Weekend Roundup: What to Do in EL the Weekend of May 6-8

Sam Van Aken, "Nursery Fruit, 2011", currently on display at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at MSU. Photo courtesy Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York. 

This is a busy weekend in East Lansing. Between MSU’s graduation ceremonies and Mother’s Day on Sunday, it may be tough to get a restaurant table closer than St. John’s, but don’t despair – there are lots of other things to do.

Friday offers the Whitehills Elementary School Carnival from 6-8 p.m. – a great pick for families that includes games and face painting as well as a cake walk. If you’re in the mood for some music Friday night, singer/songwriter David G. Smith performs at the Bailey Pumphouse from 7-9:30 p.m. and Mollie O’Brien with Rich Moore will play a Ten Pound Fiddle concert at MSU’s Community Music School from 8:00 to 10:00 p.m. If you’re into the astronomy, you can see “From Earth to the Universe” at Abrams Planetarium at 8:00 p.m. (and if you don’t make it Friday night you can catch the same show Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. or Sunday at 4:00p.m.).

On Saturday, you can start at MSU Broad Museum’s Family Day and create your own art between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., head over to the East Lansing Public Library to do a little digging in the Children’s Garden at 2:00, and (after a nap and some dinner) check out the “Festival of Early Music” at the Community Music School at 7:00 p.m. The Festival concert is only an hour long, it’s free, and all ages might be fascinated by Renaissance music, dance and costumes.

Sunday’s looking like a nice day for outdoor activities like going for a walk, riding bikes, or taking the dog to the dog park, but it’s still likely to be a little chilly. For indoor fun, consider Abrams Planetarium’s children’s show “The Little Star that Could” at 2:30. Once you’re on campus, it’s not that far to the MSU Dairy Store for a grilled cheese and soup lunch before the show (they open at noon on Sundays) or some ice cream afterwards to spoil your dinner.

For more information on all of these events (and more) visit East Lansing Info.org and check out our Local Events Calendar.