Come for Thanksgiving and spend a long weekend with family and friends at the coast celebrating the Annual North Carolina Holiday Flotilla. This multi-year Southeast Tourism Society Top 20 Event winner includes a weekend full of holiday fun. Kick off the festivities on Friday with the annual tree lighting ceremony and visit from Santa. Saturday, the Festival in the Park at Wrightsville Beach Park features more than 100 arts and crafts vendors, festival food, an antique car show, a children’s play area and the Arab Choo Choo. That evening, watch decorated boats parade along the waterways. Adorned in Christmas lights and yuletide-themed inflatables, each boat seems more dazzling than the last with multiple parade vantage points throughout Wrightsville Beach. Afterwards, enjoy a spectacular fireworks show along the water and ring in your holiday season in Wrightsville Beach.

An online experience: Saturday, Nov. 20

Mark your calendar! The 26th Annual American Indian Heritage Celebration will be an online experience on Saturday, November 20, 2021, with a special online experience for students and educators on Friday, November 19.

Engage with American Indians from North Carolina’s eight recognized tribes in live presentations and panels, plus enjoy videos that celebrate the history, culture, and continuing contributions of North Carolina’s American Indian communities.

Educators and Students, join us for free presentations and LIVE! dancing and music from North Carolina American Indians on Friday, November 19, 2021. And be sure to join in other free online activities at the Celebration on Saturday, November 20, 2021. Thanks to sponsor Red Hat for helping to make the 2021 American Indian Heritage Celebration Education Day possible.

Register here!

Do you know about the Three Sisters? Join us as we learn more about these vital plants and North Carolina’s American Indian tribes. Our special guest will be Shelia Wilson,  a member of the Sappony tribe who is knowledgeable about indigenous cooking, fishing, farming, and singing.

Ages 9–12

This virtual program is for individual children and families and is designed to make learning history fun and interactive!

Speaker: Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, Author of Even As We Breathe

Join us for a special History at High Noon program as we welcome award-winning author and North Carolinian Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle and her Cherokee Studies class as she shares her wonderful book Even As We Breathe with us! This program is one of many special programs celebrating National American Indian Heritage Month at the museum, including our 26th annual American Indian Heritage Celebration happening on Saturday, November 20!

Join the North Carolina Museum of History as we honor Diwali by linking with the Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art for their special program Virtual Cooking Demo for Diwali, “The Festival of Lights.” The program will feature renowned Indian American chef and cookbook author Vikram Sunderam, executive chef of Rasika and Bindaas restaurants in Washington, DC, and is hosted by the National Museum of Asian Art and the DC Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs.

Register here!

Henry’s moving to a new place; will he make friends and fit in? Hear author Brittany Danielle Hunt read and talk about Whoz Ya People, her book about eight-year-old Henry as he finds a place with family and friends in his Lumbee community.

Ages 5–8

This virtual program is for individual children and families and is designed to make learning history fun and interactive!

From high-concept millinery to period gowns and armor, the process of bringing a costume designer’s vision to life falls to the costume production department. In this program, Triffin Morris, costume director for the PlayMakers Repertory Company at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will explain the difference between costume design and costume production.

Sharing stories from her more than two decades of experience on Broadway, Morris will highlight the varied skills required for a career in costume production, as well as the key role the costume studio plays in the theatrical world. Morris will be joined by some of her graduate students, who will discuss their current work, creating costumes inspired by the Ackland Art Museum collection.

The Village of Pinehurst will flood our downtown streets with Irish spirit during the Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Festive parade entries, great music, dancing, and Irish cheer are all in store for those who attend. The parade will begin at 11:00AM sharp followed by entertainment and children’s activities at Tufts Memorial Park. It is free to participate in the parade; entries are being accepted from nonprofits, businesses, civic groups, churches and families. Decorate your golf cart, car or float and join us for the celebration!

Presented By: Blumenthal Performing Arts

Bring the whole family our for the Queen City Spotlight; a local CLEAN comedy experience (formerly the Queen City Improv Room).

