Bugfest

This Saturday, September 21, from 9am – 7pm, prepare to be creeped out.  Each year the Museum of Natural Sciences in downtown Raleigh hosts Bugfest, a celebration of all things creepy and crawly. A family-friendly event that features over 100 exhibits, crafts, games, and activities, it draws over 35,000 visitors to learn more about the fascinating world of bugs.

Activities will be happening both inside and outside the museum. Displays on things such as vermicomposting (worm composting); caterpillarology; ant, bee, and dung beetle races will be on Jones Street. Activities like face painting, wire art, sand sculpting, caricatures, and horseshoe crabs will be featured on the Bicentennial Mall. Edenton Street will have Doodlebugs: Insects in Chalk, as well as live performaces from 10am – 5pm.

Inside the museum, additional exhibits on cool crustaceans, scorpions (this year’s theme bug), and remote controlled cyborg insects as well as henna painting and insect macrophotography are sure to draw crowds. Participants include not only the NC Museum of Natural Sciences but experts from NC State University, the Duke Lemur Center, the Piedmont Wildlife Center, the NC Museum of Art, and the NC Division of Parks and Recreation, among others. Short presentations (30 – 45 mins) will also be held inside the Daily Planet on a variety of bug-related topics.

And not for the squeamish, one of the most popular aspects of Bugfest is the Café Insecta. Opening at 10:30am, the café will expose you to the finest in entomophagy (the practice of eating bugs), where buggy dishes featuring creepy crawlers will be prepared by local businesses! Finally, wind down the evening with the (adults-only) showing of The Black Scorpion, a classic from 1957 with giant scorpions roaming the earth. Bugfest is a day-long free event that is sure to entertain, delight, and free your inner entomologist!