Press Releases

The North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island will celebrate its 50th anniversary Sept. 9-12, with a series of public events inviting guests to join in the festivities. The aquarium, part of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and one of four facilities in the N.C. Aquariums system, first opened its doors to the public on Sept. 9, 1976.
Food, fun and fintastic trivia await at the 2026 Suds for Sharks Saturday, Aug. 29, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at Savard Beer & Board hosted by the NC Aquarium Society to raise funds for shark conservation. Shark experts from the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher (NCAFF) will make this an unforgettable afternoon with trivia, bingo, one-on-one chats and exciting updates on shark conservation. This family-friendly event will also feature fun for children as our teams are committed to inspiring the next generation of shark conservationists.
A Pentagon 9/11 survivor will share her first-hand account of that historic day during the first of four public programs scheduled in September at the
North Carolina State Parks and the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, two divisions of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, will be hosting this year’s N.C. Bat Working Group "Bat Blitz" to conduct a species inventory in five southeastern North Carolina counties Aug. 24-28. More than 80 trained participants from federal and state agencies and other organizations will be engaging in this effort, centered at Singletary Lake State Park in Bladen County.
As construction continues at the
Today Governor Josh Stein announced that he will present the state’s highest civilian honor, the North Carolina Award, to six distinguished North Carolinians on Tuesday, Nov. 17, at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh. The 2026 honorees are Jason Mott for Literature; Richard Petty, Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen (Ret.), and Randy Woodson for Public Service; Lindsay Zanno for Science; and Beverly McIver for Fine Arts.
North Carolina State Parks, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, will be co-hosting a ribbon-cutting event to celebrate the grand opening of Lumber River State Park's Wire Pasture access. The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, Robeson County, and the Museum of the Southeast American Indian at University of North Carolina at Pembroke are co-hosting.
Experience North Carolina farming culture and history at Duke Homestead’s annual Brightleaf Harvest Day on Saturday, Aug. 22, from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. In addition to demonstrating the nearly lost art of tobacco looping, site staff and volunteers will show how tobacco is grown and harvested in the field.
Join the Charlotte Hawkins Brown Museum (CHB), Planted Soul Life, and the North Carolina Cooperative Extension for “Palmer Presents: Let’s Grow Together,” a fall gardening workshop. This free event will take place at the CHB picnic shelter on Saturday, Aug. 29, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. This immersive experience will also highlight the history and importance of agriculture at Palmer Memorial Institute. CHB is administered by the Division of State Historic Sites within the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR).
Department of Natural and Cultural Resources Secretary Pam Brewington Cashwell today joined business leaders, local elected officials and tribal leaders in Robeson County for the 11th and final visit in a series of Rural Listening Sessions held across the state this year.Secretary Cashwell and other cabinet agency secretaries have been on the road with Governor Josh Stein’s Rural Listening Tour to hear directly from rural North Carolinians about their concerns and priorities as Gov. Stein’s administration works to strengthen communities across the state.