Local museums are offering free admission (woo hoo!) on Sept. 28 as part of the ninth annual Museum Day Live! 2013. Smithsonian Magazine has partnered with 1,500 museums across the country to help promote the free admission policy to advocate for education.

To gain free access, tickets must be downloaded online at www.smithsonian.com/museumday. Some of the Charlotte-area venues participating include Carolina Raptor Center, Carolinas Aviation Museum, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, Levine Museum of the New South and Mint Museum (Randolph and Uptown locations).

Not all special exhibitions will be free, but participating museums will offer discounted rates and other free activities for guests. Mint Museum is having Community Wellness Day activities from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Levine Museum of the New South is allowing entry to its three special exhibits, including award-winning Cotton Fields to Skyscrapers, an interactive exhibit illustrating the South from 1865 to the present. The Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture will feature its The Kinsey Collection: Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey - Where Art and History Intersect, an exhibit containing rare slave documents and an early version of the Emancipation Proclamation.

For more information on tickets and participating venues, visit www.smithsonianmag.com/museumday.