May Events Round-Up

If you and your family are looking for events in May, you have come to the right place! May holds many opportunities on campus and in the Greater Lansing area. Visit the links below to explore upcoming events and register if necessary. 

Campus Events

May 3Family Day: RESEARCH: First Saturday means Family Day at the MSU Broad Art Museum! Investigate art materials as playful research and see what different things art materials can do, inspired by the MSU students in the 2025 Master of Fine Arts Exhibition. 

May 8Beal Botanical Garden Tour: Spring Ephemerals:  Join Arboretum and Invasive Species Coordinator Carolyn Miller for a garden walk to enjoy the spring ephemerals in their floral display and maybe even spot some birds on the way! 

May 10Museum Tour: Deep-Rooted with Beal Botanical Garden  Join Applied Ethnobotanist and Education Director of the Beal Botanical Gardens, Maeve Bassett, to learn about the social, historical, and political narratives within plants in the garden and artwork in the MSU Broad Art Collection.

May 19—Rest With Music: Music can heal, calm, and regenerate our mind, body, and spirit. Hosted by Health Promotion and Engagement, Abrams Planetarium is holding Rest with Music, live musical performances featuring a variety of musical styles and genres. Visit the website for available dates and times.

May 28Beal Footprints Walking Tour Series: Join Beal Botanical Garden and Campus Arboretum for lunchtime guided tours beginning at the Beal Pond. May’s tour is “Plant identification for everyone” by Director Alan Prather.

May 21 to June 1Hamilton: A revolutionary story of passion, ambition, and the dawn of a new nation, Hamilton is coming to the Wharton Center. Visit the Wharton Center website to read more about the musical and check out dates and ticket pricing. 

Greater Lansing Area Events

May 2—Teens and Adults with Disabilities Social Night: Teens and adults with disabilities can visit the Valley Farms Community Center for an evening of dancing, refreshments, and friends—old and new!  

May 17The Best of Lansing Festival: Celebrate the best of the best of downtown Lansing! This free event transforms Lansing into a playground of people of all ages coming together for huge inflatable obstacle courses on the Capitol Lawn, over 100 vendors featuring Lansing’s finest creations, and showcasing the Lansing City Pulse’s Top of the Town winners. 

May 17 and 18—East Lansing Art Festival: Visit the East Lansing Art Festival to celebrate its 62-year tradition of bringing high-quality art to the streets of East Lansing. Immerse yourself in the art, creativity, and culture of the Greater Lansing area community.  

May 22 – Thursday Night Live! Mason Outdoor Concert Series: “Thursday Night Live!” is a summer series of free musical entertainment hosted by the Mason Area Chamber of Commerce to bring various musical experiences and the community together. All ages are welcome to bring chairs and blankets to sprawl on the lawn and enjoy free entertainment with crafts, concessions, and more available. 

Family-Friendly Events

May 11 and 21—Impression 5’s Sensory Friendly Hours: You and your family can visit the Impression 5 Science Center’s select exhibits, which have been altered to reduce sounds, scents, and lighting stimuli. Guests can expect a small group capacity, pop-up activities, and maps designated for these select areas.

May 29The Spongebob Musical: Visit the Riverwalk Theatre in Lansing to see The Spongebob Musical – a cartoonish romp by Kyle Jarrow and Tina Landau. 

Select Dates in MayLansing Lugnuts Home Game: Cheer on your local Lansing Lugnuts at a home game this season at Jackson Field! 

Recurring Fridays and SaturdaysToddler Time at Launch Lansing: Visit Launch Lansing Trampoline Park during select times to enjoy children’s music, visits from Joey the kangaroo, and a special toddler section with your little ones. 

Learning Opportunities

May 1 – Conflict Management:  Learn how to resolve conflict, de-escalate situations, and manage crises in the workplace. This training will help you apply these tactics to real-life situations. 

May 6—Grammar Refresher: This virtual workshop will strengthen your grammar and usage skills and help you present a more professional image in the workplace

May 7Webinar – How Can I Afford College for my Kids or Grandkids? Hosted by TIAA, register for this webinar for helpful insights into how to make the best decisions when saving for a child’s future education. Learn why saving for college is essential, how to get started, how to avoid debt, and more. 

May 8—Identify and Maximize Your Strengths: Part 2 Unlock the Full 34: In this series, you will learn to identify personal talents through the CliftonStrengths Full 34 Report, evaluate how these talents impact work relationships and performance, and determine how to develop further natural talents through the given tools. 

May 8, 15, 22, and 29Breaking Free from Stress: This four-part virtual series explores how awareness of your thoughts can bring your personal and work life together. Become a wise leader of your personal and work life, move beyond anxiety and depression, stay steady in difficult times, embrace change, and more in this webinar. 

