The second weekend of October has range: FlushFest’s three days of music in West Hillsborough, Tyler Childers and Sylvan Esso headlining Good Moon Festival, and St. Barbara’s A Taste of Greece in South Durham. Saturday adds Hum Sub’s Diwali celebration in Cary and a new documentary festival made entirely of Durham stories, and Sunday closes with cardboard robots on stage at Mettlesome. There’s plenty to fill Friday, October 9 through Sunday, October 11.
October opens with a full weekend in and around Durham, starting with the fall GrassRoots Festival at Shakori Hills and NCCU Theatre’s season-opening African Medea. Saturday brings WUNC’s 50th birthday party, 1860s-style baseball at the DAP, and Phoenix Fest’s 25th year on Fayetteville Street, and Sunday closes 1.2 miles of downtown to cars for Move-A-Bull City Open Streets. There’s plenty to fill Friday, October 2 through Sunday, October 4.
Early autumn settles in this weekend, with two very different Friday night options: a laid-back garden concert or a Dolly Parton tribute at American Tobacco Campus. Saturday piles on even more, a pumpkin-picking train ride, an Outlander-inspired Scottish festival, a Shrek-themed block party, and a free evening of modern dance in Cary. There’s a lot to fill Friday, September 25 through Sunday, September 27.
CenterFest takes over downtown Durham this weekend, kicked off Friday by Third Friday’s art walk before the festival fills the streets Saturday and Sunday. Layer in a luminary program at Bennett Place, a new sculpture garden debuting in Pittsboro, a dragon boat festival in Cary, and a night with John Waters closing things out, and there’s a lot to choose from between Friday, September 18 and Sunday, September 20.
Downtown Raleigh belongs to Hopscotch this weekend, while Durham holds its own with a literary celebration honoring Ruby Bridges, the Eno River Association’s 60th anniversary, and the 16th annual Durham Oktoberfest, all on the same Saturday. Add a new creekside concert series at Hub RTP and Triangle Vegfest closing out Sunday, and there’s a lot to fill Friday through Sunday across Durham and the Triangle.
This Labor Day weekend, Falls Lake opens up for paddling in four different ways, Durham Central Park hosts a free West African-inspired concert, and Beats n Bars marks ten years with a two-day takeover of The Fruit and The Durham Hotel. Add a real barn dance in Saxapahaw, a free outdoor screening of Zootopia 2, and Melissa Etheridge’s RISE tour at the Carolina Theatre, and there’s plenty to fill Friday through Sunday across Durham and the Triangle.
This weekend, the Museum of Life and Science hosts Dino Academy, the Seymour Center opens a new photography exhibition on Chapel Hill’s civil rights history, and Koka Booth Amphitheatre welcomes WAR with The Family Stone and The Ohio Players. Add Ira Glass at DPAC, Young Bull’s anniversary show at Motorco, and Pawpaw Palooza in Pittsboro, and there’s a wide range of things to do across Durham and the Triangle this weekend.
This weekend, Mettlesome Theatre opens its 10th Anniversary Weekend, downtown Durham fills up for Third Friday Art Walk, and Cary hosts the 50th annual Lazy Daze Arts & Crafts Festival. Add Bright Leaf Harvest Day at Duke Homestead, Nitro Circus at the ballpark, and The Mountain Goats at DPAC, and there’s a wide-ranging slate across Durham and the Triangle this weekend.
This weekend, Murphey School remounts its 2025 production of ONCE, Mystic Farm & Distillery hosts a line dance party, and For Garden’s Sake debuts Cultivate, a new plant festival. Add Carolina Roller Derby’s Shove Island bout, the second annual Farm to Fork Food Festival, and a Halloween-meets-summer bash at Motorco, and there’s a packed slate across Durham and beyond this weekend.
This weekend, Paperhand Puppet Project opens its 26th season at the Forest Theatre, Eno Arts Mill throws open its doors in Hillsborough, and Durham Central Park turns Caribbean for the North Carolina Jerk Festival. Add a bronze pour at Liberty Arts Foundry, a new headliner in Saxapahaw, and The Wallflowers marking 30 years of Bringing Down the Horse at the Carolina Theatre, and there’s plenty to fill a weekend in and around the Bull City.
