October opens with a full weekend, and there’s something happening nearly everywhere you look, from a farm stage out in Chatham County to the old Bulls ballpark to a car-free stretch of downtown on Sunday afternoon. Here’s where to start.
Shakori Hills GrassRoots Festival
Friday–Sunday
Shakori Hills Farm
The fall edition of GrassRoots fills a 72-acre farm with live music, led by host band Donna the Buffalo and a lineup that includes Margo Price, The Steel Wheels, and Chatham County Line. Between sets, there are dance, craft, and music workshops, yoga, healing arts, and food and craft vendors. A big kids’ area and a Teens Outpost make it an easy fit for families, daily passes work if you can’t make the whole weekend, and camping is available for an added fee.
African Medea
Friday, 8 PM
Saturday, 8 PM
Sunday, 3 PM
NCCU University Theatre
NCCU Theatre opens its season with Jim Magnuson’s retelling of Euripides’ tragedy, set in early 19th-century Portuguese-occupied Angola. Medea, an African princess who gave up her homeland for Jason, a Portuguese adventurer, is cast aside when he pursues a politically convenient marriage to the governor’s daughter, and her heartbreak becomes bound up in a larger fight for freedom and identity. It comes from a theatre program recognized by the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.
WUNC 50th Anniversary Celebration & 5K
Saturday, 10 AM–2 PM
American Tobacco Campus
WUNC turns 50 this year, and the station is celebrating with its listeners. The morning opens with a 5K run/walk, an out-and-back on the American Tobacco Trail that welcomes walkers and serious runners alike (registration required). The free celebration follows from 10:30 AM to 2 PM, with meet-and-greets with hosts from Due South, The Broadside, Back Porch Music, and Embodied, a mini museum covering five decades of station history, live DJs, and games and coloring stations for kids. South Deck parking is free, and it’s happening rain or shine.
Vintage Base Ball Day
Saturday, gates at 10 AM
Games at 11 AM, 12:30 PM & 2 PM
Durham Athletic Park
Duke Homestead’s Durham Station Lucky Strikes take the field at the DAP against Virginia’s Shiners Base Ball Club and a special Durham Fire Department team, all in period uniforms and playing by 1860s rules with 19th-century-style equipment. Between games, kids can run the bases and try historic games, and there’s beer and vintage-style concessions for the grown-ups. Retro or period dress is encouraged, little ones under four get in free, and proceeds support Duke Homestead’s programming.
Phoenix Fest 25th Anniversary
Saturday, 11 AM–6 PM
Historic Fayetteville Street
Phoenix Fest marks 25 years of celebrating the musical and cultural heritage of Hayti, one of the oldest African American communities in North Carolina. Founded after the Civil War, Hayti grew into a thriving center of Black-owned businesses, churches, and homes, and the festival carries that history forward. For the day, Fayetteville Street becomes a festival grounds, with live music on the center stage, a food truck rodeo, and a vendor bazaar. It’s free and made for the whole family.
Move-A-Bull City Open Streets
Sunday, Noon–4 PM
Blackwell, Corcoran, and Foster Streets
For four hours on Sunday, 1.2 miles of downtown streets close to cars and open up for walking, biking, rolling, skating, and dancing. Durham’s largest open streets event fills the route with music, art, food vendors, and wellness activities, so there’s always something to stop for along the way. It’s free, and it’s presented by Bike Durham, the City of Durham, and the Partnership for a Healthy Durham. Bring the bikes, the skates, the stroller, or just a comfortable pair of shoes.
Plan Your Weekend
Wherever the weekend takes you, from a festival field in Chatham County to a ballgame played the 1860s way to a Sunday ride down the middle of a downtown street, it’s a fitting start to October. Pick a few, bring some friends, and make a weekend of it.