Downtown Durham is the center of gravity this weekend, with CenterFest and Third Friday overlapping across all three days, while Pittsboro debuts a new sculpture garden and Cary hosts a dragon boat festival on Symphony Lake. Here’s where to start.
CenterFest
Friday Third Friday Art Walk
Saturday, 10 AM–6 PM
Sunday, 11 AM–5 PM
Five Points to CCB Plaza
Durham Arts Council’s signature fine arts festival fills the streets from Five Points to CCB Plaza with more than 120 juried artists showing ceramics, paintings, photography, jewelry, fiber art, glass, and woodwork, plus multiple stages of live music, dance, and street performance, a KidZone, and food trucks all weekend. It gets a head start Friday evening with Third Friday, Downtown Durham Inc.’s monthly art walk and gallery crawl, this month featuring live-painted planters downtown as part of CenterFest, an Iron Pour kickoff party at Liberty Arts Foundry, and 5 Points Gallery’s new exhibit, “Durham Sweet Durham.” Entry is free, with a suggested donation at the gate.
Pittsboro Sculpture Celebration
Friday Preview & Artist’s Dinner
Saturday, 12–6 PM
The Plant
The Plant launches its second annual Sculpture Celebration this weekend, with more than 45 sculptures from regional and national artists installed across the open-air campus and available for purchase, several destined for permanent public spaces around Pittsboro. Friday evening’s ticketed Artist’s Dinner opens things with Latin Caribbean fusion food and live jazz, and Saturday’s free public day turns the whole campus into a walk-through gallery with food, drinks, and live music. The show stays on display through January 10, so there’s no need to rush if this particular weekend doesn’t work.
Luminary & Freedom Stories
Friday, 7–9:30 PM
Bennett Place State Historic Site
Bennett Place lines its grounds with 1,324 luminaries, each one representing 250 enslaved North Carolinians, honoring the 331,059 men, women, and children who found freedom at the close of the Civil War. Historians stationed along the candlelit path share firsthand accounts of that transition, from the war’s final days to the pursuit of education and voting rights in the years after, with musician Shana Tucker providing live accompaniment. It’s free, with donations welcome and timed entry tickets available through Eventbrite.
11th Annual Asia Fest with Dragon Boat Racing
Saturday, 9 AM–5 PM
Koka Booth Amphitheatre
The Greater Triangle Area Dragon Boat Festival returns for an 11th year at Koka Booth Amphitheatre and Symphony Lake, drawing around 10,000 visitors for a full day of dragon boat races, nearly 100 cultural exhibits and activities, health screenings, performances, and food from across Asia. Teams get a coached practice with equipment provided as part of registration, or you can skip the paddle and just cheer from the lakeside. It’s presented by Asian Focus and the Town of Cary.
La Fiesta del Pueblo
Sunday, 12–6 PM
Fayetteville Street
Downtown Raleigh’s Fayetteville Street turns into a celebration of Latin American culture for the day, with tecno-banda headliner Banda Maguey marking 30 years together, plus Letal Rock Band and a full slate of folkloric dance groups including the NC Brazilian Arts Project. Expect food from 17 vendors spanning Latin American cuisines, artisan booths, educational exhibits, and activities for kids. It’s free to attend.
An Evening With John Waters
Sunday, 7 PM
Fletcher Hall at the Carolina Theatre
If you want the weekend’s most irreverent night out, this is it. Dubbed the “Pope of Trash” for a filmography built on gleeful bad taste, John Waters brings his rapid-fire, R-rated stand-up to Fletcher Hall as the closing event of the Carolina Theatre’s inaugural Page to Picture: Book & Film Adaptation Festival. Expect sharp opinions, dark humor, and a crowd as unconventional as the man himself.
Plan Your Weekend
Wherever you land this weekend, from a luminary path at Bennett Place to a sculpture garden in Pittsboro, we hope you get out and enjoy it.