December 13th -19th 2018 Triangle

by Pam & Michael Davison

We, here at ParkGeek, hope you and your family are enjoying all that the Holiday season has to offer and that you have had a great year. There are several fun and entertaining events to participate in to end 2018 and bring 2019 in.

The Annual Halle Hall of Wreaths and Trees at the Halle Cultural Arts center runs through December 20th. You're invited to relax and browse, stroll through the halls to the holiday music, and place a bid on one of the trees or wreaths on display if you would like.

Hill St. Community Center invites kids 5-12 to join them Friday evening to make a Christmas Craft.

The North Carolina Chinese Lantern Festival runs through January 13th at Regency Park. The Festival features numerous displays, each one comprised of hundreds of parts, and thousands of LED lights. The spectacular Chinese Dragon on Symphony Lake returns to mesmerize visitors.

The Holiday Express runs through Pullen Park through Sunday. Make sure to reserve tickets in advance because they do sell out.

Saturday at the State Fairgrounds, celebrate Fiesta Navidena with a Community Outreach Event.

Also at the Fairgrounds this weekend, the Carolina Piedmont Dog Agility Competition will run Friday and Saturday.

Museums Host More Holiday Fun

The Halle Cultural Arts Center will host Pizza & a Movie Night Thursday with the family feature Small Foot.

This week's Science Thursday at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences discusses Tigers in Trouble.

Hill Street Community Center will feature a Family Movie Night Friday along with drinks and popcorn,

The North Carolina Museum of Art continues to kick off the weekend in style. Join them for Winter Family Fun Friday: Flower Power and celebrate the season '60s-style at their annual winter event. Create groovy floral art, jam to music and performances, and enjoy a visit from Santa. They will also host their weekly Iris After Dark with special small plates, music and special drink selections.

Throughout the holidays, remember that the North Carolina Museum of Art and its adjacent Art Park offers free admission every day. Every weekend they offer free Weekend Family Friendly Tours and Meet Your Museum Tours.

Duke Homestead Historic Site invites you to enjoy Christmas by Candlelight again this Friday. Enjoy candlelit tours through the Historic Area, traditional storytelling, hot cider, cookies, music, Victorian dancing, Christmas tree decorating, and caroling by the fireside!

Bennett Place Historic Site will be celebrating Christmas in the Piedmont Saturday with living historians, weapons demonstrations, cooking demonstrations, beeswax candle making opportunities, the chance to string popcorn and berries and a visit from Old St. Nick. After dark, you are welcome to experience their Annual Candlelight Tour as you listen to soldiers and civilians tell you how they would have celebrated the holiday.

The Apex Community Park hosts the annual Family Basketball Ham Toss Tuesay evening. Family members join teams to shoot foul shoots and a chance to will a holiday ham!

Enjoy the Winter Sunshine at a Park

The Geminid Meteor Shower is the most prolific meteor shower of the year with up to 120 meteors per hour. Enjoy meteor shower viewing and educational activities until 10pm. Come anytime after 10pm until 3am to watch the Geminids at their peak with a cup of hot chocolate Thursday night at West Point on the Eno.

Make and take a Snowflake to decorate your window or Christmas Tree at Eno River State Park Saturday morning.

Take a Walk in the Woods Saturday at Crowder County Park and discover the animals and plants that are in the park this time of year as you help collect data for their Natural Resource Inventory Database and other citizen science projects. Also Saturday, they will host a Discovery Table all about Soil Science. Come back Sunday for a Family Feature on Microscope Mania.

Take a Wagon Ride with Santa Saturday at Harris Lake Park. Santa will take time out of his busy schedule to join them for a cup of hot cocoa and a ride on their wagon along the back roads of the park.

Learn to ID a few common Winter Feeder Birds, and then make some yummy bird treats to take home Saturday at Blue Jay Point County Park.

Join a Falls Lake park ranger Sunday morning for a Winter Wonderland Hike to talk about how the park changes in the winter season.

Hike off the trail to see how Winter Reveals mysteries and histories of communities along the Eno Sunday at Eno River State Park.

Prairie Ridge Ecostation will also be exploring the Wonder of Winter on a hike to search for signs of animals and discuss the wonders of winter on the prairie Sunday.

Historic Yates Mill Park features the book Over and Under the Snow Monday. Learn about animals in winter, make a fun craft, and go on a short hike to search for winter animals.

Come to Crowder County Park Monday to make Snowman Crafts without any snow required!

Get Your First Night Raleigh Button

If you want to bring in the New Year with a blast, Downtown Raleigh is where you will want to be! First Night Raleigh 2019 actually includes two celebrations. The DIY Festival will be held from 2:00pm - 6:00pm culminating with a People's Procession, music by the Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba and an Early Countdown at 7:00pm complete with acorn drop and fireworks. The First Night Raleigh 2018 evening entertainment offers something for everyone and culminates with a concert by Boulevards and Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba and a midnight countdown highlighted by the famous Raleigh Acorn Drop and Fireworks! Both celebrations feature a wide variety of Out of this World entertainment from a Ferris Wheel, Down Draft amusement ride, theater, comedy, music, dance performances and interactive activities. Click through for the schedule of events and performers as well as information about admission buttons.