“Wabi-Sabi” Last Weekend – Thursday-Sunday – Celebrating the Japanese wabi-sabi aesthetic – asymmetry, roughness or irregularity, simplicity and appreciation of natural objects and processes – this Pleiades Gallery installment is something to check out before it ends Sunday.
“Where We Live: A North Carolina Portrait” Reception & Artists’ Talk – Thursday, 4-7pm – Documenting housing and living conditions in North Carolina, this photography project on display at Duke University‘s Rubenstein Photography Gallery from March to June hosts an artists’ talk with Alex Harris, a Duke professor and the founder of the Center for Documentary Studies, along with his former students.
Ponysaurus Run – Thursday, 5:45pm – Join Fleet Feet as they lead both a 3- and 5-mile route through the beautiful Bull City!
Caring Community Foundation Inc. Fundraising Night – Thursday, 6-8pm – Kendra Scott and Caring Community Foundation team up at The Streets at Southpoint for a fundraising night.
“Communions/Repositories” Performance, Talk & Closing Reception – Thursday, 7pm – Join Donna Cooper Hurt and Michaela Pilar Brown at this performance and discussion of their joint exhibition exploring the individual struggles they face as artists, hosted at The Carrack.
Periodic Tables – The Mind Club: Who Thinks, What Feels and Why It Matters – Thursday, 7-8pm – Hosted by Duke Science & Society, Dr. Kurt Gray, researcher and author of “The Mind Club,” will lead an interactive science gathering at Motorco Music Hall to discuss mind perception and morality.
The Underground Beat Battle – Thursday, 9pm – 16 producers face off at The Pinhook to be Beat Battle champ!
Blues on The Plaza Opening Night – Friday, 6:30-9pm – Pack up your lawn chairs and head over to Northgate Mall to enjoy the sweet sounds of Eric “E Train” and the Rusted Nails at the first Blues on the Plaza performance for the season!
Fresh Docs Screening – Friday, 7-9pm – The Center for Documentary Studies and the Southern Documentary Fund are pleased present a free screening of director Lisa Sorg’s “A Sense of the Fitness of Things,” a film that confronts the mystery and pain of impermanence in death.
Born at Duke Homestead – Friday, 7pm, and Saturday 8am-7pm – Featuring “Birthing Bodies” by Murmurations Dance – a collage of dance, music and poetry based on the rich history of pregnancy, midwifery and home birth in N.C. – performances and special guided tours invite visitors back to 1856, the year the youngest son, James B. Duke, was born to explore what a new baby meant for the people living here.
Great Human Race – Saturday, 8:30am (register 7:15-8:15am) – Run or walk with friends while supporting your favorite local nonprofit. This year’s 5K course will start at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park and wind through Forest Hills, one of Durham’s oldest neighborhoods. Now in its 21st year, the Great Human Race has raised more than $2 million for nonprofits in Durham and is the largest collaborative fundraising event in the Triangle.
Durham Art Walk Spring Market – Saturday, 10am-5pm, and Sunday 1-5pm – Presented by the Durham Arts Council, this self-guided tour of galleries, artist studios and impromptu exhibits in businesses throughout downtown features the original artwork of more than 200 artists. The event also features live music, food and fun activities for the whole family, plus a live aluminum pour, new sites, fabulous prizes and more!
Independent Bookstore Day – Saturday, 10am-6pm – Celebrate this nationwide event at The Regulator Bookshop with a lineup of special activities including story times, raffles, merry music by Jeremy Marcotte and a (temporary) tattoo challenge!
New Headquarters Grand Opening – Saturday, 10am-4pm – Celebrate Counter Culture Coffee‘s new facility (812 Mallard Ave.) with coffee tastings, demonstrations and tasty treats! Read more about the event and our recent visit to the roastery here.
Bull City Ciderworks Elizabeth Street Exit Party – Saturday, 11am – As the cidery begins the transition to their new space on Roxboro Street, they must say goodbye to their first location. But they plan to go out with a bang: a weekend brimming with cider specials, live music and visits by East Durham Pie Company, Bull City Street Food, Buddalicious Food Truck, Mama’s Hot Chicken, Lo & Behold Natural Body Care and Smallcakes Durham!
