Weekend Plans: Scooby Doo, game night, sledding, more

The weekend activities are ramping back up after a few quieter weeks. As always, check WRAL.com’s Out & About calendar for more weekend events.

UPDATE: This event was moved to Feb. 1. The Museum of Life and Science in Durham will hold a Family Game Night from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday. The museum will bring out games of all kinds - from card to electronic - at this special evening event at the museum. Participants can even design their own game to take home. Reservations are required for this one. At last check on Wednesday morning, there were spaces. Tickets are $10 per person for the general public. The event is for all ages. Call call 919-220-5429, ext. 313, to reserve your space. Dinner will be available for purchase.

The ArtsCenter in Carrboro has several family shows this week. Montessori Community School will present “Puss ‘N Boots,” on Wednesday and Thursday evening. The 90-minute show features seventh and eighth graders from the school. Bright Star Touring Theater will offer “Aesop’s Fables,” at 11 a.m., Saturday. The 45-minute show is best for preschoolers to grade schoolers. And Transactors Improv for Families will offer some hilarious skits during a 45-minute show that’s based on audience suggestions. Tickets start around $8 for each of the shows. For the first two, there are some four-pack ticket deals.

Scooby Doo Live! Musical Mysteries stops at Raleigh’s Progress Energy Center for Performing Arts with multiple shows Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The live theater show follows the story of Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, Velma and Scooby-Doo as they solve the mystery of a ghost haunting a local theater. Tickets start at $14.

The Durham Symphony will present the family concert Babar and Bizet at 4 p.m., Saturday, at Riverside High School in Durham. The concert includes Poulenc's musical version of the classic Babar story, along with Bizet's Carmen. Churck Davis, along with members of the African American Dance Ensemble, will help bring the Babar story to life. Tickets are between $5 and $15.

The 12th annual African American Cultural Celebration takes over the N.C. Museum of History in downtown Raleigh from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Saturday. The free event, designed for all ages, kicks off Black History Month and features more than 75 presenters, including award-winning musicians, actors, filmmakers and writers, along with dancers, re-enactors, craftspeople and others to celebrate North Carolina’s diverse African American heritage and culture. The event’s theme marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Children’s author Kelly Starling Lyons (who Go Ask Mom readers know all about by now) will talk about her book Hope’s Gift. Lots to do at the downtown Raleigh museum on Saturday!

And, right across Bicentennial Plaza from the history museum, the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences will hold its two-day Astronomy Days. The event, which runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, and noon to 5 p.m., Sunday, features a variety of presentations and shows aimed at new and long-time astronomy fans. It’s all free.

A Chinese New Year Celebration is set for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, at the N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh. It’s the year of the snake! Tickets are $5 in advance for ages 7 and up and $8 at the door. Kids 6 and under are free. This annual event features lion and dragon dances, music, traditional Chinese music, food, vendors and more.

Carolina Parent will have a Healthy Families Expo from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, at The Streets at Southpoint in Durham. The event, which includes the YMCA of the Triangle and Be Active Kids, will showcases businesses and groups that focus on healthy living.

This is the final full weekend for this season’s Winterfest, the downtown Raleigh ice rink. It closes on Feb. 2. And this weekend, they’ll have sledding too. From noon to 4 p.m., Sunday, Snow My Yard will make some snow so visitors can zoom down a sledding ramp. It’s free with a skating wristband, which is $8 per person. Check our image gallery from earlier this month to see all the fun. Marbles and Polar Ice House, which runs the rink, are offering a deal to skaters and museum guests. Click here for details.

The Relative Pitch, an open mic night for kids 18 and under, opens at 4:30 p.m., Sunday, at Durham’s Broad Street Cafe. The two hour show is designed to give young musicians and singers a welcoming place to perform. Read my earlier post for details.

And the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke will host one of its regular free Family Days from noon to 4 p.m., Sunday. The afternoon includes live entertainment, crafts and a gallery hunt. Sunday’s activities include design-your-own tote bags using Matisse-inspired fabric and French singer Michele Darrah performing children’s songs at 1 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.