Note from the NC Science Trail:
At the end of April, as the NC Science Trail was wrapping up our launch month, we attended an event on the coast that was the epitome of what the Science Trail is working to share with the public each day. It was a beautiful partnership between the Cape Fear Museum, Carolina Beach State Park, and the community, in an effort to bring together visitors from all walks of life and all ages to one location to learn about science, and they’ve been doing this for years! We were so excited to be part of their annual Star Party (an official Science Festival event), and to call ourselves a partner. Thank you to the Cape Fear Museum and to Carolina Beach State Park for such a fun night and an amazing event. We’re looking forward to next year!
Founded in 1898, Cape Fear Museum of History and Science houses a collection of over 57,000 items that help tell the stories of the Lower Cape Fear region. While founded as a history museum, in the late 1970s the museum’s mission was revised to include science. Today we are well known for offering high-quality science exhibitions, science education programs, and events.
One of our most popular events is our annual Star Party, a free event held every April at Carolina Beach State Park. This event is part of the Statewide Star Party, a signature initiative of the North Carolina Science Festival. This past April, 35 hosts across the state offered Star Parties at parks, science centers, libraries, and planetariums with a goal of promoting stargazing, helping people understand astronomy, and encouraging celebration of the night sky.
Each year since its inception eleven years ago, Cape Fear Museum has hosted the largest Star Party in the state. This year, we broke all previous attendance records with 3,200 people at our event! Hosting an event of this size is only possible because of the support we receive from numerous community partners. This year over 100 volunteers from local clubs, agencies, businesses, institutions, and organizations joined together to help run the event and facilitate the activity stations. Check out our Flicker page to see images from this year’s Star Party!
If you missed Star Party this year, don’t worry. We’ll host another one next April. In the fall, we host a different annual astronomy event: International Observe the Moon Night. Stay tuned for more details!
For more information about Cape Fear Museum and all that we have to offer, visit our website. See you soon!
