Weekend Plans: Nature programs, museum deals, festivals, more

It’s fall! Appropriately, nearly all of the pumpkin patches and corn mazes are open for the season. Some haunted houses are even starting up this weekend. Check our Halloween and Fall Fun Guide for more. And for more weekend activities, go to WRAL.com’s Out & About calendar.

I’ll start off with the Triangle Heart Walk because Go Ask Mom will be out there supporting this great event. The event, which supports the American Heart Association, includes a one mile or three mile walk, along with activities and hearth health information for all ages. It’s pet and family-friendly. The event starts at 12:30 p.m., Sunday. Hope to see you there!

Take a Child Outside Week runs through Sept. 30. We have many events across the Triangle that are dedicated to mark the week. They include the opening of two trails designed for kids at Falls Lake, the annual Take a Child Outside celebration at Prairie Ridge Ecostation and a storytelling festival at Oak View County Park in Wake County. Check my earlier post for more information. Looking for a walk in the park? Check five of our favorite nature parks.

The first Dragon Boat Festival will be at Cary’s Booth Amphitheatre from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday. The festival, which is popular at other locations around the country, offers an opportunity to watch dragon boat racing from club and community teams on Symphony Lake. These are boats that are designed to look like dragons and are paddled by a team. There also will be food, performances and other events. It’s made possible by several local groups, including Asian Focus, Pan Am and the Raleigh Dragon Boat Club.

Saturday is Museum Day Live! when museums across the country offer free tickets and deals. The Smithsonian sponsors the national event. Many museums and sites across the state, including Sylvan Heights Bird Park and Old Salem will be offering specials. At the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, admission to the exhibit Rauschenberg: Collecting & Connecting is free of charge all day on Saturday. No ticket required, just check in at the information desk. Check the Museum Day Live! website for details about how you can get the deals.

Back to Nasher: The museum will host one of its regular free family days from noon to 4 p.m., Sunday. There will be hands-on projects, gallery hunts, a magic show, bluegrass music and on-the-spot poems written on a typewriter by Poetry Fox.

The Global Cardboard Challenge at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham runs through Saturday. Activities are free with admission, which is $14 for adults and $10 for kids ages 3 to 12. In a room full of cardboard, kids and adults can make all kinds of creations. It happens daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., through Saturday when visitors can see the final result.

Triangle Independent School Consortium, which is made up of 14 private schools in the region, has an admission fair this weekend. At the fair, parents can learn more about the admission process and cost and meet admission directors. The fair is scheduled for 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, at Hampton Inn and Suites at Crabtree, 3920 Arrow Dr., Raleigh. A second fair is set for 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Oct. 5, at the Hilton Garden Inn at The Streets at Southpoint, 7007 Fayetteville St., Durham.

Safe Kids North Carolina and the Raleigh Police Department will host an Operation Medicine Drop from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, at Rex Hospital in Raleigh. Pharmacists from Rex Pharmacy and police officers will be on hand to receive and properly discard unwanted or expired over-the-counter and prescription medications, no questions asked. No liquids, radioactive materials, batteries or needles will be collected. Why do they do this? North Carolina has a high number of deaths from unintentional poisoning, mostly because of over-the-counter or prescription medications. Rex Hospital is at 4420 Lake Boone Trail, Raleigh. There will be other Operation Medicine Drops across the state on Saturday.

The third annual Five Points Festival is 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 301 E. Whitaker Mill Rd. Activities include a bounce house and inflatable slide; games; a fire truck and EMS vehicle; DJ; food trucks; and more. There also will be a raffle and bake sale.

The Festival in Motion is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, at the Walnut Creek Wetland Center near downtown Raleigh. The event includes lots of activities for all ages - from exploring nature to music, mask making, food, biking for trikes and up and fitness and dance challenges.

Johnston County’s largest ethnic food festival - St. Ann’s International Food Festival - is 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturday, at St. Ann Catholic Church in Clayton. The event will feature food from 15 countries, entertainment, a silent auction and games for kids.

"Back to the Future" opens this weekend for Marbles Kids Museum’s retro movie series. The downtown Raleigh museum also will host a two-day cityBuild on Saturday and Sunday. Kids can design their own city in this fun project. Its celebrates Marbles’ 7th birthday. CityBuild is free with admission, which is $5 per person.

The N.C. Triangle Gluten Intolerence Fair is 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, at Ganyard Hill Farm in Durham. The event includes the fall fun at Ganyard Hill - pumpkins, crop maze, hay mound and more, along with speakers, vendors and more.

And Carnaval Latino is 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, at the Garner Performing Arts Center, 125 Avery St., in Garner. The family program celebrates the community’s diverse Latino cultures with food, music, art and dance. It’s free.