Weekend Plans Labor Day Edition: What's open, closed, happening

Happy Labor Day weekend! Here’s what’s happening on the family fun front. As always, check WRAL.com’s Out & About calendar for more ideas. Below, find the holiday schedules for popular family destinations.

I’m going to go ahead and lead with our own event at the Midtown Raleigh Farmers’ Market in Raleigh's North Hills on Saturday. Go Ask Mom will be taking over North Hills’ commons area next to Starbucks and Ben & Jerry’s with all sorts of free activities including free child IDs from New York Life Insurance Company; games, activities and a visit from Swoops of the Carolina RailHawks; crafts and a visit from the Chick-fil-A cow from the restaurant at North Hills; a chance to check out some locally made cotton candy; and a concert from the Sandbox band. We’ll also be collecting diapers, wipes and chilren’s books for The Diaper Train. We’ll be there from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. For details, click here and here. I hope to see you there!

The African American Cultural Festival of Raleigh and Wake County will be Saturday and Sunday in downtown Raleigh along Fayetteville Street. The two-day festival includes food, music, vendors and more. There’s a Family Village and Stage with performances and activities for kids.

If your kid loves motorcycles, head over to the Bull City Rumble in downtown Durham on Saturday. The event features vintage motorcycles and scooters and a big bike show. Not every single bit of this event is friendly for all families (like, perhaps an evening burlesque show at a local club), but the bike show is definitely something to see for kids who love all things on two wheels. The bike show starts at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, on Main Street.

The Paperhand Puppet Intervention continues its run of its big annual summer show called “Invisible Earth.” The show, with live music and puppets of all sizes, shapes and forms, is described as a “paradoxical pageant of hope, impending doom and planetary possibilities,” on Paperhand’s website. The show is at Forest Theatre on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill through Sept. 8. Shows are Friday, Saturday and Sunday and Labor Day. Tickets are a suggested donation of $12 for adults and $8 for kids at the door. Nobody is turned away for lack of funds. It moves over to the N.C. Museum of Art for shows Sept. 13, Sept. 14, and Sept. 15. Tickets at the art museum shows are $17 for adults, $8.50 for kids ages 7 to 12, and free for kids ages 6 and under.

Historic Yates Mill County Park in Wake County will hold half hour tours of its history mill on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. These are designed for all ages. They’ll also have mill heritage and local history tours for ages 7 and up on Sunday. Reservations are encouraged for the Sunday program. Tickets range between $3 and $5. They are free for kids 6 and under.

New Hope Valley Railway offers rides on its historic diesel and steam engines on Sunday for an hour-long, open-air ride through the woods of southwestern Wake County. Tickets range between $7 and $12 depending on the train you ride and the age of the rider. Kids under 2 are free. Before and after the ride, check out the historic trains parked at the station and the model railroad garden. A note for parents of young children: There are no bathrooms on the trains.

Pittsboro will have its First Sunday Artisan Fair from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. There will be music, along with activities for kids. Budding young entrepreneurs, who have made their own creations to sell, will find space here too.

And there is a big food truck rodeo in Durham from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Sunday, at Durham Central Park. There will be music, crafts to buy and lots of food from more than 60 food trucks. Durham is where it all started around here!

The N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences is open all weekend and Labor Day. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekdays and Saturdays; and noon to 5 p.m., Sundays. The special exhibit Dinosaurs in Motion is open. Tickets are between $6 and $10 for the dinosaurs exhibit.

The N.C. Museum of History is closed Monday, but open every other day. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekdays and Saturdays; and noon to 5 p.m., Sundays.

The N.C. Museum of Art is closed Monday, but open every other day. Free family tours for ages 5 to 11 are 10:30 a.m., Saturday and Sunday. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday and weekends, and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday.

Marbles Kids Museum is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily, including Monday.

The Museum of Life and Science in Durham is open daily, including Monday. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m., Sunday.

Morehead Planetarium and Science Center in Chapel Hill has planetarium shows scheduled Saturday and Sunday, but none on Monday.

Kidzu Children’s Museum in Chapel Hill will run its usual hours - 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday. Admission is free on Sunday. It’s closed, as usual, on Monday.

The N.C. Zoo in Asheboro, about 90 minutes from the Triangle, is open all weekend.

The rides at Pullen Park in Raleigh are open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., daily, in Raleigh, including Monday. Two rides close early because of darkness. The train shuts down at 7:45 p.m. The boats at 7:15 p.m. 

The Stay & Play Snack Cafe in Durham will be open during its usual hours - 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday.