As storied in verse and rhyme, the South typically bursts forth each April and May with a fireworks display of blooming azaleas, dogwoods, lilies…all entering the ball like debutantes in all of their finery. The air is perfumed with early roses, hyacinths, and wisteria; the calendar is filled with garden tours, nature walks, and festivals celebrating Spring’s color palette.
But autumn in Chapel Hill and Carrboro is also a celebration in its own right: vibrant, colorful, and filled with festivals. Here are just a few local examples of how our local communities are sending you “fest” wishes this fall.
Fiestas en la Calle, Sunday, August 24
Carrboro’s Fiestas en la Calle is returning to Weaver Street for its tenth year in Carrboro, celebrating culture and community on Sunday, August 24, from 12 noon to 6 p.m.
Over the past decade, Fiestas en la Calle has become a signature event, bringing together people from all walks of life to honor and experience the rich and diverse heritage of Latin America, a Carrboro press release said.
“This celebration is more than just music and dance—it’s about building bridges, sharing traditions, and embracing the beauty of our diverse community,” said Pilar Rocha-Goldberg, President of El Centro Hispano.
Sunday’s festival will feature activities in the vibrant traditions of Latin American culture, including live music, Latina cuisine from local vendors with flavors highlighting the region’s culinary delights, traditional dance performances, craft displays, and family-friendly entertainment throughout the day.
Fiestas en la Calle also serves as a platform for meaningful community engagement, the release added, with health and education providers and community partners on site offering free services, information, and resources to serve the well-being of attendees.
“We’ll have the same music, food, and…artists, which we’re actually posting to our Facebook event page, so this is mostly the same,” said El Centro Hispano communications director Sara Barrera, “but it’s our tenth anniversary, so we’ve (added) more—more into the program and more vendors involved.”
While the current political climate may seem less than celebratory among some, organizers stress that they’ve seen nothing distressing at similar area festivals that would cause reticence or concern.
“The Town of Carrboro had been organizing an event for Pride Month (in June) called the Carrboro Pride Dance Party,” said Carrboro Communications and Engagement Director Catherine Lazorko. “Typically, El Centro Hispano had organized the Orgullo Pride event—a LatinX Pride event—around mid-month. This year they were concerned, so we merged our dance party in with Orgullo Pride, and we called it the Carrboro Orgullo Pride Celebration.
“That was a reaction to concern that there could be fewer members of the Hispanic community showing up for their event, so it would be advantageous to just to merge the two and combine them.”
Lazorko also pointed out that El Centro Hispano’s ‘Fiestas’ have also been staged in Durham and Raleigh without notable incidents.
“We already did Fiesta Latina in Durham, and it was pretty good,” Barrera agreed. “We had around 3,400 people coming in, and everything was fine.”
For more information, visit https://elcentronc.org/fest/ and follow El Centro Hispano’s channels for updates.
Music to our ears
In September, Carrboro will also set the stage—or stages—for the beloved Carrboro Music Festival, with a kick-off and open mic on Saturday, September 27, and the main event on Sunday, September 28.
“Established in 1998, the festival was originally held in June as an official affiliate of the Fête de la Musique to make all genres of music more accessible to the public through a slate of free concerts,” a press release stated. “Now held in autumn, the Carrboro Music Festival showcases Triangle-area performers and the varied musical styles they represent.”
The event is a product of a coordinated effort by the Carrboro Recreation, Parks, & Cultural Resources Department and the Carrboro Music Festival Planning Committee, the release stated. The program is supported by the Town of Carrboro and the Carrboro Tourism Development Authority.
The free Festival will feature 100 acts on 20 stages all over town, from Lanza’s on West Main to the Speakeasy, Cat’s Cradle, Century Center, the Drakeford Library Complex, and even a few new stages.
“We lost a couple stages—like at 401 Main—but we’ll have two new venues at the Drakeford Library Complex—the event terrace on the third floor and the performance space on the first floor,” said Jeremy Poythress, recreation supervisor with Carrboro Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Resources.
“We are also using My Muse, a card shop, so that’s a third new venue,” Poythress added. “The owner is super nice, and it’s a card shop where it’s really chill, where The Station used to be.”
“We really don’t curate venues by the band,” he explained, “but like if it’s a chill card shop (like My Muse), we’re going to try and put some (appropriate) low-key music there.”
Another addition to the festivities will highlight Carrboro’s recent All-America City (AAC) designation,” Lazorko said.
“We’ve added one aspect to the Carrboro Music Festival in which we open the festival with a recognition of that award,” she added. “There’s a representative coming in from (Washington) D.C. who’s going to re-represent the award to the Mayor and the delegation at the Drakeford Library Complex, and that’s at 1 p.m. at the Music Festival on Sunday, September 28.”
Poythress said a shuttle will serve the event, and the new Drakeford Parking Deck offers convenient parking.
“We’re just a little ahead of schedule on the bands this year, so that’s huge,” Poythress said. “We’ve updated the Music Festival website with the 100 bands performing this year, but we’re waiting for a couple of confirmations before we publish our schedule. We should have that out within a couple of weeks, along with our Festival poster.”
“We’ll get our sponsor (list) up as soon as possible, but there are no significant changes, because we really got it right last year.”
For more information on the bands, performance schedules, parking, and access, visit the Festival website at “http://carrboromusicfestival.com/.”
Dream dates
The Town of Carrboro will host its annual West End Poetry Festival, Thursday-Saturday, October 16-18.
Carrboro held its first poetry festival, organized by then Carrboro Poet Laureate Patrick Herron, in 2005, a press release stated.
“Since then…participants have included finalists for the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize; winners of the Kingsley Tufts Award, the Los Angeles Book Prize, the Oregon Book Award, and the Pushcart Prize; recipients of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information on the Poetry Festival, visit: “http://www.westendpoetryfestival.org.”
The Town of Chapel Hill Community Arts and Culture will stage two unique Festifall Arts Markets in October at 140 West Franklin Street Plaza in downtown Chapel Hill.
The first free event on Saturday, October 18, from 12 noon to 5 p.m. will feature art vendors, musicians, and performers who are local to the Triangle. A second event on Saturday, November 1 will feature art vendors, music, and performances celebrating Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), a long-standing tradition in Mexico and other parts of Latin America.
For more information on the Festifall Arts Markets, a September 26 free screening of the movie “Frankenweenie” outdoors at the Carolina Square Lawn (behind Target on Franklin Street), and the Chapel Hill / Carrboro Holiday Parade on December 6, visit https://www.chapelhillarts.org/festivals-events/.
If you’re looking for positivity, community, and the vibrant colors of fall, the North Carolina mountain fall foliage is always sure to please, but don’t overlook our local festivals, where our community really shows its true colors.