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.
This weekend, the Bulls take on the Gwinnett Stripers for three straight nights at DBAP, with Saturday’s Wizarding Night turning the whole ballpark into cloaks and house colors. Add in beer, bourbon, and barbecue in Cary, three decades of Grammy-winning music at the Carolina Theatre, and a celebration of Latinx culture to close it out, and there’s a reason to be outside every night this weekend. Pick your favorite and go.
This weekend closes out American Dance Festival’s season with Pilobolus at Page Auditorium, keeps outdoor music going at American Tobacco Campus, Boxyard RTP, Forest Hills Park, and Saxapahaw, and wraps up with a monster-themed summer camp for grown-ups downtown. Six ways to spend a July weekend outside, from a final dance premiere to a costume contest with a discount attached. Pick your pace and go find one.
This weekend, Durham gets a Nicholas Sparks musical at DPAC, a U.S. dance premiere built on Chinese philosophy, and a sketch comedy troupe roasting the whole country for two dollars and fifty cents, plus a downtown art walk gone full Christmas-in-July and two new voices on the Saxapahaw stage. Pick a night, pick a genre, there’s a reason to get out either way.
