Weekend Plans: Justin Roberts, Best Christmas Pageant Ever, Santa arrives, Storybook Tales, more

If you're not ready for the holidays and want to revel in fall, some of the region's pumpkin patches are still open. Check our Halloween and fall fun database.

As always, check WRAL.com's Out & About calendar for more weekend activities, including First Friday activities in downtown Raleigh when downtown museums, galleries and restaurants stay open late or offer special deals.

Kindie rocker Justin Roberts returns to The ArtsCenter in Carrboro with hour-long shows at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., Saturday. Roberts, who played a big show at the N.C. Museum of Art, has made a stop at The ArtsCenter for the past decade or more and I’ve been to many of them. If you read Go Ask Mom, you know I’m a big fan. These are great shows featuring Roberts’ great music about childhood. His songs resonate with kids and their adults. Tickets are $10 for kids, $12 for adults and $40 for a family four pack.

Raleigh Little Theatre opens “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” this weekend. The show runs Friday to Nov. 18 and is part of the theater’s youth series. The holiday classic tells the story of the Herdmans, who are the worst kids in the history of the world, as they perform in the annual Christmas pageant. Tickets are $13 for adults and teens and $9 for kids 12 and under. The show is about an hour with no intermission. The theater will be collecting food at the show as part of a holiday food drive.

The N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences and its Nature Research Center will celebrate Marine Mammal Day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday. The free event lets visitors explore the wonders of marine mammals along our coast - including whales, dolphins and seals - and the challenges they face. You’ll find a variety of displays, crafts, discussions and more. Check the website for the complete schedule. Among the activities is an interactive echolocation booth. Echolocating animals emit calls out to the environment and listen to the echoes of those calls that return from different objects in the environment. Bats, along with dolphins and some whales, echolocate.

Wake County schools will hold the annual magnet school fair on Saturday at Southeast Raleigh High School. Representatives from all of the county’s magnet programs will be there to talk about what they offer. Magnet school staff also can answer questions about the applications process. It’s free. Read my earlier post for details.

Santa arrives for photos and visits at Triangle Town Center at 10 a.m., Saturday, in north Raleigh (note: a day later than originally reported). He'll stick around until Dec. 24. He'll be arriving at other malls in the next couple of weeks.

The Raleigh Dance Theatre will present Storybook Tales with shows at noon and 4 p.m., Saturday, and 3 p.m., Sunday, at Fletcher Theater at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts. The annual show features young dancers from the pre-professional performance training program. This is a great way for kids to see ballet especially since the Carolina Ballet is not planning any family shows, other than The Nutcracker, this year. This year’s show features dances based on some popular stories: Snow White, Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse and Rainbow Fish. Tickets are $12 in advance or $15 at the door.

The 54th annual Cary Band Day is Saturday at Cary High School. The event features high school bands from across the region and beyond. You can buy tickets for the field show - they are $8 for ages 11 to 64; $4 for ages 65 and up; and free for ages 10 and under. But there's also a parade of marching bands that's free to watch. It begins at 10 a.m. and runs through downtown Cary to Cary High School. According to the Cary Band Day website, Academy and Walnut streets are the best places to watch.

Holly Springs’ HollyFest is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, at Womble Park, across from 301 Stinson Ave. The annual festival was moved to this weekend to avoid last weekend’s threat of bad weather. The free festival features inflatables, crafts, games, live music, food, a pumpkin carving contest and much more.

It’s Culture Day (also known as Bunka no Hi in Japan) at the Ackland Art Museum from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday. Bunka no Hi is a national holiday in Japan that celebrates culture and the arts. On Saturday, visitors can explore the museum’s Japanese art and participate in workshops and events. They’ll have an origami station and scavenger hunts, including one designed for families. There’s also a workshop designed for kids 6 to 9 (pre-registration is required).

The new north Raleigh Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us celebrates its grand opening Friday through Sunday with special activities, storytimes and sales. Read my earlier post for all the details about the store across from Triangle Town Center.

For families with older kids who don't mind a late night, on Friday, Cary will celebrate the big reveal for a new public art project - Cary's Monumental Fire Sculpture. It all begins at the Cary Arts Center where the Cary Town Band will play a free concert at 7:30 p.m., Friday. The concert includes the band's premier of an original production that also includes performers from The Cary Players, Cary Ballet, and Applause! Cary Youth Theatre. After the concert, head over to the Performance Green across from the arts center for the unveiling of the fire sculpture at 10 p.m. S'mores and hot cider will be served while guests watch the sculpture, a permanent piece, be set into stone. The burn will take the one-story sculpture from a pliable material to permanent brick. That's what the press release says. This sounds like it will be a pretty amazing sight.

“The Longest Night: A Winter’s Tale,” a new planetarium show at Morehead Planetarium and Science Center in Chapel Hill, opens this weekend. The film was made in collaboration with Paperhand Puppet Intervention and is based on a classic fable set in a snowy village. It tells the story of a young girl who leaves on a simple quest that tests her courage and sparks her generous spirit. It’s scheduled for 11:30 a.m., Saturday, and 2:30 p.m., Sunday, and will run through Feb. 24. I look forward to seeing this one.

The Durham Family Theatre presents “Between the Bells,” at 8 p.m., Friday; 1 p.m., Saturday; and 8 p.m., Nov. 9 and Nov. 10, at the Hayti Heritage Center in Durham. The show is based on stories from students and teachers at public high schools and is best for high schoolers and their families. It’s rated PG-13 for language and mature subjects. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students and seniors.

The Orange County Main Library in Hillsborough will host an International Games Day event all day on Saturday. The library will have games, from puzzles and checkers to video and board games, for all ages. There’s also a national Super Smash Brothers Brawl video game tournament starting at 1 p.m. It lets participants in libraries all over the country play together.

Pinewoods Montessori School in Hillsborough will hold a fall open house from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, at the school at 109 Millstone Dr. Parents and children are invited to check out the school, meet the teachers and learn more about the program.

And BSC Kids at the Broad Street Cafe in Durham will offer a free concert from Mac Pankey Mac at 4:30 p.m., Sunday. The group is made up of Aaron Pankey, 10, Abby McAlister, 13 and Ian McAlister, 14. They’ve been playing together for several years.