The day has finally arrived–the opening of the new wing at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences is tonight! Opening ceremonies are at 5pm on the front steps of the museum, and as we have been telling you for the last few weeks, the museum will remain open for a full 24-hours until 5pm on Saturday, April 21.

The streets around the museum complex (Jones and Salisbury) will be filled with musicians, performers and exhibitors. There will also be performances inside the building, as well as presentations by scientists and museum staff in various venues around the space.

Also, remember there are a lot of other activities going on around Greater Raleigh this weekend.

  • The North American Table Tennis Olympic trials are April 20-22 at Bond Community Center in Cary. | Details
  • The ACC Tennis Championships take the court, April 19-22 at Cary Tennis Park | Details
  • Billed as "the world's largest paint party," the second annual Dayglow Tour, "Life in Color," will make a stop at the Raleigh Amphitheater on April 20. | Details
  • The N.C. Master Chorale and the Raleigh Symphony is present "Carmina Burana" at Progress Energy Center | Details
  • The southern classic, "Steel Magnolias," is playing at the N.C. Theatre in downtown Raleigh. | Details
  • Get tickets for Redress Raleigh at the Contemporary Art Museum in downtown Raleigh. | Details
  • Foodies can enjoy "Great Grapes," The Art, Music and Wine Festival in Cary. | Details
  • Cole Brothers Circus will be performing at the N.C. State Fairgrounds. | Details
  • The World Series of Comedy takes the stage at Goodnight's. | Details
  • Raleigh's annual Cuegrass Festival is also happening in downtown Raleigh. | Details

Thank you for anticipating this event with us. We called our opening celebration Raleigh's New World for a reason: besides the larger-than-life-size globe that now anchors Jones Street, the new wing will a open whole new world of research and discovery in downtown Raleigh. This is just the beginning...

For a full event line-up, plus other valuable information about parking, etc., go to the new wing's grand opening webpage here.

We will see you there!