Kid Pan Alley performs at the Crozet Arts & Crafts Festival. The Kid Band Alley Band (which includes founder Paul Reisler, local project director Terri Allard, and musicians Darrell Rose and Frances Miller) plays with the Brownsville Kid Pan Alley Choir as they perform songs written during Kid Pan Alley residencies this school year, as well as songs from the Charlottesville-Albemarle Kid Pan Alley CD, “I Used to Know the Names of All the Stars.” Joining students and professional musicians for a song will be community members from Mountainside Senior Living who participated in a Kid Pan Alley intergenerational residency at Brownsville Elementary School this past fall. The seniors will be performing a song they wrote based on stories shared with the students. Claudius Crozet Park. 823-2211.

PHOTO courtesy of Quetzal Kite Festival

Kites from around the world fly into Fluvanna for the 5th annual Quetzal Kite Festival. Bring one or make one there. Kite flyers from Richmond Air Force and Wings Over Washington kite clubs will be on hand with demonstrations and fun for the whole family. Live music and face painting are part of the fun, too. Pleasant Grove Park, 1730 Thomas Jefferson Parkway (Rt. 53) in Palmyra. 293-2454.

Self portrait 1887
PHOTO via Wikipedia

With the generous loan of hundreds of beautiful flowers from local garden centers, greenhouses, and florists, visitors to the Science Museum of Virginia can help turn their classic 10-story rotunda into a work of art Van Gogh himself would be proud of. Sunflower seeds are available for the first 250 guests and the entire day will feature educational activities and demonstrations related to Van Gogh, along with several shows of Van Gogh: Brush With Genius in the IMAX dome. This giant screen film provides insight into how one of the world’s most recognizable artistic geniuses could have died by his own hand, penniless and unknown at the age of 37. The film shows now through June 18. 2500 West Broad St. 800-659-1727.

Ali Stoner as Leading Lady and Andrew Cronacher as Pippin.
PHOTO BY M. Bailey

The University of Virginia Drama Department closes its 2009-10 season with Pippin, a show that will delight audiences of all ages. This musical fairy tale follows the story of Prince Pippin in his quest for eternal happiness. With beautiful ballads and lively dance numbers, this show has been a crowd favorite since its debut in the early 1970s. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling 924-3376. Culbreth Theater, 109 Culbreth Rd.

The Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center at Darden Towe Park hosts a Country Fair and Barn Dance .  There will be Virginia reel dancing, live music by Sunnyside and by the Mud Larks, oxen and covered wagon rides,  refreshment, and kids’ activities.  Come celebrate the beginning of our 2010 season. 979-2425.