Happy + Hale Durham Grand Opening – Saturday, 11am-4pm – Opening on Ninth Street, join our newest health food restaurant as they celebrate with music by The Shake Down, cold pressed juice mimosas and treats by favorites such as MATI Energy and Everyday Magic.
Green Home Tour – Saturday and Sunday, noon-5pm – Look through 24 certified green, new and remodeled Triangle homes with this free, self-guided tour.
Black-Owned Businesses & Farms – The Rise to Freedom – Saturday and Sunday, 3-5pm – Experience the photography of J. Liggins during a reception Saturday and storytelling/dialogue on Sunday at the Jerry Passmore Senior Center in Hillsborough.
Courtyard off Alley 8 Cigar and Art Fest – Saturday, 4-8pm – Naomi Studio and Gallery and Bull City Cigars team up to offer an evening of great art, cigars (complete with rolling demos) and live music!
Triangle Brewing Company Closing Party – Saturday, 4pm – The brewery at 918 Pearl St. will open its doors in the afternoon and stay open till they run out of beer. Featuring pints at $3, cans at $2, and generous pricing on cases and growler fills. There will also be a very limited selection of “close out” merch, including tap handles.
Vegan Flava Fest – Saturday, 5-10pm – Taste it all! Vegan wines, hard ciders, kombucha, desserts, nut flava creams and yummy summer sandwiches.
“What A Blessing I Could Have Been” – Saturday, 6pm – Presented at the Hayti Heritage Center, check out this gospel stage play by Valentine Productions.
Patchwork Pop-Up – Saturday, 6-9pm – A collaboration of Arrow Studio and The Patchwork Market, this pop-up will include music, drinks, giveaways, local vendors and more!
Tails & Tiaras – Saturday, 6-8pm – Shake your beaver tails to the Bulltown Strutters and say hello to the Beaver Queen Pageant contestant and judges: this fundraiser for the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association at Parker and Otis will be full of family fun.
Jazz, Blues & Bar-B-Que – Saturday, 6:30-9pm – Come on out to Durham Jazz Renaissance Foundation‘s celebration of International Jazz Day at Nzinga’s Cafe, featuring William “Mac” McLaughlin.
Spring Wine Tasting Under the Stars – Saturday, 6:30pm – Experience a beautiful evening of dancing, live music and a delicious array of flavors at Parizade.
Roomful of Teeth – Saturday, 8pm – The eight-member GRAMMY-winning a cappella vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth performs Partita, a four-movement work fashioned after a baroque dance suite and inspired by a Sol LeWitt drawing, along with Wally Gunn’s The Ascendant at this Duke Performances concert at Baldwin Auditorium.
Carolina Ballet’s “Macbeth” – Saturday, 8pm, and Sunday, 2pm – Directed by Robert Weiss and performed this weekend at the Durham Performing Arts Center, this new interpretation of Shakespeare’s dramatic work features all new elaborate scenery, costumes and score, and marks the first world premiere for a full-length story ballet for Carolina Ballet since 2010’s “Sleeping Beauty.”
Merge NC & New Belgium Mixtape with Benji Hughes – Saturday, 9pm – Enjoy this free Motorco Music Hall pop-music exploration.
Pop-Up Shop at Patina Marketplace – Sunday, 11am-4pm – Featuring new arrivals of mid-century modern, new and vintage furniture, accessories, artwork, garden, new clothing, jewelry and bags, there will be a collection of five vendors offering a wide variety of styles. There will also be tastings of local Big Boss Brewery, bites from Hillsborough Cheese Company, a surprise drawing and Sassafras Flowers. Come early for best selections.
ConcussionCast Carnival – Sunday noon-3pm – Hosted by Cageside ConcussionCast at Durham Central Park, this event includes all things carnival, plus jiujitsu superfights and free self-defense seminars.
St. Baldrick’s Headshaving & Balder Dash 5K – Sunday, noon-5pm – Support the 100+ volunteers shaving their heads or participate in West 94th St. Pub‘s inaugural Balder Dash 5K to raise money and awareness for lifesaving cancer research.
Deep River Pint Night – Sunday, 5-10pm – Celebrate local craft beer at Local 22 Kitchen & Bar.
Beer & Hymns – Sunday, 7:30pm – Paired with fresh Fullsteam brews, Jesse James DeConto of The Pinkerton Raid leads this community sing “with no regard to spiritual inclination or lack thereof” that is purely intended for good times, fellowship, nostalgia.
