As the Cleveland Museum of Natural History (CMNH) enters the final stretch of its $150 million, 10-year expansion and renovation transformation, new exhibits and events continue this summer, including an opportunity to party like it’s 1974—the year CMNH curator Dr. Donald Johanson discovered the most complete hominin skeleton known at the time in Ethiopia’s Afar desert.

Today, museum fans know the Australopithecus afarensis as Lucy, and on Thursday, June 20 at 6 p.m., CMNH will host a special retro edition of Think & Drink (with the Extinct) event, with Get Groovy With Lucy.

Get Groovy with LucyThe popular 21+ event will invite guests to explore the museum’s newly transformed spaces after dark, while sipping on 70s-themed cocktails and enjoying groovy beats from a disco DJ.

Fifty years after Johanson discovered Lucy, CMNH is honoring the significance of what Lucy has taught us with a variety of programming—including demonstrations of ancient stone toolmaking and encounters with specimens from the paleontology collection.

There will be Lucy-themed trivia in Murch Auditorium, and conversations with CMNH scientists, as well as Kent State University (KSU) scientists, Michelle Bebber and Metin Eren, who will display a variety of replica artifacts created in the Kent State University Experimental Laboratory. They will discuss examples of pottery, copper knives, stone tools, and the atlatl (spear thrower).

Additionally, Eren will offer live demonstrations of the flintknapping of stone tools.

Dr. Donald Johanson, museum curator who discovered LucyStaff members from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame will join the fun to talk about how music can bring meaning to people in a variety of ways. Whether it’s purposeful—like a DJ playing a curated playlist at a wedding—or just in the background of everyday life, music often helps cement a memory or a moment in time. 

The CMNH Astronomy department will lead an exploration of the night sky over Ethiopia at the time of Lucy’s discovery and showcase fossil casts from the anthropology collection.

There will be roaming hula hoop light shows by the Tantalizing Tigers performance group, and guests will have access to the Ralph Perkins II Wildlife Center & Woods Garden.

A limited selection of warm and cold foods will be available for purchase in Origins Café. CMNH members will have exclusive access to a Members-Only Lounge.

1970s-era attire is encouraged, but not required. Tickets are $15 for members and $25 for non-members.