Weekend Plans: State Fair, Schoolhouse Rock, Artstober, more

You don't get much more family friendly than the N.C. State Fair! It all starts Thursday and runs through next weekend. Check my earlier post for tips if you're going with kids, including which rides young children can ride for free with an adult, the best days to go and details on all of the educational opportunities at the fair.

We're also in the midst of corn maze, haunted house and pumpkin patch season. Check our Halloween and fall fun database for details on all the venues and events in the region.

As I wrote earlier this week, the Contemporary Art Museum in downtown Raleigh will launch its new family series from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. this Sunday. The plan is to hold these Family Sunday events every other month. This Sunday's event is called Howl-o-Ween and includes a pet costume contest, mask making and more. See my earlier post for details.

Cameron Village's Playhouse Parade to support the Sassafras All Children's Playground project continues this weekend at the Raleigh shopping center. The Playhouse Parade features a collection of 12 custom built outdoor playhouses and sheds. The playhouses will be auctioned off on Oct. 22 to benefit Sassafras, a project to replace the aging playground at Laurel Hills Park in north Raleigh with a new one designed for kids of all abilities. Like last weekend, there will be special events this Saturday and Sunday. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, you can tour the playhouses and take part in other activities, including arts and crafts, music from the Sandbox band and more. Playhouse tours also are available from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Raleigh will launch Artstober on Saturday at the Progress Energy Center for Performing Arts. The event aims to recruit a wider audience for events at the downtown Raleigh complex. The Progress Energy Center's resident performing arts organizations - Carolina Ballet, Hot Summer Nights at the Kennedy, the N.C. Symphony, N.C. Theatre, N.C. Opera and Pinecone - will offer sample programming all day. Marbles Kids Museum, Artsplosure and the Plein Air Arts Festival on Lichtin Plaza also will play a role. Events start at 10 a.m. It includes a pre-show event for the Carolina Ballet's Dracula, performances from the N.C. Opera, music from an N.C. Symphony quartet and more. Most of the events are free. Check the website for details. Sounds like a great and free opportunity to expose kids to the arts.

Applause! Cary Youth Theatre will present "Schoolhouse Rock Live!" at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday at the new Cary Arts Center. Tom, a nerve-wracked school teacher nervous about his first day of teaching, tries to relax by watching TV when various characters representing facets of his personality emerge from the set and show him how to win his students over with imagination and music, through such songs as “Just A Bill,” “Lolly, Lolly, Lolly” and “Conjunction Junction.” Based on the ABC-TV educational animated series which aired from the 1970s to 1980s. (I now have "Just A Bill" on the brain). Tickets are $10 for adults; $8 for students and seniors; and $5 for kids ages 5 and under.

Cary's Fall Sertoma Series comes to a close with a free concert featuring the Carolina Jazz Orchestra at 3 p.m. Saturday at Sertoma Amphitheatre in Bond Park, 801 High House Rd. Enjoy free music. Bring a picnic.

The Museum of Life and Science in Durham will kick off Wolf Awareness Week on Sunday. During the week, which runs through Oct. 22, the museum will present special educational animal keeper talks daily at 2 p.m. and present giveaways to promote a greater understanding of the endangered red wolf population. The museum is home to one male and one female red wolf. The museum also will screen "Lords of Nature: Life in a Land of Great Predators" at 3 p.m., Oct. 19. The talks and movie are included in the price of admission. As part of Wolf Awareness Week, the museum also will host October Moon Wolf Howls from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., Oct. 19 and Oct. 20. It's $15 per person and free for kids under age 3 (though it's recommended for kids ages 5 and up). Hear the call of the red wolf, take part in hands-on activities, enjoy stories, hot chocolate and cookies. Reservations required. Click here for details.

The Cooke Street Carnival between Lane and Jones streets in downtown Raleigh is 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday. Inspired by local as well as events afar such as the Notting Hill Carnival in London, Cooke Street Carnival attempts to bring together Raleigh residents as well as local artists, musicians and businesses in a neighborhood street fest. There's a pie eating contest, live music, a bearded lady, a coloring contest and other usual carnival suspects. Lots of food too.

The Durham County Library's fall book sale runs this Saturday and Sunday for the general public. It's at the Main Library, 300 N. Roxboro St., in Durham.

Carolina Kids Consignment in Smithfield will offer deals on kids clothes, gear and toys this weekend. And the Children's Cooperative Playschool Consignment Sale also is Saturday in Chapel Hill. See my earlier post for details.

And the Irvin Nature Preserve will hold its fall festival from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. The event includes catapulting pumpkins, live music, fall crafts, cooking demonstrations and hayrides. No registration is required. The preserve is part of the Triangle Land Conservancy. While it's not open to the public all the time, the preserve does hold special events for the public like the fall festival during the year. It's about five miles south of Chapel Hill and Carrboro at 2912B Jones Ferry Rd., Chapel Hill. Click here to learn more about the property. (Thanks to Notes from a Mom in Chapel Hill blog for letting me know about this one!)