Welcome to February in Austin! This weekend you can ring in the Year of the Rooster, visit adorable furry friends at the Puppy Bowl, and enjoy free fun at museums all over town!
Weekend Top 10 Free Events in Austin:
- GROW in.gredients Crowdfunding Launch Party – Friday from 5-9:00 p.m. Musical guest Batty jr. will be performing live, with additional special guest performances. Local artisan vendors including Delysia Chocolatier, MALK Organics, KTonic Kombucha, Zhi Tea, Yellowbird Sauce and Texas Keeper Cider will be sharing samples and debuting prizes for donations to GROW in.gredients. More than forty local vendors have donated a wide variety of tantalizing prizes, including products, parties, tours, classes, and tastings. Admission is FREE! in.gredients, 2610 Manor Rd, Austin.
- Maker Space Mania – Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to Noon. This fun event will teach families to make useful literacy tools from recycled and upcycled materials, inspiring children to become lifelong readers. Maker Space Mania will feature fair-style booths with a guide providing instructions on making take-away reading resources. Storytime read-alouds featuring maker stories and door prizes will be presented in the last half hour of the program. FREE! Lanier High School, 1201 Payton Gin Rd, Austin.
- Kids Workshop: Valentines Photo Box (RSVP) – Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to Noon. Each kid attending this hands-on workshop will build a Valentine-themed photo box, perfect for keeping photos of loved ones front and center. Once the box is built, your child can decorate it with paint and stickers. All kids get to keep their crafts, receive a certificate of achievement, a workshop apron, and a commemorative pin while supplies last. Reserve your child’s FREE spot here. Your local Home Depot store.
- Austin Boxing Babes Open House – Saturday from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Join Austin Boxing Babes in celebrating their first year at their Manchaca location. There will be local vendors, free 30-minute classes in Boxing, Martial Arts, and Self Defense–including kids classes filled with fun and games. FREE! Austin Boxing Babes, 2919 Manchaca Rd, Ste 210, Austin.
- Austin Humane Society’s 10 Annual Puppy Bowl – Saturday from Noon to 3:00 p.m. This Super Bowl themed, family friendly event features adorable AHS adoptable puppies dressed in uniform, children’s activities, special discounted adoption prices for the day, and awesome local vendors and businesses. Entrance to the event is FREE! Austin Humane Society, 124 W Anderson Ln, Austin.
- Massive Face Trace Print Project with PrintAustin – Saturday from 1-4:00 p.m. Bring the family to watch Austin artist Aron Taylor construct several Face Trace panels–4X8 sheets of plexiglass in frames, at which two people sit on opposite sides. On the glass, one person sketches the face of the person seated across the glass. Then, make transfer prints of the drawings onto paper and take the image home with you. The Ney provides all the materials that you’ll need (be prepared to be messy!), and the event is FREE! This will be outdoors, so watch the weather just in case. Elisabet Ney Museum, 304 E 44th St, Austin.
- Planet Music Presents: Women Who Rock! – Saturday from 4-7:00 p.m. The DAC is teaming up with Girls Rock Austin and Girls Guitar Austin to bring performances by Midnight Butterfly, White Tiger, Mother Rukkus, and Beth Lee and the Break ups. In addition to live music and free refreshments, GEN (Girl Empowerment Network) will offer engaging, age appropriate activities. Participants will also have the chance to build their own guitar out of recycled material, contribute to a large scale mixed media art piece, and more. Meet representatives from organizations working to empower women in the arts and beyond. Learn what you can do to empower and promote girls and women in your own neighborhood. This event is family-friendly and FREE! Dougherty Arts Center, 1110 Barton Springs Rd, Austin.
- Year of the Rooster Celebration – Sunday from 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. Featuring children’s activities, live music, Dragon and Lion Dancers, and a Community Resource Fair. Admission is FREE! Chinatown Center, 10901 N Lamar Blvd, Austin.
- Free First Sunday: WeatherFest – Sunday from Noon to 3:00 p.m. Enjoy a day of science and fun for the whole family. Catch a cloud in a jar and discover how tornadoes are formed, enjoy exhibitor demonstrations, learn important safety tips, take part in family-friendly activities, and meet your favorite meteorologist during the museum’s H-E-B Free First Sunday program. Activities are from 12-3:00 p.m., but the Museum will be open until 5:00 p.m. FREE! Bullock Texas State History Museum, 1800 N Congress Ave, Austin.
- Sunday Funday: Reinventing the Pop-Up Book – Sunday from 1-4:00 p.m. Long before you could pick up a tablet and conjure up a streaming video at the touch of a finger, the pop-up book was a popular sensation because of the way it engaged the imagination in a way that flat images and text never could. By designing and building your own pop up, you’ll get to think a little bit about the know-how it took to bring these familiar childhood books into our homes and lives – and have fun being creative, too. Throughout the afternoon, the historic house will be open for informal and self-guided tours. For those who wish to look more closely and carefully at some of the details of the architecture and historic furnishings, there will also be a museum seek-and-find guide (age appropriate to 7-11). Space is available on a first-come, first serve basis. FREE! Neill-Cochran House Museum, 2310 San Gabriel St, Austin.
More Events Beyond Austin:
- Black History Month Guest Speaker (Pflugerville) – Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Special Guest Speaker DeCee Cornish presents an afternoon of Love, Peace and Soul–stories of how love conquers hate, peace fosters prosperity, and laughter nurtures the soul. Insightful, enlightening, and fun event for audiences of all ages. FREE! Pflugerville Public Library, 1008 W Pfluger St, Pflugerville.
- Fountainwood Observatory Public Night (Georgetown) – Saturday from 8-10:30 p.m. A variety of telescopes will be available to explore the bright constellations laced with star clusters and nebulae wheel overhead. Physics Department faculty and talented observers from the Williamson County Astronomy Club (WCAC) will also be on hand. For weather-related updates call 512-863-1242. FREE! Southwestern University, 1001 E University Ave, Georgetown.
