5 Things to Do: Warm up with music, art, dinosaurs in the Illinois Valley

Here are five things to do this weekend:

Storytellers Studio Session: Season 2025 of the Storytellers Studio Session will kick off at 6 p.m. Sunday at The Lone Buffalo, 808-812 La Salle St., Ottawa, with hosts Miles Nielsen and Kelly Steward featuring Dan Rodriguez. Attend for an intimate evening of music and storytelling. Rodriguez’s soulful tunes and engaging tales will be featured. Tickets cost $50. Go to tangledrootsbrewingco.com for tickets.

Mad Hatter Ball: NCI ARTworks announced the eight 2025 honorees. Student honorees representing La Salle, Bureau and Putnam counties will perform and present their work from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday at the eighth annual Mad Hatter Ball. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. at the event center in the west wing of the Westclox building in Peru. Dinner music will be provided by Ladd Sound Productions as Mario Data will DJ, and the Mad Hatter will emcee the event, where the Queen of the Arts will be crowned for the eighth year in a row. Tickets cost $45 and are available online at nciartworks.com or by contacting 815-866-5167 or outreach@nciartworks.com.

Dinosaur activities: The Streator Public Library, 130 S. Park St., will be hosting interactive activities, crafts and a dinosaur petting zoo Saturday. From 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., there will be sensory-friendly dino activities with lowered lights and minimal background noise. Guests can move between activities at their own pace. Then, from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m., there will be a dino video background and sound effects to help visitors imagine they are in a prehistoric dinosaur adventure. Multiple interactive activities will be available. For more information on library events, go to streatorpubliclibrary.org or call 815-672-2729.

Radium City Rebels: Jump, jive and wail to the live performance of Radium City Rebels from 7 to 10 p.m. Saturday at the Illinois Valley Super Bowl, 4242 Mahoney Drive, Peru. There is no cover. Go to ivsuperbowl.com for more information.

Painting party: A painting party fundraiser will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Church of the Open Bible, 701 S. Sterling St., Streator, to support the Logan’s Oasis Playground fundraiser. The event is hosted by Amazing Grace Art and will feature a painting session, where participants will create their own winter snowman scene. All proceeds will benefit Logan’s Oasis Foundation’s playground at Marilla Park. Attendees should use the church’s gate and follow signs to the back parking lot to the entrance. Those interested are encouraged to reserve their spot in advance. The cost is $40 per person, and payment options include cash, CashApp, PayPal or Venmo.

Would you like your event highlighted in this weekly feature? The first step is submitting your events to the Illinois Valley’s community calendar at shawlocal.com/illinois-valley/local-events.