This monthly comedy show spotlights local talent and funny folks from around Charlotte. Our February show will feature improv teams from Improv Charlotte, Comedy Arts Theater of Charlotte and Acting Out Studio Improv, plus our Stand up Headliner Tara Brown.

Presented By: Blumenthal Performing Arts and Discovery Place

Wildlife photographer Brian Skerry has spent more than four decades exploring the world’s oceans—capturing “the soul of the sea” for National Geographic for more than 20 years. His images celebrate the mystery of the depths and offer portraits of creatures so intimate they sometimes appear to have been shot in a studio. Skerry dives eight months of the year, often in extreme conditions beneath Arctic ice or in predator-infested waters, and has even lived at the bottom of the sea to get close to his subjects.

• Experience the annual Floating Lantern Ceremony.  Enjoy an opportunity for Remembrance, Reflection and Gratitude. There’s no charge to attend, but participants are encouraged to purchase a lantern sleeve (available for purchase through Jan. 11th:$12 each and Day of Event:$15) they may personalize, and then float on the CAM reflecting pond.  Write, draw, express your love, gratitude, and wishes on a lantern and watch as it floats on the majestic museum pond. This delightful event will be accompanied by live music.

  • Time:  4:00 PM - 7:00 PM

  • Price:  Free for Spectators| Lanterns available for purchase through Jan. 11th:$12 and Jan. 12th:$15 | Refreshments for sale | Rain or Shine Event

To help mark the 20th dropping of the pickle in Mount Olive, a 10-minute fireworks display will immediately follow the drop, and food trucks will be available.

The New Year’s Eve Pickle Drop, first held and attended in 1999 by a handful of Mt. Olive Pickle employees, annually draws several thousand. The family-friendly event gets underway with live music at 5:30, and the glowing, three-and-a-half-foot pickle drops from the Mount Olive Volunteer Fire Department’s tower truck promptly at 7 o’clock.

In addition to the fireworks and food trucks, the evening includes the staples that have been a hallmark of the event for years: line dancing, free pickles, cookies and hot chocolate, and a canned food drive for the Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina. Those bringing canned food or making a financial contribution receive a chance to win door prizes from the Mt. Olive Pickle Company gift shop at the evening’s end. The grand prize is a pool pickle similar to the New Year’s Eve pickle.

“We’ve always said get here early, the whole’s thing’s over at 7:05. While the fireworks will extend the evening just a little longer this year, we will still wrap up shortly after 7 o’clock,” Mrs. Williams said. “That’s been the best part of it for 20 years: it’s early, it’s quick, and it’s just a lot of fun.”

appy New Year, Charleston is free to the public and offers a family friendly, non-alcoholic event with activities, live music, and food trucks. Ring in your New Year with musical performances, light shows and many hands-on opportunities for family fun!

The day will begin with live entertainment from Electric Trio from Classical Charleston playing pop favorites. Then John Cusatis takes the stage for a rocking kid-friendly sing-a-long with crowd participation. At dusk, DJ Brandon Curbow kicks off the light show by TEC/Technical Event Company.

Guests can also enjoy balloon artists, roving jugglers and magic shows. And step up to the photo booth or crazy hat station to create family memories!

It’s the day after Christmas.
You have family visiting.
Do you have cabin fever and nothing to do?

Not anymore. Start a new family tradition with Old Salem!

Make plans now for the annual “Old Salem Winter Fair” Fundraiser.  This 4-day event will help fund our EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS throughout the year. The Fair will be a time of live folk music and historic fun with one-of-a-kind “Hands-on Workshops” and “Daily Explorations” for all ages; intellectual stimulation with our new “Master Class Histories Lectures” discussing histories of the Moravian town of Salem & its context; and uplifting concerts scattered throughout the historic district featuring local sounds of the season from local musicians, as well as musical groups in partnership with Come Hear NC and the North Carolina Folklife Institute. Every day, between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, we will be hosting special family-friendly activities in each historic building, along with craftsman & cooking demonstrations. With a bit of chill in the air, find a place by the fire in our historic setting while visiting Old Salem with all of your family and friends.