May 13Records Management and Retention at MSU: Learn the rules, regulations, and strategies to help manage university records. 

May 14, 21, and 28—Setting Healthy Boundaries: This webinar teaches signs to know when it is time to set a boundary, the different types of boundaries we need to set, how to manage negative emotions that may come up when discussing boundaries, and more. 

May 15Webinar: Financial Wellness and Mental Health:  Learn the relationship between mental and financial well-being in this webinar hosted by the TIAA. Gather insights on how financial problems can impact mental health, how mental health impacts decision making, the importance of developing a personal wellness plan, and resources that are available to help. 

May 28 Maximize Your Concur Travel Skills: Recommended for new-to MSU employees, this course teaches how to understand the Concur systems, create a travel request, book travel, reconcile travel expenses, and more. 

May 29Mandatory Reporting Obligations for RVSM: MSU’s Prevention Outreach and Education (POE) presenters will review the University’s  Mandatory Reporting for Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct and Title IX policy and employee expectations under the policy. This training will also provide attendees with practices and support for those affected by RVSM. 

January Events Round-Up

If you and your family are looking for upcoming events to ring in the new year, you have come to the right place! January holds many opportunities virtually, on campus, and in the Greater Lansing area. Click the links below to explore future events and register if required.

Campus Events

January 9, 15, 19, and 28MSU Men’s Basketball @ Home:  Join us at the Breslin Center to watch MSU Men’s Basketball play. Visit the website for ticket information and to see the full season schedule.

January 16-24MLK Jr. Commemorative Celebration: Join us for a variety of exciting and educational opportunities being offered to the MSU community in celebration of the legacy of Dr. King and historical events that took place in our nation and on our campus.

January 24Winter Opening Party:  Come explore MSU Broads newest exhibitions while enjoying food, music, special guests, arts and crafts, and more at this free event! All ages are welcome to this museum-wide event. 

February 2Lunar New Year Celebration Concert: Lunar New Year is on January 29 this year; join us at 3:00 p.m. Saturday, February 2 for an evening of music and cultural celebration. Tickets for MSU’s fourth annual Lunar New Year concert are available for purchase now. 

Family-Friendly Events

January 4Family Day: BELONG: First Saturday of the month means Family Day at MSU Broad Art Museum! Join us from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. to make creative connections with our exhibitions through free hands-on and interactive family-fun throughout the museum. Be sure to register for this free event. 

Open Through January 19Barbie Exhibit at Impression 5: This exciting exhibit showcases the Barbie doll and encourages imaginative play and teaches that regardless of your background, you can be whoever you want to be and make the world a better place. Visitors can explore 15 different careers including a doctor, archeologist, pilot, designer and more! Be sure to visit the website for more information. 

January 21-26Shucked at The Wharton Center: Tickets are now on sale for “Shucked,” the Tony Award-winning musical comedy about a young farmgirl on a quest to save her town. The Wall Street Journal calls it, “flat-out hilarious,” and is sure to satisfy your appetite for great musical theater.  

Learning Opportunities

January 15, 22, and 29Informal Mindfulness: This class will teach you some basic, informal mindfulness skills that can help you center and find a sense of balance while you move through your busy days.

January 15The Power of Habit: Habits are predictors of long-term performance, but we struggle to manage our habits and achieve the outcomes we want. Brought to you by Vital Smarts (Crucial Conversations™, Crucial Accountability™, and Influencer™) and based on “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg, in this course, you will learn how habits are created and how to replace undesirable habits with productive ones. You will learn how to spot your habit loop, turn bad days into good data, and create habits that get the results you want.

January 21Cultural Competency I: One of MSU’s guiding principles is to lead inclusively, actively, and intentionally to promote full participation and a sense of safety and belonging for all employees and staff. Join us in building cultural awareness and inclusiveness skills that strengthen cultural competence!

January 28Intro to Gender, Names, and Pronouns: Participants will learn appropriate and respectful ways to use names and pronouns to promote gender inclusivity in the workplace. Participants will understand why safety and privacy around gender, names, and pronouns matter, as well as how to recover when mistakes happen.

Greater Lansing Area Events

January 23Time for Three: From 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. experience Grammy and Emmy-winning ensemble Time for Three’s captivating sound, which merges classical, pop, Americana, and singer-songwriter styles catered to all. Tickets are available for purchase now. 

Recurring Saturdays—Holt Farmers Market: Visit the Delhi Township Fire Department for one of Michigan’s premiere indoor farmers markets. The Holt Farmers Market supports local farmers and artisans and provides locals with the opportunity to purchase wholesome, locally produced foods. Be sure to check out the website for more information! 

Every Other SaturdayMeridian Farmers Market: Visit the Meridian Farmers Market inside the Meridian Mall! The market offers many farm, food, and crafts vendors, and most of the products sold are locally grown or made.