June 28th - July 11th 2012
by Pam & Michael Davison
Independence Day is almost here! To help you plan, this email will cover this weekend, all the Independence Day fun and next weekend. Whether you are heading out of town, hosting visitors or just having a quiet holiday, ParkGeek.com has such a great variety of events so you can make the most of your down time.
Independence Day in the Triangle
Just about every city and town in the Triangle is hosting something fun for the Independence Day Holiday. Whether you are looking for breakfast and a kids parade or fireworks and live concerts, ParkGeek has it all for you!
Many events take place on July 3rd this year. The Town of Garner's Independence Day Celebration festivities start Tuesday with kids inflatables and the sounds of Liquid Pleasure and end with the North Carolina Symphony and a Fireworks Display.
The Town of Fuquay-Varina will host the annual Independence Day Celebration on the third, also. There will be fun for the whole family with fireworks, live music, food, and free carnival rides to enjoy.
Morrisville's Fireworks are back this year on the 3rd! If you are an early riser, you can head over to Morrisville to enjoy a July 4th Pancake Breakfast and live entertainment on the 4th. Tickets should be purchased in advance so click through for the information.
4th of July Celebration in Wake Forest will also start the weekend off with a bang. Tuesday night at Heritage High School, there will be a concert by Band of Oz, games, live entertainment and fireworks. The gates open at 5:00 pm and admission is $5 per person (kids under six are free).
For a slightly different twist, come on out to Bond Park on Tuesday to experience the Independence Eve Celebration at Sertoma. Applause! Cary Youth Theatre will present an Independence Eve performance. Following the performance, there will be a concert by the Cary Town Band. Bond Park is also hosting an Olde Time Celebration on the 4th. The fun begins early with a parent-child fishing tournament and a parade. The day continues with a performance by Applause! Cary Youth Theatre and family contests including donut and watermelon eating concerts, lakeside olympics, balloon volleyball and seed spitting contests.
Apex honors an Old Fashion 4th of July on Wednesday with Uncle Sam's Parade of Wheels and an afternoon of fun with food, clowns, jugglers, games like mini golf, scramble slide, Kiddie Hi-Striker, face painting, water balloons, side walk chalk, costume contest, musical entertainment, and karaoke by Skid Rowe. After the parade, enjoy the Apex Fire Department's Splash Down!
Following the Wake Forest Children's Parade, head on over to Holding Park for Art-in-the-Park and Games-in-the-Park. Some of the game activities will include sack races, watermelon seed spitting contest, and a pie eating contest. Arts and crafts activities include decorating a sun visor, patriotic magnet, cupcake, and treat bag.
The City of Raleigh shakes things up this year by moving their July 4th Celebration to Fayetteville Street. "The Works" kicks off around 2pm with eating contests, stunt shows, wrestling, live music and a variety of entertainment on three stages. End the evening with a fabulous fireworks display over the city. While your downtown, Marbles Kids Museum will be celebrating Red, White and Blue for YOU with a day of family fun (and air conditioning). The North Carolina Museum of History and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (including the Nature Research Center) will be open 9am-5pm on the 4th.
Celebrating Independence Day provides an opportunity to look back in time. The Independence Day Open House at the Joel Lane House is a great place to reflect on colonial life. On the grounds, re-enactors will demonstrate various aspects of colonial life such as spinning and dyeing. The garden will be on view and herbs from the garden will be for sale. There will be old fashioned crafts and games as well as lemonade for the children. In addition to outdoor activities, the circa 1770 plantation manor house and the 1790 kitchen building will be open.
The State Capitol is another great historical location to celebrate our Independence! Enjoy a family-oriented Independence Day celebration with a patriotic concert and picnic. Musical performances, food and historic demonstrators round out this patriotic day of fun.
The Town of Carrboro will be celebrating on the 4th with loads of live entertainment on two stages, kids inflatables, games, face painting, a toddler square, and a kid's fun zone.
Then there are the evening programs. The Mebane Fourth of July Family Music Festival will feature live music, food vendors and a fireworks display. The Cary Independence Day Concert & Fireworks at Regency Park is another great family event with patriotic music and fireworks. In Durham, you can enjoy a Durham Bulls game with the Independence Day Celebration. Tickets are required for the baseball game, but the gates will be opened for free admission at the end of the 7th inning. In addition to the baseball game and fireworks, there will live music, also. Due to popular demand, the fireworks and festivities in Chapel Hill at Kenan Memorial Stadium are back this year!
The fun takes place on Thursday in Holly Springs. The Old Fashioned Independence Day Celebration will feature children's entertainment, a Kids Decorated Bike and Wagon Parade, inflatables, festival food, kids crafts, potato sack races, a watermelon seed spitting contest, face painting and musical entertainment. The evening at Womble Park will culminate with fireworks!
