In this fun-for-all-ages celebration of the built environment, visitors can discover the skills and secrets necessary to thatch a roof, build a brick wall, and finish dry wall. They can also work side by side with building professionals to carve stone; help assemble a sculpture made from plumbing pipes; and see how designers and architects use various tools as part of their trades. Visitors can also compete in nailing driving competitions, which will be held several times throughout the day.

Held rain or shine, the annual free, one-day Festival will allow visitors to participate in and observe the full spectrum of building crafts. Demonstrations and hands-on activities will be ongoing throughout the day. A free, plastic hard hat will make youngsters part of the team and the action.

Our younger visitors can climb aboard construction equipment at the outdoor "petting zoo" or watch craftspeople such as woodworkers and gilders while parents get tips from professional landscape architects, interior designers, roofers, masons, carpenters plumbers, and contractors, among others. Assuring that budding craftspeople will not leave empty-handed, they can create an original stained glass design or build a model building or green roof using recycled materials to take home. The Festival will feature a life-size, green-build playhouse as part of HomeAid's National Project Playhouse. HomeAid is a national non-profit provider of housing for today's temporarily homeless.

Project Playhouse is the organization's flagship fundraising event whereby ornate playhouses are constructed, installed for public viewing, and then auctioned to raise awareness and funds to combat homelessness across America. Built by Pardee Homes, the frontier-style playhouse is being donated to the Museum and will debut in the Building Zone exhibition with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10:15 am. Genette Eaton, chief executive officer of HomeAid, and Michael McGee, president and chief executive officer of Pardee Homes, will present the playhouse to the Museum's Executive Director, Chase Rynd during the ceremony. An educational video will introduce HomeAid's mission, cover the sustainable features of the playhouse and display a short clip to the building process and instruct children on the use of environmentally friendly building products.

The Festival of the Building Arts is presented by The Associated General Contractors of America. The National Building Museum Project Playhouse is sponsored by HomeAid and built by Pardee Homes. The Festival of the Building Arts is free and appropriate for all ages. A $5 donation is suggested. -- www.nbm.org