I don’t know how it happened again, but we’re already deep into fall festivals in the Triangle season and my calendar looks like a losing game of Tetris. Every weekend between now and the end of October has at least two events I want to hit, which means you’re probably in the same boat. So I sat down and mapped out exactly what’s happening, where, and when, so you can actually plan your weekends instead of finding out about the good stuff on Monday morning.
Here’s the rundown, weekend by weekend, from now through the NC State Fair.
This Saturday: Three Fall Festivals in the Triangle, One Impossible Choice
September 19 is stacked. The NC Museum of Natural Sciences is throwing BugFest in downtown Raleigh for its 30th year, which is free and genuinely one of the best low key family days of the year if your kid is even a little into creepy crawlies. Same day, out in Apex, it’s Festa Italiana along Hunter Street, with live music, wine, and enough pasta to make you skip dinner plans. And if you’d rather be by the water, Cary’s Asia Fest and Dragon Boat Races take over Koka Booth Amphitheatre with performances, food, and actual dragon boats racing on the lake. Genuinely no wrong answer here. Split the day if you can swing it.
Late September: Mules, Mandolins, and a Lot of Live Music
The last week of September belongs to two very different traditions. Down in Johnston County, Benson Mule Days runs September 24 through 27 with a mule parade, a rodeo, a car show, and a downtown that shuts down for four days of small town charm. It’s a bit of a drive from Raleigh but it’s the kind of NC tradition worth the trip at least once.
Closer in, the Carrboro Music Festival takes over Carrboro on Sunday, September 27, with more than 100 bands playing free shows across dozens of venues within walking distance of each other. If you like discovering a new favorite local band while also getting a coffee and a beer within the same three blocks, this is your day.
September 26: Tamales, Tacos and Art in the Streets
The last Saturday of September is a food person’s dream. The Raleigh Tamale Festival lands at Moore Square from 11am to 2pm with a tamale competition and live performances, and it tends to sell out of the good stuff early, so don’t sleep in. Over in Apex, the Latino Arts Festival runs the afternoon with live music and handmade crafts from Latino artists across the region. Between the two, you have a full day of eating your way through Wake County without leaving downtown.
A few timing notes for the September 19 picks above: Festa Italiana in Apex runs 11am to 7pm (the cannoli eating contest gets more competitive every year), and Asia Fest at Koka Booth runs 11am to 1pm, so hit Cary first if you want to do both.
The First Weekend of October Is Doing the Most
This is the weekend to clear your whole schedule. Downtown Raleigh hosts Raleigh Wide Open from October 1 through 3, a free music festival spread across multiple stages with a genuinely great lineup. On Saturday the 3rd, things spread out across the region: Dorothea Dix Park is hosting Falling for Local, a free fall festival with a pumpkin patch, hayrides, and inflatables that’s become one of my favorite family days of the year. That same Saturday, Wendell is celebrating its 98th annual Harvest Festival downtown, complete with a parade, and Fuquay-Varina is hosting its own Celebrate Fuquay-Varina Festival on South Main Street from 10am to 4pm with live music, a chili cook off, and craft vendors.
Then on Sunday, October 4, Durham closes down 1.2 miles of Blackwell, Corcoran, and Foster Streets for Move-A-Bull City, an open streets event where the roads belong to walkers, bikers, and anyone who wants to wander a car-free downtown for an afternoon.
Then the Big One: NC State Fair
Once you’ve caught your breath, the NC State Fair runs October 15 through 25 at the fairgrounds in Raleigh. Eleven days of fried everything, livestock competitions, rides, and the kind of people watching you can’t get anywhere else in the state. Tickets and the full schedule are up on the official fair site now, and I’d grab your tickets early since the weekend crowds get real.
That’s the lineup as I’ve got it, but towns add new pop ups and vendor markets to their calendars every week this time of year, so it’s worth a quick check before you head out the door. If you’re looking for even more to do around the Triangle this season, we’ve got roundups going all fall over on our things to do in Raleigh page and our family fun category.
Tell me which one you’re hitting first. I’ll be at Dix Park with a cider in hand.
Keep exploring: things to do in Wendell and things to do in Apex and what’s happening this weekend.
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