Thanksgiving Day Love – Thursday, 7am-3pm – Assist in the Durham Rescue Mission‘s effort to feed those that are less fortunate on Thanksgiving Day. If you’re interested in volunteering, send in your name, address,and phone number, along with whether you want to serve, help prepare the meals or be a driver for deliveries.
Thanksgiving Day Feast – Thursday, 11:30am-5pm – The Triangle Vegetarian Society has organized a fully plant-based vegan Thanksgiving feast at an area restaurant since 1993. The event at Cafe Parizade will be the organization’s 18th consecutive Thanksgiving at the Mediterranean restaurant.
A Splendid Feast – Thursday, noon-9pm – The Washington Duke Inn & Golf Club‘s traditional holiday buffet on Thanksgiving Day includes a bountiful array of chilled seafood and salads, hot station, choice of coffee, tea, soft drink or hot cider, entrees and side dishes, a chef carving station with roast turkey and steamship of beef, dessert displays including dessert and a specialty. The Bull Durham Bar is open from 11am until midnight on Thanksgiving Day.
Thanksgiving at The Durham Hotel – Thursday, 1-4:30pm – Start with appetizers for the table including oysters and follow with seasonal sides, roast turkey from White Oak Pastures and a family-style dessert board.
Thanksgiving Dinner – Thursday, 2pm-7pm – Step away from the oven and start a new Thanksgiving (or Friendsgiving) tradition at 21c Durham‘s Counting House. Feast on a four-course table d’hote menu featuring classic holiday options, including a smoked local turkey entrée with pole beans, oyster and cornbread stuffing, cranberry potatoes and neck bone gravy. Plus a special three-course Little Penguins menu for the kids!
Cycle Against Hunger – Friday, 8am-3pm – Cycle at the Levin Jewish Community Center in an effort to raise money to reach a goal towards ending food insecurity. Open to all! No limit on how many spots you choose to ride.
The Black Market – Friday, 11am-6pm – This annual marketplace at Lakewood Shopping Center is meant for local, regional and national Black-owned businesses, and allows them to gain exposure to new clientele and network with one another while also providing educational opportunities to prospective business owners. In addition to vendors, there will be local food from Black restaurant vendors, and upbeat and soulful music.
Santa at Town Hall – Friday and Saturday, 11am-7pm, and Sunday, 1-6pm – Enjoy visits and photos with Santa at the Center Court in Northgate Mall.
Fernweh Jewelry Trunk Show – Friday, noon-5pm – Durham’s own Rachel Widmark will be showcasing her globally inspired jewelry line that melds ceramics, traditional techniques and modern design at Indio.
Black Friday at Fullsteam – Friday, noon – Enjoy a special Black Friday flight: five five-ounce dark beers from Fullsteam and a few N.C. guests, music with Steve Burnett, ice cream and beer floats. Bring a new, unwrapped gift (no realistic-looking weapons or gifts with food), and get a one-day Scythe & Sparrow membership. (Starting that day, Scythe & Sparrow memberships will be discounted 10 percent.) Pick up a special black-on-black “Plow to Pint” T-shirt, too – all proceeds from the sale of this shirt directly benefit Toys for Tots.
Black Metal Friday Bourbon County Release – Friday, noon-6pm – Evel Arc and Matthew Paul Butler each play a special in-store set at Sam’s Quick Shop, Fetch: Hot Dog Co. provides eats till 3pm, and bottles of Bourbon County will be raffled off, but it will also be on draft.
Black Friday: Bourbon County, Special Kegs, and Hot Deals! – Friday, noon-10pm – Sam’s Bottle Shop hosts a special keg tapping of 10 beers, including Wicked Weed Dark Age, Prairie Christmas Bomb!, Highland Imperial Cold Mountain, Mother Earth Silent Night 2015 and more. Bottles of Bourbon County stout will be raffled off, and there will be sales on several types of beers.
Bourbon County Release Party (3 years of BCBS on draft) – Friday, noon-11pm – The Glass Jug will be tapping kegs of 2014, 2015 and 2016 Goose Island Brewery Bourbon County Brand Stout and serving them up all day on draft. Bottles will be raffled, which will happen shortly after noon. Crystal Bourbon County tulip glasses, along with some T-shirts will also be included in the raffle.
Brett’s Apple Ale Bottle Release and Cask Event – Friday, 1pm – Durty Bull Brewing Company celebrates the release of bottles for its collaboration with Bull City Ciderworks. Brett’s Apple Ale is a beer that is 40% apple juice and 60% brettanomyces ale. A cask of Brett’s Apple Ale with bourbon-soaked apples added in will also be tapped.
