City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
3. St. Patrick’S Day Parade And Festival
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Description: Traditional Irish dancers, bagpipers and drummers, floats both traditional and humorous, horses, marching bands, Renaissance fair enthusiasts, and the occasional Irish wolf hound owner take to the streets of downtown Raleigh on the Saturday closest to March 17 for the wearing o’ the green. Organized by the Raleigh St. Patrick’s Day Committee, an independent consortium of Irish pride groups, the parade draws more than 3,000 participants. A festival featuring some of the marching musicians and dancers follows the parade at its end point, Moore Square, a public park conveniently located across from Tir Na Nog, one of the city’s largest Irish-themed bars. Admission is free.
4. Raleigh Spy Conference
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (919) 831-0999
Address: 5 E. Edenton St.
Description: Staged by local conservative columnist and publisher Bernie Reeves, who puts out the Triangle’s Metro magazine, the Raleigh Spy Conference draws speakers from around the world to discuss espionage and international politics. In its six-year run the conference has examined the role of women spies in espionage, the future of the CIA, Fidel Castro’s legacy, and why the United States should continue to fear Russia’s KGB. Guests have included former CIA and KGB operatives as well as authors and journalists. The conference also includes an opening reception and closing gala. Attendance is $250.
5. Piedmont Farm Tour
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (919) 542-2402
Description: The Carolina Farm Stewardship Association organizes the tour, now into its second decade. It’s essentially a giant open house to showcase the efforts of small independent farmers who practice sustainable agriculture in rural Alamance, Chatham, Orange, and Durham counties in the western Triangle. Customers get a chance to see where their food is grown, as many of the farmers sell at the Triangle’s urban markets. Participants can get a closer look at lambs, pigs, and chickens being raised for meat; cows and goats on dairy farms; small-scale production of organic vegetables, herbs, berries, and flowers; and vineyards. Children can gather eggs and pet the livestock. Several thousand people turn out. The cost is $30 per car for access to any of the 35 farms, or $10 per car per farm.
6. World Beer Festival—Raleigh
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (800) 977-2337
Description: Tickets go fast to these days of drinking, eating, and music, so beer lovers should watch the Web to see when they go on sale. As the date nears, flyers also show up tucked inside six packs of craft brews sold at local stores. The spring festival is held in Raleigh while the fall version takes place in Durham. Ticketholders can taste more than 300 beers, including regional craft brews and suds from around the world. Organized by All About Beer magazine, headquartered in Durham, the day is divided into two drinking sessions, noon to 4 p.m. and 6 to 10 p.m. Local reggae, bluegrass, and dance bands provide entertainment. General admission is $40, and VIP tickets, which include free food and access to exclusive beers, are $75.
7. Great Grapes Wine, Arts & Food Festival
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Description: About 20 wineries—most from North Carolina—artists, and crafts makers from around the Southeast and local musicians gather to offer samples and sell their wares at this daylong fete. Attendees can also see cooking demonstrations, get tips on wine tasting and winemaking, and hear speakers on regional cuisines. Kids are welcome, and can work off some energy in the bounce house while parents sip. Admission and a tasting glass are $18. Designated drivers are admitted for $10. Kids 12 and younger are free.
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Address: 1025 Blue Ridge Rd.
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
12. Lazy Days Arts & Crafts Festival
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (919) 469-4061
Description: This celebration of local and regional artists draws tens of thousands to Academy Street in downtown Cary. The juried event highlights a local artist as featured artist of the festival and awards prizes in various artistic categories. Hundreds of arts and crafts booths line the streets selling pottery, textiles, hats, candles, soap, paintings, furniture, baskets, blown glass, stained glass, and dulcimers. Vendors sell requisite fair food, including Polish sausage, funnel cakes, and kettle corn, and a beer garden offers brews domestic and imported. Area groups have a chance to shine as performances by high-school bands, youth musical groups, town bands, and local magicians and puppeteers are among the perennial favorites. Admission is free.
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Address: 11 W. Jones St.
15. Eastern Triangle Farm Tour
City: Raleigh, NC
Category: Annual Events & Festivals
Telephone: (919) 542-2402
Description: Organized by the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association, this two-day tour is similar to the longer-running version that showcases farms in the western Triangle, the Piedmont Farm Tour in April. Passes are $30 per car for access to any of 20 farms or $10 per car per farm.