Out & About! 5 Events in 2024 To Keep You Busy Until Spring

1. The Rainbow Fish, a true family classic if you ask me.

January 13^th at 3PM, the Chester Fritz Auditorium will be showcasing the story of The Rainbow Fish. A family friendly event that’ll get you out of the house and enjoying your Saturday. My mom used to read me this book as a kid, so I may be guiltily found in the audience enjoying this one too. Tickets for the show are on sale now, and the Chester Fritz is the best location for this showing: great viewpoints all around and each seat is cozy. Plus, you’ll get a little drive through the UND campus on your way to/from the show, so you can take a peek at all of the improvements being made to the campus. Get your tickets here before they sell out!

2. One of my favorites: Happy Harry’s Pork & Brew.

Selfishly, I’m pretty excited for this one as I’ll be running it through my job, but nonetheless if I could attend as a guest, it’d be my #1 choice for January. Happy Harry’s Pork & Brew is going to have countless booths to sample beer in the Alerus Center arena, plus stations for local restaurants to hand out their take on pork creations! Bacon butlers, yard games, axe throwing and more… yeah, this one is going to be a good time. If you’ve been in previous years, you may have noticed the V.I.Pig Pen. This is the VIP of Happy Harry’s Pork & Brew, and it comes with a bunch of great perks, but I won’t spoil it for you; I’ll let you experience it first-hand. Tickets for this are also on sale now, so if you stop into a Happy Harry’s location or the Alerus Center, you can purchase your tickets for Saturday the 20^th of January. You will want to note, this is a 21+ event, so call up your babysitters ahead of time!

3. A lover of the arts? The North Dakota Museum of Art has you covered.

NDMoA happily presents Concerts in the Galleries: The Italian Saxophone Quarter on February 4^th from 2PM-3:30PM. Tickets are on sale now or at the door, plus children 12 and under are free! A quick Sunday afternoon outing in February is sometimes all it takes to make the dreary winter blues subside for a bit, plus some music and a change of scenery couldn’t hurt when all we see is the snow. The ISQ has a 40-year history and a plethora of trophies under their name, so they’re sure to put on a good performance. Come early, grab a good spot, and try to keep your socks on as this group plays!

4. Walk Among Dinosaurs at the Alerus Center

If you thought dinosaurs were extinct, you’re wrong. The Alerus Center is hosting America’s largest and most realistic dinosaur event to Forks in February! You’ll walk through three separate time periods and see what it might have been like to be among living, breathing dinos. Each dinosaur has crazy realistic detail, which paleontologists helped to create. The Alerus Center area will be filled will these moving creations from February 23-25, and tickets are on sale now, so if you’re looking for a holiday gift for a kiddo in your life, this would be my top recommendation.

5. Kick Up a Little Country with Sam Hunt

The Ralph Engelstad Arena is bringing Sam Hunt to Grand Forks! Sam Hunt will be playing his Outskirts Tour 2024 at the Ralph, including his most recent release, “Came The Closest” on March 23^rd. If you like country music like a lot of Grand Forksians, you’ll want to snag some tickets early on (they’re on sale now)! Typically, guests are in the REA for hockey, but the venue has the versatility to host concerts every so often. This is one of those times to see it transformed! If you want to get out on a Saturday night this would be my top recommendation. Tickets are priced pretty friendly, and parking is going to be $15 on the day of the event. My friends and I like to Uber or Lyft to events around town, but the Ralph has tons of parking for guests too, so that’s never a worry. You can grab a bite to eat or drink nearby or downtown and then head over to enjoy the show with friends at 7:30.

These are only a few of the events coming to town in 2024, so keep your eyes peeled for a ton more. The Ralph Engelstad Arena, Chester Fritz, Empire Arts Center, The Fire Hall Theater, and the Alerus Center, and many other venues are sure to keep your calendar packed! Some events are kid friendly, some of them are limited to the adults, but all are sure to keep you moving in the new year!