Weekend Plans: Marvel Universe, Dan Zanes, Money Expo, free Zoo attractions, more

Here’s your weekend family fun! As always, check WRAL.com’s Out & About calendar and our Summer Fun Guide for more activities.

Marvel Universe Live, a new tour, will make a stop at the PNC Arena in Raleigh with six shows Friday through Sunday. This sounds like a pretty amazing live show with acrobatics, special effects, pyrotechnics, motorcycles and other stunts. You’ll see Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Hulk and others fighting villains. Tickets start at about $26.

Dan Zanes, the award-winning family performer, and Friends stop by the N.C. Museum of Art for what will be a really fun show starting at 6 p.m., Saturday. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. Zanes, a former member of the 1980s rock band The Del Fuegos, is known for his folksy, fun take on classic American songs and original tunes that pull in the sounds and rhythms of American and world music.

Also at the art museum in west Raleigh, staff will offer special family tours of current exhibitions "Estampas de la raza/Prints for the People" and "Tall Tales and Huge Hearts: Raúl Colón". Entrance to both exhibitions will be free all day, and tours are free (registration required). Each tour will end with a reading of a children’s books illustrated by Raúl Colón. Tours are 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m. and 2 p.m., Saturday. The program is designed for families with kids ages 6 to 12. It’s free, but registration is required. Tours last 45 minutes. The tours at 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. are in both English and Spanish. Visit the Museum Box Office in East Building to sign up for tours or call 919- 715-5923. Also on Saturday: Receive $10 off the purchase of family-level memberships.

Storybook Theater, a children’s theater series that benefits Marbles Kids Museum, continues its run of “How I Became a Pirate,” a sweet family show based on the children’s book of the same name. The story follows young Jeremy Jacob, who is digging in the sand when he is greeted by Captain Braid Beard and his mates, and is recruited to help find the perfect digging spot for their treasure. Tickets start at $14 for the show, which is at the Duke Energy Center for Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh.

Apex will screen "Frozen" at the new Nature Park Amphitheater, 2600 Evans Rd., Apex. The movie starts at dusk, Saturday. Bring blanket, lawn chairs, a picnic and bug spray. It's free.

Fayetteville’s Crown Auditorium hosts Disney Junior Live on Tour: Pirate & Princess Adventure with two shows on Friday. It includes Mickey, Minnie, Sofia the First and Jake and the Never Land Pirates. Shows are 4 p.m. and 7 p.m., Friday.

The Raleigh Money Expo is at the N.C. State Fairgrounds’ Exposition Saturday this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Millions of dollars in rare coins, gold and silver bullion, paper money and stamps will be among the displays at the event, which is free. There’s also a kids zone with a carnival theme. The area includes games and activities for all ages. Young collectors can learn about coins and win prizes. Free coins and stamps will be given out to all kids. All of the kids activities are free. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday.

The Piedmont Wildlife Center will celebrate the turtle-dog during Turtle-Dog Days of Summer, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Saturday, at the Durham wildlife center. The turtle-dogs will be visiting Piedmont Wildlife Center, thanks to UNC-Greensboro’s HERP Project. These dogs are trained to find and carefully and safely retrieve box turtles for scientific research. You can see the dogs in action during the event. John Rucker, a turtle-dog trainer, will lead the dogs through the center’s woods to find the turtles.

Historic Stagville in Durham will host a Jubilee Music Festival from noon to 4:30 p.m., Saturday. The free program includes performances by Gospel singers, the Branchettes; master bluesman Boo Hanks; and Lakota John, who has ties to Lumbee and Lakota Indian tribes and has mastered the slide guitar and plays blues with a range from traditional to Jimi Hendrix. . The Bahama Volunteer Fire Department will sell hot dogs and burgers. There’s lots of room at Stagville for kids to run and play.

Prairie Ridge Ecostation in west Raleigh will host Moths at Night from 8 p.m. to midnight, Saturday. No registration is required for this free event. All ages welcome, but kids under 16 must be with an adult. The site, part of the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, will be open after hours for bug viewing. The evening begins with an orientation in the outdoor classroom followed by a hike out to black lights and baits to see what’s out and about at night. There will be activities for kids. Be sure to bring a flashlight.

The American Dance Festival’s final Saturday children’s matinee for the season is at 1 p.m., Saturday, at the Durham Peforming Arts Center. Paul Taylor Dance Company will perform. The hour-long program is followed by a party in the lobby with snacks and activities. Tickets are $16.

The Raleigh Times on Hargett Street in downtown Raleigh will host the first of three Third Sunday Children’s Carnivals at the restaurant from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday. They also are scheduled for the third Sunday of August and October. Activities are in front of the restaurant (which is a couple of blocks from Marbles Kids Museum if you wanted to pair it with another activity).

And on Sunday, the N.C. Zoo in Asheboro is offering free admission to some activities that would normally require tickets. The attractions would normally cost $11. Free attractions on Sunday are the movie Rio the 4-D Experience; the zoo’s 36 foot Endangered Species Carousel; and the exhibit “Bugs: An Epic Adventure” which has 13 animatronic bugs nearly 20 feet high and live invertebrates. The zoo is about 90 minutes from the Triangle.