June Goes Out with Music & Movies
Oak City 7 returns Thursday night at Raleigh's City Plaza with concerts by The Dune Dogs, Dark Water Rising and I Was Totally Destroying It. Click through for the times.
Spare Change will be playing a diverse selection of music from Rock, Country, Beach, Funk, Rap and Classic Rock for a Music Off Main Concert in Garner Thursday night.
Locally Grown is a summer-long series of free live concerts and movies on Thursday evenings in downtown Chapel Hill. This week features a concert by the Lizzy Ross Band, Mary Johnson Rockers, and Birds & Arrows.
Friday night at the Page-Walker Arts & History Center will be an extra treat. Not only is there a concert by the Kickin Grass Band, but they will be joined by young musicians from the Town of Cary's bluegrass summer camp.
Movies by Moonlight is Friday night this week at Regency Park and features the movie Drive, starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan.
The Annual Ice Cream Social will be held at the Burwell School on Friday night. After you have finished your ice cream, step inside the Historic Burwell School for a free docent-led tour.
Get wet, stay cool and explore mist, landforms and water through several interactive experiences at the Grand Opening of the Museum of Life and Science's newest outdoor exhibit Into the Mist.
Find out more about Biotechnology and how the industry affects your daily life at Biotechnology Day at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences on Saturday.
Big Miracle is the Family Movie playing at the Holly Springs Cultural Center Saturday morning. There will also be a Rabies Clinic Saturday morning at the Holly Springs Police Department.
Enjoy a fantastic and free afternoon of live bluegrass music with The Gravy Boys, dance workshops, arts and crafts, a parade, food and beer as part of the American Dance Festival on Saturday for Durham Dances Day.
Close out your weekend on Sunday with a concert. DJ Piddipat will spin old school and r&b music from her prodigious music collection at Durham Central Park and The Gravy Boys will by playing at Fred Fletcher Park.
First Friday & Holiday Fun Continues
Festival for the Eno will take place on Wednesday, July 4th and Saturday & Sunday, the 7th & 8th. The Festival features over 90 performers on 4 stages, 85 craft artists, a home and garden expo, solar power and biodiesel demos, traditional and international food court, instrument museum, petting zoo, live animals, craft demonstrations, river activities and rentals, kids activities, storytellers, and puppets. Tickets are needed, so click through for all the info.
Art in the Evening at the North Carolina Museum of Art Friday night will feature live music with the Davis Dryer Trio along with a Gallery Exploration of renditions of defining moments in American history. The Summer Dance Series will bring a two performances by Code f. a. d. Saturday and after dark, the Art Museum will be showing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.. In celebration of the exhibition El Anatsui: When Last I Wrote to You about Africa , renowned Senegalese kora player and percussionist Diali Cissokho performs Sunday afternoon.
Movies on the Lawn at the American Tobacco Campus will feature the film Andrrew Bird: Fever Year Friday night after Dark.
Family Fun Night with Trish Miller is back again at Bass Lake Park. Start the evening with crafts, live animals and a little fishing and then finish the night with a concert by kid favorite, Trish Miller.
Science Saturday at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences will focus on The CSI Effect and Forensic Entomology: Fact or Fiction?
Stuart Little is the featured kid favorite at the Holly Springs Cultural Center Saturday morning.
Come enjoy the R&B/Old Skool sounds of Veeda at Old Farm Road Park on Saturday.
SWAG will be playing the Sunday in the Park Concert this week at Lake Wheeler Park.
Fun at the Parks
Over the next two weekends, there are lots of great activities like educational programs and guided hikes at our Triangle Parks. We are going to highlight a few of the family events, but for the complete listing, go to the Events Search at ParkGeek.com and put in the dates and/or parks you are interested in and we will keep you up to date. Now that its summer vacation, many of the local parks are doing weekday programs also. We will try to keep you updated to the daily events on Facebook.
Take a walk with a park naturalist to explore Annie Louise Wilkerson Nature Preserve at twilight time. Look for deer, coyotes, owls, toads, moths and lightning bugs during their Family Twilight Hike on Saturday, June 30th.
Come use all of your senses to discover new plants and park-dwelling creatures on a Sensory Summer Hike at Crowder District County Park on Saturday, July 7th.
Join a ranger at the William B. Umstead State Park Tuesday, July 10th for a reading of "On Beyond Bugs" from the Cat in the Hat Library. After you read this informative childrens book all about insects, you will enjoy making a buggy craft.
Celebrate the abundance of tasty tomato varieties like Green Zebras and Sungolds at the Raleigh Downtown Farmers Market Tomatolicious on Wednesday, July 11. The festivites will include samples, live music, kid's activities, recipes and tomato themed local lunches.
On Wednesday, July 11th, the North Carolina Museum of Art will be showing the Family Film, Mystery of the Nile and The Holly Springs Cultural Center rounds out their Teen Movie Series with the movie Soul Surfer. To go along with the movie, the Art Museum will also host a Drop in Studio with free art making for families.
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