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It's finally fine outside, meaning the bunches of events blooming this weekend are ready to be picked. Here's the rundown to help you assemble your own bouquet:
Saturday, April 30:
No lions or tigers or bears but, for astronomy buffs, a more compelling trio: "Black Holes, Space Warps and Time Twists" in a thoroughly novel presentation at Yale's Peabody Museum in New Haven. Visitors become part of a "space mission" with a special briefing and a Black Holes Explorer ID card. Then, they're launched on a journey into space to make some big discoveries. This is the exhibit's last day so get on board before it blasts off! Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $5-$9. For more information, visit the Museum's website.
Need proof it's spring? Take a gander at 650,000 blooming daffodils at The Daffodil Festival in Meriden's Hubbard Park both Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1. Besides the waving fields of yellow, this annual event also honors the cheery spring bloomer with a Daffodil Parade, the crowning of Little Miss Daffodil, a carnival with rides, 50 food vendors, arts and crafts, live music and a miniature train. There are even Saturday night fireworks, though for some of us, it's the explosion of flowers that'll make the biggest bang. Hours are: Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit the Festival's website.
Circus Follies at Ridgefield Playhouse mixes up more fun than a barrel of monkeys with its impish clowning, unbelievable unicycling, eyepopping acrobatics, juggling, mime and more. Presented by New York Stage Works, kids will be in awe of how this fast paced, high energy entertainment fills the stage. Local author Jane Turner will also be on hand with her new children's book, "The Dog Who Went to Main Street." Performances take place at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tickets are $15. For more information, visit the Playhouse's website.
Earthplace's Green Earth Fair in Westport keeps Earth Day firmly in focus with family-friendly activities, demonstrations and information about energy efficiency, composting, container gardening, raising chickens and bee keeping, as well as other how-tos. Food, eating and tips to grow the healthiest produce possible are also on the table, explored with area CSAs, farmers markets, community gardens and more. Hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $5. For more information, visit Earthplace's website.
Sunday, May 1:
Wilton Go Green Festival rolls out from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., in Wilton center, with a collection of unique vendors, exhibits and informational activities to drive home some new ways to protect the planet. Choose from any of five bike rides led by Sound Cyclists who'll help participants get their biking skills into a higher gear. See the Wilton Library's giant inflatable earth balloon that displays high-resolution satellite images. Check out the new Chevy Volt, Motor Trend's 2011 Car of the Year, and learn why it's been named one of the greenest new vehicles. There is a children's courtyard, food, animal visitors to meet and much more. Admission is free. For more information, visit the Festival's webpage.
A new musical revue knits together favorite kids' tales, in "Duck for President, Fancy Nancy & Other Story Books," a production of TheatreworksUSA on stage at Fairfield's Quick Center. For instance, in one vignette, Duck runs for office on the farm. Then, emboldened, his political career takes flight and he sets his sights on conquering the governorship and Capitol Hill. Highly regarded, the non-profit Theatreworks USA company received a Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Award and the 2001 Jonathan Larson Performing Arts Foundation Award. Performances take place at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Tickets are $12 and $15. For more information, visit the Quick Center's website.
Sunday, May 1 is the season opener for Woodbury's remarkable Glebe House and Jekyll Garden. This historic house, built in 1750, was restored in 1923, with William Henry Kent, a pioneer of early American decorative arts and New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, at the helm. The Glebe House welcomed visitors starting in 1925 and the next year, British garden designer and writer Gertrude Jekyll, still worshipped as a revolutionary in the field, was commissioned to plan an "old fashioned" garden for the museum. Though it wasn't implemented until later, Jekyll's Glebe House garden is one of only a handful she designed in the United States. With everything budding and blooming, it's the perfect season to see her visionary garden design and this gem of a museum. Hours are 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $2 and $5. For more information, visit the Museum's website.
Norwalk's Lockwood-Mathews Mansion continues the royal wedding's enchantment with its "quintessentially English" high tea featuring fine teas and a sampling of scones, Devonshire cream, lemon curd, tea sandwiches, tea cakes, tartlets, and more. The genteel atmosphere is enhanced with music, and participants can enter a raffle which benefits the Museum. The tea begins at 2 p.m. Tickets are $35. For more information, visit the Museum's website.
The Daffodil Festival, also takes place on Sunday. See above for details.
For more happenings, visit our Events Section.
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