Events

Jul 11

Antique tractor parade and rides through southeastern South Dakota and Nebraska. 

Jul 12

The Pageant is a favorite local tradition. Each summer more than a hundred volunteers combine their talents to present a family-friendly drama based on the writings of Laura Ingalls Wilder. People from all over the world gather together on the beautiful South Dakota prairie and step back into history to a time when the West was just opening up to a wave of pioneering men and women.

Gates open at 6PM, performance at 8PM

Admission:
$12 - Adults
$8 - 6-12 years old
5 and under free

Jul 13

Annual Summer Arts Festival. Juried original art & food booths. Living history, artisanal, antiques and children’s areas. Superb entertainment. Free admission.

For more information call 605-692-2787 or visit www.bsaf.com

Jul 12

Picnic, entertainment, fireworks, kids’ pedal pull, firemen’s water fight, mud volleyball, community church service and parade.

Jul 12

Live entertainment, fun activities for all ages, various sports tournaments, arts & food vendors, and a wide assortment of other happenings through the town.

Jul 10

Theatre performance.

Jul 12

Rodeos, concerts, parade and kids’ activities. Rodeos are at the Wall Rodeo Grounds; concerts are on main street.

Jul 12

Frontier Days is celebrating 113 years! Come see the rodeo to get a taste of the old west on your vacation.

The annual event includes ranch bronc riding, parade and a bowery dance.

Mar 23

For over 600 years, stringed keyboard instruments have served as repositories for human imagination, science, technology, craft, artistry, and music. They are admired for their stature – and oftentimes stunning beauty – alongside their ability to play both melody and harmony. Keyboard innovation has continuously expanded throughout the world, throughout time.



Opening in March 2024, the special exhibition “High Strung: Five Centuries of Stringed Keyboard Instruments” will explore the form, function and development of keyboard instruments from early harpsichords to the modern piano. The special exhibition brings together nearly 20 keyboard instruments from the NMM’s collections - some of which have never before been on exhibit.



Instruments that will be on display include:


• An octave virginal (NMM 4660), from the same workshop as the NMM’s Neapolitan harpsichord, c.1530 (NMM 14408)

• A highly decorated harpsichord by Andreas Ruckers, 1643 (NMM 10000)

• Harpsichord by Nicolas Dufour, 1683 (NMM 5943, pictured below), made in Paris in a native style that fell from popularity by the first decade of the 18th century

• French grand piano, Clavecin à marteaux, (harpsichord with hammers) by Louis Bas (NMM 4653) from 1781. This instrument, the earliest surviving French grand piano, is exceptional, retaining much of its original action parts

• Downward-striking piano by Nanette Streicher und Sohn (NMM 10298), and a small trapezoid hammer instrument by Gottfried Maucher (NMM 4570) – an example of a lesser-known instrument type, similar to the tangentenflugel by Späth and Schmahl, built c.1784 (NMM 4145), which was once a favorite instrument type of Mozart

• Grand piano by Erard (NMM 5984) and Chickering & Sons (NMM 5413), built at a time in which America led the way in piano technology, not only with grand pianos, but also with the large ”square” pianos by makers such as William Knabe & Company (NMM 14447)



“High Strung: Five Centuries of Stringed Keyboard Instruments” will open to the public on March 23, 2024 in the NMM’s Jason & Betsy Groves Special Exhibition Gallery. It will remain open through the calendar year. Support for the exhibition is provided by generous grants from the Clayton and Odessa Lang Ofstad Foundation and the City of Vermillion, SD.

Fee: $Included with Museum Admission

Jul 08

Member Price: $468
Nonmember Price: $562


Our Little Explorers Nature Preschool is South Dakota’s first fully outdoor education program based on Montessori principles that children learn best when they are given the freedom to move, to choose their own work, and follow their interests, operating within boundaries that include respect for themselves, others, and the environment.

Little Explorers Nature Preschool students learn from their environment through guided adventure and build skills with independent hands-on learning. Using Montessori methods, our teachers, with the help of local community guides, develop students’ exploration skills and their understanding of STEM concepts.

Session 2 is for students ages 4-5 and runs July 8-August 1, every Monday-Thursday from 8:00am to 12:00pm. Dropoff occurs within 15 minutes prior class and pickup within 15 minutes after the end of class.

Parents or guardians are responsible for dressing their student in appropriate clothing for being outside, including close-toed shoes, and applying their student’s first round of sunscreen. Session 2 students and their caretaker/s are expected to attend the Little Explorers Welcome on Tuesday, July 2, 2024, from 5:30-6:30pm at the South Dakota Discovery Center Launchpad, 300 East Capitol Avenue.

Payment plans available, please send inquries to info@sd-discovery.org.
Class materials are provided by the South Dakota Discovery Center out of program fees and donations. Shelter from inclement weather is made possible through a partnership with the Izaak Walton League and use of the Pierre Native Plant Arboretum and Nature Area is made possible through a partnership with the City of Pierre. Become a supporter today!

Fee: $468 members