¡Cascarón!

This annual event will kick off with the first-ever Easter Hat Parade at the museum. Participants are encouraged to show off their best Easter hat, which is a long-held tradition of the shift from winter to spring hats, indicating more colorful, whimsical and large or “Sunday’s best.” Hats can be made or store-bought. The first 20 participants who register at www.mosthistory.org/cascaron will receive a free kid’s meal coupon to Raising Cane’s.

After the parade, participants can decorate a dozen “cascarones,” or empty eggshells, for $2 or purchase pre-decorated eggs for $3 and fill them with confetti or bird seeds, while supplies last. Supplies such as markers, confetti, bird seeds and egg cartons will be provided at no extra cost.

Go on Easter adventures with The Reading Rabbit in the museum’s Mezzanine, followed by free paper basket, flower and butterfly crafts in the Museum Store Arcade downstairs. Book readings are scheduled at 11:15 a.m., 11:45 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. with limited space.

To commemorate the Easter holiday, a mini display will spotlight Easter baskets from MOSTHistory collections and showcase a 1994 Easter home video featuring a family from Pharr. The baskets were owned by Alma Whatley, a former Mercedes school teacher, who received them as gifts circa 1909-1912.

Other activities include facepainting by Balloons & Faces Party Rental, courtesy of MOSTHistory, and an Easter-inspired photo booth. Museum staff will take family photos using visitors’ phones or personal cameras and, for $5, visitors can purchase a one-of-a-kind Polaroid print as a keepsake.

Bring the biggest Easter basket to the museum’s Easter Egg Hunts. Children ages seven and younger will hunt eggs at 1:15 p.m. while the older children will gather eggs at 1:30 p.m. Afterward, hunters will sneakily crack confetti-filled eggs within the outdoor grassy area of the Gran Paseo.

Looking for last-minute Easter basket items? The Museum Store carries a variety of notebooks, sweet treats, coin purses and stuffed animals such as mammoths, armadillos and horses. Make it a borderland-inspired Easter basket!

Admission to ¡Cascaron! is free from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., which includes a self-guided tour to the signature Rio Grande Legacy exhibition. ¡Cascarón! is included in regular museum admission after 12 p.m.

Admission is $9 for adults (ages 18+); $6 for seniors with ID (ages 62+) and students with ID (ages 13+); $5 for children (ages 4 to 12); free for children ages 3 and younger. FRIENDS of MOSTHistory are admitted free as a benefit of FRIENDship. For more information on the event or becoming a FRIEND of the museum, call +1-956-383-6911 or visit mosthistory.org/donations.