Bug Day at The Schiele - Charlotte On The Cheap

The Schiele Museum, at 1500 East Garrison Boulevard, Gastonia, North Carolina, is hosting Bug Day on Saturday, August 24, 2024, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This event celebrates insects, arachnids and more.

Advance tickets are $11 for museum members and $15 for the general public. Event day tickets are $18. However, if you enter the bug-eating contest you get in for free!

Your ticket includes admission to the museum and The Farm, encounters with insects and spiders, a planetarium program (“Cosmic Critters”) and all event activities.

Bug Day features

Hands-on activities focusing on metamorphosis and the process of pollination
Animal Keeper talks
“Stump the Entomologist.”
Mining for gemstones on the Nature Trail. (Keep what you find.)
Exploring beekeeping with the Gaston County Beekeepers Association
Guided bug hunt
Planetarium program
The Bug-Eating Contest

Bug-Eating Contest

The Bug-Eating Contest will take place at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. You must be at least 18 years old to participate.

The contest is open to the first 10 people to sign up. The winner will receive a grand prize and a certificate. You need to register and sign a waiver.

You’ll find the compete set of rules and the waiver here, but a few highlights:

There will be 9 rounds. The last person in each round to finish eating the insects will be eliminated, and the only person not eliminated will be the winner.
A contestant is finished consuming his/her plate of insects when he/she raises a numbered sign. The contestant must have an empty plate without any visible insect parts.
The contestant will also open his/her mouth and stick out his/her tongue to prove that all parts of the insects have been swallowed and completely consumed.
The contestant must also not use any water or other liquid to help consume the insects.
Any contestant to spit out/throw up any and/or all parts of the insect(s) will be immediately disqualified. All insects and insect parts must be swallowed and entirely consumed.

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