October 20th - 26th Triangle 2016

by Pam & Michael Davison

Fall is in full swing and Halloween is right around the corner! We have lots of family fun here in the Triangle this weekend!

The State Fair runs through Sunday. If you haven't made it there yet, it looks like the weather is going to be fabulous all the way through the weekend! As a special treat this year, they have added a laser light show each night.

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There are a few repeating events that kick off the weekend fun every Thursday. Raven Rock State Park invites you to join them to Hike for Your Health Thursday mornings, Marbles Kids Museum stays open late and offers $2 admission, Knightdale Station Park hosts food trucks for both lunch and dinner, and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences stays open late and presents a weekly Science Cafe. This week will explore the invisible Influence of Microbiomes.

Getting in the Halloween Spirit

Explore the American Tobacco Trail by the light of the moon on Friday night's Halloween Hike.

Mordecai Historic Park will host their Haunted Mordecai Lantern Tours and Haunted Mordecai Free Festival next weekend, but they invite you to join them on a Haunted Trolley Tour both this Friday and next Friday and Saturday.

Explore the darker side of nature during Saturday's Creepy Crabtree festival at Lake Crabtree County Park. This FREE park-wide event promises lots of fun activities, as well as an opportunity to get out and enjoy Lake Crabtree in its fall splendor.

Celebrate Halloween with a Pumpkin Carving Wagon Ride out to the back areas of Harris Lake County Park Saturday afternoon. Search for a pumpkin on the wagon ride then return to the shelter to carve it with your family.

Boo at the Zoo celebrates the magic of the season with a weekend of safe daytime Halloween fun. Enjoy trick or treat games, storytelling, live entertainment and a children"s costume contest both Saturday and Sunday.

The W.D. Hill Recreation Center will kick off their Fall Festival with a grand opening celebration of their new Futsal Court. After the ceremony, your family can enjoy a safe night of games, music, treats, scary surprises and even a costume contest.

Dress up in your favorite costume creation for Cary's Costume Dance Party Saturday afternoon! The party will include light refreshments, an art activity, dancing and a costume contest.

Come to Falls Lake and have a Spooktacular time! Join the Falls Lake Park Rangers at the Holly Point Amphitheater for games, crafts, refreshments, campfire stories, a costume contest and a night hike Saturday evening.

Downtown Garner presents its annual Trick-or-Eat Food Truck Rodeo Sunday afternoon with 14 local food trucks and 3 local craft breweries.

Marbles Kids Museum will host a daily Halloween Parade and Dance Party along with phantastic fun with activities like Spooky Art, Monster Science Lab and Frankentoys every day starting Wednesday and running through Halloween.

Get in the Halloween spirit at Marbles for Family Fun Night - Spooktacular - a special night for special needs Wednesday evening. This event is free and exclusively for kids with special needs and their families.

Fall Festivals & Fun

Bring the family Saturday to Bentonville Battlefield's Fall Festival and Living History Event! Activities include hayrides, carnival games based on 19th century games, a corn shucking contest, townball (19th century baseball), and demonstrations of open hearth cooking, children's games, spinning, sewing, and more.

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is excited to present the Grand Opening of their new special exhibit, The Secret World Inside You. For Saturday's Grand Opening, they will have special speakers as well as a variety of Science Stations throughout the Museum. There is a fee for the special exhibit, but it's free for members.

Join Prairie Ridge Ecostation for Wildlife Learning for the second annual WeDigBio international data transcription event! Drop by the Outdoor Classroom any time during the event Saturday and become a citizen science curator for the Museum's CitSciScribe project.

The Heart of Cary Association is excited to be partnering with Bond Brothers Beer Company and the Town of Cary to bring you the Downtown Cary Fall Festival Saturday. Join them for outdoor games, kid-friendly activities, live music and wide variety of food trucks.

Calling all teachers! The North Carolina Museum of History is hosting an Educators' Night Out: Eat! Drink! Teach! Tuesday evening. Their fall open house for educators provides information about field trips, workshops, lesson plans, and other free resources. This year, they even have a signature cocktail!

History, Art, Music & Movies

Come see the Art Exhibit Opening of their new exhibit, "The Politics of Love" Thursday evening at the Halle Cultural Arts Center. The show runs through November 19th.

Bring the family back to the Halle Friday night for a Family Dance complete with a traditional dance caller and old-time string band.

This week features the Third Friday Gallery Crawl in Downtown Durham with live music and more.

The Live and Local Music & Arts Series celebrates Pumpkins in the Plaza with haunting Halloween crafts and games, a costume contest, trick or treating up and down Franklin Street and music by Spookcase in Downtown Chapel Hill Friday night.

Start your weekend at the North Carolina Museum of Art Friday night with live music by Ed Stephen & the Paco Band, an exploration of Beyond Function and a Contemporaries Third Friday Tour on History & Mystery. This Friday's Fall Film will feature the 1931 classic Possessed.

Join them at Pullen Park every Saturday evening in October for a great family Dinner and a Movie.

The Durham Community Band will play a concert Saturday evening at Durham Central Park featuring Special Guests, the Durham Jazz.

Historic Yates Mill Pond County Park will offer both Half-Hour Tours of the fully restored mill on Saturday and Mill Heritage & Local History Tours on Sunday.

Sundays In Hillsborough features Concerts & Carriage Rides every Sunday through October.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs will be the Monday Morning Movie at the Holly Springs Cultural Center.

Enjoy Fall at the Parks

Help the Harris Lake County Park park staff with their Citizen Science Projects on Thursday afternoon. Each month's tasks will vary depending on what needs attention.

Blue Jay County Park invites you to bring gently used and new children's books Friday to their Book Drive to benefit Book Harvest.

Kids 6-16 are welcome to come to Falls Lake Saturday morning to learn All About That Bass.

Come and learn about Occoneechee Mountain's Geologic Wonders as you eplore the pyrophyllite quarry with a real geologist Saturday afternoon!

Come out to Yates Mill Pond either Saturday morning or afternoon to Paddle the Pond in a canoe. You'll get to explore the pond's many features as seen only from the water.

Shinrin-yoku is Japanese for a visit to the forest for relaxation; a chance to stroll through nature and take in the atmosphere for one's well-being; literally Forest Bathing. Come give it a try Wednesday afternoon at Occoneechee Mountain.