s SuperFun series in Carrboro will feature Gustafer Yellowgold during an hour-long concert at 11 a.m., Saturday. Gustafer, the creation of singer/songwriter Morgan Taylor, is a little yellow guy from the sun who landed in Minnesota and tells of his crazy life throwing pancakes and making friends with an eel. Yes, it’s bizarre. Also, yes, it’s great entertainment that’s charmed many a family and more. Taylor has opened for Wilco and The Polyphonic Spree with Gustafer Yellowgold. We love Gustafer at my house and highly recommend every bit of it. The concerts include both Taylor’s performance and his animated storybooks of Gustafer’s adventures. I’ll have more from Taylor this week.

The Triangle Father-Daughter Dance is 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday, at Marbles Kids Museum. Click here for more information about this and other father-daughter, mother-son, and family Valentine’s Day dances.

Saturday is the last day to skate at downtown Raleigh’s Winterfest. The rink closes at 11 p.m. for the season. On Saturday, the rink will host the Winterfest Gold Medal Games. Kids 8 and under will compete in an outdoor ice hockey competition. It’s free to watch. Games are 9 a.m. to noon. The public is welcome to skate after the games.

Northgate Mall in Durham will host a Cub Scout Pinewood Derby from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday, in its center court. It’s free to watch. The kids from the Durham District (Mawat) of the Boy Scouts of America will be competing in a variety of categories and divisions with their small cars, which can weigh no more than five ounces. These are fun, fascinating to watch. Good luck to all of the participants!

And Uptown Kids children's consignment store in north Raleigh will have a tent sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday. All tent sale items are $1 or $3.