Family Fun: October 11-12 Weekend What-To-Dos

Star Wars Reads Day

Spandex City Comics, at 2914-A Mt. Holly Huntersville Road, invites the public to participate in Star Wars Reads Day on Saturday, October 11th, 2014, from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. This is a free event for the whole family. There will be fun Star Wars activities, contests and prizes for fans of all ages, and Spandex City’s next door neighbor, X-tra Ball, is participating too. Star Wars Reads Day is a worldwide event that celebrates Star Wars and reading. Here’s the schedule:

11 am – 6 pm: Star Wars crafts and activities (Spandex City and X-tra Ball)

11 am – 2 pm: Star Wars Pinball contest at X-tra Ball (youth and adult divisions)


11:30 am – 12:30 pm: Jawa Storytime at Spandex City


4 pm – 6 pm: “Stump the Stormtrooper” Trivia at X-tra Ball

Ballantyne Fall Festival

Ballantyne District Park, behind Morrison Family YMCA at 9405 Bryant Farms Road, is the site for Ballantyne Fall Festival–Autumn in the Park, on Saturday, October 11th, 2014, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The festival is free and most activities are free. Some of the activities are hayrides, bounce house, face painting, field day activities, pumpkin painting and more. There’s a charge for the cornhole competition and chili cookoff. Entertainment will be provided by The New Familiars, Dead27s, Matt Stratford and Scoot Pittman.

Food and drinks will be available from a variety of vendors including Elwoods BBQ & Burger Bar, Crü Wine Shop, Carolina Fish Market, True Crafted Pizza and Bird Song Brewing Co. Also, this is the first year to enjoy Charlotte’s Best Oyster Roast, brought to you by Carolina Fish Market.

And for the kids, there will be a special showing of “How To Train Your Dragon 2″ at 7:00 p.m.

Autumn Treasures (Waxhaw)

Waxhaw’s largest festival, Autumn Treasures, takes place Saturday, October 11th, 2014, and Sunday, October 12th, in downtown Waxhaw. The festival takes place 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, and 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. On Saturday, taste championship BBQ during the Grill’n & Chill’n public tasting, take part in Boot Camp Waxhaw and earn your stripes, watch good old-fashioned pig races, witness live entertainment, shop for arts & crafts or stroll the community & business fair. Cap the evening off with a free concert to salute veterans featuring Ansel Brown. On Sunday, the Hometown Heroes Car and USO show is back. Assist in breaking a world record at 3:30pm!

Free Museum Day – Levine Museum of the New South

Levine Museum of the New South offers free admission every Sunday, as long as you’re not bringing a group of 10 people or more. Its hours on Sunday are 12pm to 5pm. If you like free parking too, and who doesn’t, park in 7th Street Station, right next door. Bring your parking ticket to the Levine Museum for validation. On weekdays you can validate parking for up to two hours, but on weekends, you can validate for all day, so you can enjoy other Uptown attractions as well.

The Levine is an interactive history museum that focus on the time period from 1865 until until current times. Its permanent exhibit, Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers: Reinventing Charlotte and the Carolina Piedmont in the New South, invites guests to step inside a one-room tenant farmers house, run a hand through a pile of seed cotton, listen to the churning of the cotton mill, play checkers on the front porch of a mill house, hear personal accounts from local sit-in leaders, and more.

American Girl Store Opening
The American Girl Store officially opens Saturday in SouthPark Mall.  Parents, take your patience, reading material and full wallets. On average, a trip to an American Girl store lasts 90 minutes. *_*

Free Outdoor Movie

Afton Ridge, at 6230 Bayfield Parkway in Concord, is presenting a free outdoor movie, Monsters University, on Saturday, October 11th, 2014, at 7:00 p.m. They’ll also be giving away a $50 gift certificate to Party City to help you find a great Halloween costume of your own.

Open Studio Saturday- McColl Center for Innovation

During Open Studio Saturdays artists work in their studios with the doors open. It is an opportunity for the public to meet the artists and learn about their art as well as view the current exhibition. Every Open Studio Saturday, free docent-led tours will begin at 11:30 AM. Open Studio Hours:
11 AM to 4 PM

24^th Annual Latin American Festival

Charlotte’s signature cultural event, the 24th Annual Latin American Festival, returns Sunday, October 12, 2014 to Symphony Park. Mingle with more than 20,000 other lovers of culture and music this fall with internationally renowned musical performance from Colombian electro-tropical band Bomba Estéreo, Puerto Rican sensation and masters of contemporary bomba and plena, Plena Libre, The Latin Grammy award-winning Panamanian Ska-rock group, Los Rabanes and many more. The festival also features traditional and contemporary dance performances, some of the most diverse and delicious Latin food in Charlotte, marketplace with authentic handmade crafts and a Plaza de Artistas featuring some of North Carolina’s best Latino visual artists.

General admission is $5 and children 8 and under are free. 12pm - 8pm.