News Release

LEGO-palooza returns to Morehead Center
on Saturday (April 1); display area added this year

CHAPEL HILL – Budding artists, engineers and all-round LEGO enthusiasts will converge on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Morehead Planetarium and Science Center on Saturday (April 1) for the second annual LEGO-palooza festival.

The event, to be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., is a partnership between the Morehead Center and the North Carolina LEGO Users Group. LEGO-palooza 2 is free to the public.

Last year’s event attracted more than 1,000 visitors to see nearly 70 exhibit models and create more than 500 models in the " build-it-yourself" activity, Morehead Center officials said.

The highlight of LEGO-palooza is the exhibit of models crafted by North Carolina LEGO Users Group members. "LEGO building is a fun challenge – from a pile of bricks and plates, a person can build a building, a sculpture or, in the case of LEGO-palooza, a spaceship," said Joe Meno, a member of the group and coordinator of the event’s LEGO model exhibit.

"We plan to have a display of classic sets from years gone by and new sets. There will also be a moon base, which was a crowd-pleaser last year."

Children of all ages can visit the "creation station," where they can build LEGO models. Children in fourth grade and older also may visit the "engineering station" and use advanced LEGO kits to explore physics principles. Children in the creation station must be accompanied by an adult.

A time ticket will provide admission for a 40-minute session in either station; families may pick up the tickets at the information tent in front of the planetarium on the day of the event.

At the end of each session, Morehead Center staff members will take a group photograph of the participants and their LEGO models and post the photos at www.moreheadplanetarium.org. After each session, the LEGOs will be returned to the building area for use by the next session’s participants.

Last year, several visitors brought models from home, hoping to display them, so the Morehead Center has added a new display area for this year’s festival. Tables will be available, but model builders are advised to stay with their models; the Morehead Center is not responsible for unattended models.

More information on the North Carolina LEGO Users Group is at www.nclug.cc.

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Morehead Center contact: Karen Kornegay, (919) 843-7952 or kck@unc.edu