The 2019 North Carolina Watermelon Festival is July 19, 20 & 21 in Fair Bluff. Friday night, July 19 is the Street Dance with The Catalinas on Riverside Drive. Tickets $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Tickets available online at www.ncwatermelonfestival.org. Saturday, July 20 is Festival Day in downtown Fair Bluff. Events start at 8 a.m. and the parade is at 11 a.m. Lots of food, fun, games and slices of sweet watermelon. Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. is the Watermelon Festival Pageant at West Columbus High School. Admission is $10. Sunday, July 21 is the Little Queens Watermelon Pageant at West Columbus High School. Visit www.ncwatermelonfestival.org for tickets and more information!

The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences at Whiteville presents Science Cinema, Saturday, July 27, featuring BBC Films’ “The Meerkats.” Journey with a young meerkat pup, Kolo, growing up in the Kalahari Desert who is forced to leave his home by a group of meerkats wanting more territory. Lost in the African Savannah, Kolo tries to reunite with his family but encounters large, fierce and deadly creatures. Filmed using innovative and ground-breaking filming techniques, “The Meerkats” is an inspiring look at how one family’s connection to each other and their surroundings is a model of resilience and fortitude for us all.

This free 79-minute film will be shown at 10:00 a.m., noon and 2 p.m., and is rated G. Science Cinema programming is funded by a grant from the International Paper Foundation.

Science Cinema films are designed to educate and enlighten as much as entertain. To extend the learning experience of “The Meerkats,” please visit our education table after the film.

For more information, please contact the museum at 910-914-4185 or Whiteville@naturalsciences.org.

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