Smarty Scoop on Weekend Activities: 10/22-10/24

Happy Wednesday Smarties! Another great weekend in the Queen City. Head up to Huntersville for the newest installment in the Discovery Place family, it will be fun for the whole family. If you haven’t seen the Children’s Theatre production of Disney’s Aladdin, this is the last weekend to catch this incredible show. I can’t wait to hit the mother of all book sales – help support our local libraries by attending the Benefit Book Sale and refresh your shelves. These are just a few of the wonderful things going on in our city, Get out and ENJOY!

3rd annual Brookhaven Run
Brookhaven subdivision, Matthews
October 23, 8:00am-10:30am
The 2010 Brookhaven Family Run/Walk for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in honor of Jake Pritchard will be held this Saturday. Event includes a 5K run, 1-mile kids run and 40 and 100-yard kids dashes. Register at www.brookhavenfamilyrun.com. All proceeds will benefit Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy and go toward researching a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the most common fatal genetic disorder among children. For more information, visit www.tinyurl.com/jake2010 or www.jakepritchard.com.

Opening of Discovery Place KIDS-Huntersville
Discovery Place KIDS-Huntersville
October 23, 8:45am-5:00pm
Discovery Place KIDS-Huntersville opens to the public on October 23, 2010, offering interactive, learning-based play opportunities for children younger than 8 that focus on the development of the whole child. The exhibits mix areas of work and play and are themed around a small town. Live programming will include story time, a visual art studio and puppet shows. The opening will be Saturday, October 23 at 9:00 a.m., preceded by a ribbon cutting ceremony at 8:45 a.m. Cost is $4 (1/2 price all weekend).

Baubles and Bags
Assistance League Thrift Store, 3600 South Tryon Street
October 23, 9:00am-3:00pm
This event is a one day sale of donated jewelry, accessories, designer handbags and shoes. Perry’s at SouthPark will supply a verbal appraisal of one item per person.
All proceeds of the sale benefit Assistance League philanthropic programs for area children.

Benefit Book Sale
Quail Corners Shopping Center, 8400 Park Road
October 22-28, Fri., 10:00am-8:00pm; Sat., 10:00am-5:00pm.; Sun., 1:00-5:00pm; and Mon.-Thurs., 11:00am-6:00pm
Presented by the Friends of the Public Library as part of a book sale series to benefit the Charlotte Mecklenburg Library. There will be more than 100,000 used books for sale. More than 100,000 used books for sale. Cash, valid checks and credit cards accepted, but no returns. Books are priced as indicated, and you will find terrific values at each sale.  Come often, bring your friends too because more boxes are being unpacked daily. To maintain everyone’s enjoyment and safety, no one may bring in more than 3 book bags to fill at a time. 

Carolina Renaissance Festival
Carolina Renaissance Festival and Artisan Marketplace, Huntersville
Weekends, October 9-November 21, Sat.-Sun., 10:00am-5:30pm
The Renaissance Festival is a 16th century European style art and entertainment festival combining outdoor theater, circus entertainment, arts and crafts marketplace, a jousting tournament, a feast fit for royalty, and much much more. The 17th annual season opens this fall for seven festive weekends, Saturdays and Sundays, from October 9th to November 21st, 2010. This is one of the most interactive entertainment shows ever created with wonderful amusements and antics ongoing all around you! You can sit back and watch, or you can become a part of the action, surrounded by over 500 costumed characters roaming the festival village. The village lanes are full of peasants singing sea-faring songs and street entertainers surprising you with tall tales and tricks, each with a role to play. Cost is $7-$19; free under age 5.

Disney’s Aladdin – Last Weekend!
Children’s Theatre of Charlotte
October 22-24, Fri., 7:30pm; Sat., 11:00am; Sun., 2:00pm
Join us for a theatrical magic carpet ride, as we kick off our 63rd season with this exuberant family musical. In the heart of an enchanted city, poor but charming Aladdin meets free-spirited Princess Jasmine, whose royal status places her beyond his reach. His whole life changes with one rub of a lamp, as a fun-loving, fast-talking Genie appears and grants him three wishes. Beloved characters and Academy Award-winning songs like “A Whole New World” and “Friend Like Me” make Disney’s Aladdin an incredible journey of discovery and adventure. Cost is $18-$24.

Silly Spiders
McDowell Nature Center
October 22, 10:00am-10:45am
Join us with your preschooler as we read a fabulous animal tale and then enjoy crafts and activities related to Spiders.

Nature at Night Fest
McDowell Nature Center
October 22, 6:30pm-8:30pm
Peer at the moon through a telescope, sniff out a spider and prowl an owl, roast a marshmallow and go on a hayride, better yet do them all and more at our nature at night festival. Enjoy $1 hotdogs (cook your own on the campfire) and a special visit from the Carolina Raptor Center.

Harry Potter Fall Festival
Marvin Elementary School
October 23, 1:00pm-5:00pm
Join the Marvin Elementary School PTA, and experience the magical world of Harry Potter at this year’s community wide fall festival on October 23rd from 1-5 PM. We have created an extraordinary family-friendly event, allowing guests to stroll through Diagon Alley, to experience the enchantment of Hogwarts. This will be an entertaining event for all, regardless of age or familiarity with the Harry Potter series. Enjoy beverages from the Leaky Cauldron, a bite from Hogshead Tavern or a sweet treat from the legendary Honeyduke’s Sweet Shop. Additional themed festivities include: games & amazing prizes, wizardly crafts, magical creature animal shows, bounce houses, Harry Potter Wii duels, magician & wand shop, cupcake walk, pumpkin decorating, vendor booths offering fun freebies & so much more. Cost is $12, free for adults and children under 2.

Whitewater River Jam Fall Finale
U.S. National Whitewater Center
October 23, 4:00pm-10:00pm
Celebrate the changing of the seasons and spend the day outside with good tunes, craft beer, all the oysters you can shuck and the first ever Whitewater Cornhole Tournament. The Fall Finale is a free concert.

Boo Bash
Bailey Road Park, Cornelius
October 23, 6:00pm-9:30pm
Costume contest, a flashlight egg hunt, hayrides, face painting, concessions and at 8:00, the movie “How to Train Your Dragon.”

North Carolina State Fair
N.C. State Fairgrounds, Raleigh
October 14-24
The North Carolina State Fair is the largest 11-day event in North Carolina, attracting more than 800,000 attendees. The Fair host many diverse musical acts, numerous food vendors, games booths and carnival rides, commercial and agricultural exhibitors. The Fair is managed and produced by the N.C. Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services and is consistently ranked among the top 25 fairs in North America. There are many reasons people from across North Carolina make an annual trip to the N.C. State Fair. Squealing, speed-racing pigs. Giant, blue-ribbon pumpkins. Old-fashioned Ferris wheel rides. And, of course, deep-fried food on a stick.

Rural Hill Amazing Maize Maze 2010
Rural Hill, Huntersville
October 22-24, Fri., 10:00am-5:00pm; Sat.-Sun., 10:00am-6:30pm
See how fast you can find your way out of the seven-acre corn maze while searching for the 12 map pieces. Music and food will also be available. Visit the website for advance tickets, times and special activities.

Country Days Corn Maze
Country Time Farms, Hwy. 218 and Clontz Road, Indian Trail
October 22-24, Fri., 5:00pm-10:00pm; Sat. 10:00am-10:00pm; Sun., 1:00pm-8:00pm
From the parking lot take a one mile hayride to the maze. There are farm animals, corn box, playground and pig races and much more. Cost is $7-$10, under 3 is free.

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