October is doing the most this year, and in the best way. We already mapped out the pumpkin patches, the brewery Oktoberfests, and the State Fair in our fall festival guide, the opening weekend lineup including Raleigh Wide Open, Falling for Local, and Celebrate Fuquay-Varina is already broken down in our weekend by weekend fall guide, and every trick or treat and costume party worth marking is in our Halloween roundup. So I am not going to repeat any of that here. What follows is everything else, the concerts, the culture, the hockey, and the festivals that are new to the list this year, organized week by week so you can actually plan around it.
Week One: A Weekend You Cannot Do It All
Thursday night alone has three big shows going head to head. Dylan Gossett and Charles Wesley Godwin play Red Hat Amphitheater, George Lopez brings his stand up to Raleigh Memorial Auditorium, and the Jonas Brothers hit Lenovo Center, all the same night. Pick your lane. Sunday brings Dermot Kennedy to Red Hat and Weezer’s The Gathering tour to Lenovo Center, both the same evening, and Amyl and the Sniffers follow at Red Hat on Monday. The Carolina Hurricanes also drop the puck on their home season at Lenovo Center this week, first against Washington on October 2, with Vancouver in town October 8.
Week Two: A Quieter Kind of October
After that opening sprint, the pace eases up a little. Tom Jones brings his Come Gather Round tour to DPAC October 6. If you want something a little different, the North Carolina Museum of Art is hosting Unframed Voices October 9 through 11, a run of performances that blur the line between visual art and live theater. It is exactly the kind of thing I wish more people knew was happening in Raleigh. Hum Sub’s Cary Diwali Festival returns to Koka Booth Amphitheatre October 10, already on our radar in the Koka Booth concert guide. Beabadoobee closes out the week at Lenovo Center October 11.
Week Three: The Fair, the Opera, and a Second Oktoberfest
The NC State Fair takes over the fairgrounds October 15 through 25. We have the full guide to hours, tickets, and parking already up, so I will not re-explain it here. If you want a date night that is not the fair, NC Opera is staging Carmen at Raleigh Memorial Auditorium October 16 and 18, genuinely underrated and easy to forget Raleigh has its own opera company at all. Downtown gets a second Oktoberfest the same weekend: Raleigh’s International Wine and Beer Festival takes over City Plaza October 18 from 1 to 9pm with its own lineup of breweries and live music, separate from the Koka Booth version. NC Courage plays San Diego Wave FC at WakeMed Soccer Park October 17, and Jacob Collier plays DPAC October 21 if your week needs one more concert.
Week Four: Diwali, Greek Food, and Halloween Warmups
Downtown Cary Park hosts its own Diwali Celebration October 26, new to the calendar this year and worth the trip for the lights alone. The Raleigh Greek Festival returns to Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church October 24 and 25, one of the best food festivals in the Triangle and somehow still a little under the radar, go hungry and bring cash. Halloween season starts stacking up fast after that, Spooky Hollow, Trick or Treat Downtown Fuquay-Varina, the Kooky Spooky party at Marbles, and Franklin Street in Chapel Hill are all in our Halloween guide with times and details, so start there if you are planning costumes. Breaking Benjamin plays Coastal Credit Union Music Park October 23, and Beck brings his Ride Lonesome tour to DPAC October 27.
The Last Week
October closes with Duke taking on North Carolina in the rivalry weekend we already previewed, plus a full slate of NC State, UNC, and Duke football, and Carolina Hurricanes hockey nearly every week at Lenovo Center all month. Mrs. Doubtfire opens its Broadway run at DPAC October 30, more on that in our fall Broadway season guide. However you spend it, October is the month I tell people to visit if they are trying to decide when to come to the Triangle. Save this one, screenshot it, whatever gets you out the door. See you out there.
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