Check out Raleigh's big downtown festival. Raleigh Wide Open runs from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. today and Saturday. The event marks the grand opening of the city's new convention center and celebrates the new development downtown. There's lots of live music with fireworks starting around 10 p.m. both nights. The Kids' Zone and Carnival at Wilmington and Lenoir streets is open from 5 to 9 p.m. today and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. A parade, starting on Hillsborough Street near the state Capitol, runs from 6 to 7 p.m. Saturday. For more information, go to www.raleighconvention.com.
Mark your calendars for BugFest, the huge family-friendly event of the year at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh. The event is from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sept. 20. It's billed as the nation's largest bug event. This year's theme bugs are bees, wasps and hornets. Go to www.bugfest.org.
It's a big month for the museum, which also will be coordinating Take A Child Outside Week, a national program designed to get children outside. It runs from Sept. 24 to Sept. 30. To find out more about the program, how you can get involved and about outdoor activities for your kids, go to takeachildoutside.org.
Share the story of Rapunzel with your kids at Rags to Riches Theatre for Young Audiences performance of the classic fairy tale. The professional touring group is scheduled to perform at 11 a.m. Saturday at The ArtsCenter in Carrboro and 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Holly Springs Cultural Center. Go to www.rags-to-riches.org/public.html for details.
What, when and where: The local singer and songwriter has at least a half dozen public concerts scheduled in the next two months.7 p.m., today and Oct. 3, Bass Lake Park, 900 Bass Lake Road, Holly Springs10:30 a.m., Sept. 18, Cary Towne Center, 1105 Walnut St., Cary7 p.m., Sept. 19 and Oct. 17, Carroll Howard Johnson Environmental Education Park, 301 Wagstaff Road, Fuquay-Varina5:30 p.m., Oct. 31, Cary Towne CenterWho goes: Preschoolers might like her music the best, but even folks without kids are regulars at Miller's concerts.What to know before you go: Years ago, Trish Miller started writing songs for her own kids, to help them learn skills like hand washing and bedtime. She was invited to perform at libraries and other places."I just discovered it was fun to share the music with everybody's kids," she says. "I had a great time doing that."Now Miller and her guitar are a regular on the Triangle's festival and special events circuit. She also teaches music at several local preschools where she performs weekly.Miller has built a solid base of local fans after so many years of entertaining kids and their families with original songs, stories and puppets. She offers a low-key, easygoing kind of concert that can draw in even a shy toddler.Her original songs cover everything from a trip to Grandma's to the color yellow. She's working on a third CD."It's not like putting on the top 40 of kids' favorite songs," she said of her concerts. "I try to keep it interesting and typically no two shows are really the same."Learn more about Miller and listen to her music at her Web site, trishmillermusic.com.
Sarah Lindenfeld Hall For more information about family-friendly events this weekend and the weeks to come and for a chance to win tickets to the Raggs Kids Club Band concert at Carolina Theatre in Durham on Sept. 13, go to
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