Black Cat Friday – Friday and Saturday, 2-4pm – Independent Animal Rescue (IAR), an all-volunteer, nonprofit animal rescue and rehabilitation program headquartered in Durham, invites you to meet some of its black kittens and adult cats available for adoption at Petco at South Square. Black cats are unfairly stereotyped and far less likely than other varieties to be adopted. “They are regularly passed over in favor of their more colorful cousins. We have loving, affectionate black cats who will steal your heart!” says Deb Eveland, IAR Cat Team Leader.
Faithful Friends Holiday Tea – Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 2:30pm – Afternoon Tea in the Fairview Dining Room at the Washington Duke Inn includes a wide selection of teas from The Republic of Tea served with a variety of finger sandwiches, homemade scones and handcrafted sweets. For added holiday cheer, enhance your tea service with a glass of bubbly.
Smashfest – Friday, 3-7pm – At The Scrap Exchange’s annual Black Friday event, purchase a smashable item (plates, paint-filled ornaments, mirrors, bric-a-brac, flaming toilet, etc.) and relieve holiday stress by smashing them against a dumpster. Fight the mass consumerism of Black Friday by supporting the largest nonprofit creative reuse center in the country! Food truck Bandito’s Tacotopia will have food for sale, with beer provided by Sam’s Quik Shop. Music by local metal bands Slime and Pie Face Girls. Activities and entertainment include Junk Jams (The Scrap Exchange’s DIY music-making activity), fire spinning, fire pits, movie projections by A/V Geeks, and much more.
Stacked Throwback Dance Party – Friday, 9pm – Runaway and Four Seasons present Stacked at Motorco Music Hall for the second year. Dance to throwback jams and original bangers, with performances by: Oak City Slums, DJ Chela, Bless Your Heart and Queen Plz. New Runaway Winter ’16 items will be available for purchase. Proceeds from the party benefit CAPS (Creative Arts for Public and Private Schools).
Shop Independent Durham Week – Saturday-December 4 – Discounts, promotions and special events at more than 45 member businesses of Sustain-a-Bull, Durham’s nonprofit independent business alliance that promotes and supports nearly 200 locally owned, independent businesses.
Bourbon County Stout Beer Release & Raffle – Saturday, 10am-1:30pm – Join Beer Durham for its Bourbon County Stout bottle release. Keg taps at 10, bottles will go on sale at 11am. Stay for a raffle throughout the party; prizes include great Bourbon County Stout swag.
The Improv Percolator Holiday Fundraiser – Saturday, 8-10pm – Three local improv companies – Danny Canoe, FatMouth Improv and Third Date – join forces at Common Ground Theatre to host this fundraiser, with all ticket sales benefiting Durham’s Threshold Clubhouse, which has, for more than 30 years, served individuals in the community struggling with mental health issues. Attendees are also encouraged to bring in warm clothing such as hats, scarves, gloves or socks to donate to the cause.
Tom Browne – Saturday, 8pm – Topping the jazz and adult contemporary/R & B charts with his kickin’ trumpet and rich jazz melodies, the trumpeter plays Beyu Caffe tonight.
Durty Dub presents Young Bull – Saturday, 9pm – The R&B duo hailing from Durham is composed of high school friends Tahmique Cameron (singer) and Gabe Fox-Peck (producer/pianist). The pair perform at The Pinhook, drawing on classic soul artists like Otis Redding and Stevie Wonder, and simultaneously experimenting with the modern possibilities of electronic music.
Nerdvember 2016! – Saturday, 9pm – Presented by The VaudeVillain Revue, revel in all things nerd-pop culture and fandom at Motorco Music Hall with some of your favorite VaudeVillains, Virginia Scarre, Kitschy DeCoeur, Purrrl VanDammit and more.
Durham Durham: New Wave Dance Party – Saturday, 9pm – Hungry like the wolf for a night of new wave hits, dancing, great cocktails and good fortune? Come work off the tryptophan at Arcana as Twentieth Century Boy and NeatFreak spin all your favorites, from A-ha to Yaz. Eighties attire requested but not required.
Artist’s Talks and Performance by Jennifer Curtis – Sunday, 3-6pm – Visual artist Celia Gray and Musician Jennifer Curtis talk about their work and collaboration for The Carrack exhibit “Bright Soft Shield,” which combines contemporary abstract painting and the traditional folk tradition of rug hooking. The talk begins at 3, and Jennifer Curtis will perform following the talk. Join in the opening reception on Friday from 6-9pm, too.
Ruth Wyand – Sunday, 5-7pm – The blues fingerpicker, slide player, singer/songwriter and recent winner of the Triangle Blues Society 2016 Blues Challenge in the solo/duo category kicks off a series of winter fundraising shows at The Blue Note Grill. There is no cover, but donations are encouraged to help defray travel costs to compete in the 33rd Annual International Blues Challenge (IBC) in Memphis.
Bach Cantata Series – Sunday, 5:15pm – This program features BWV 62 “Savior of the Nations, Come,” at Duke Chapel. The cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach were explicitly designed to be theologically rich, educational and inspirational. In the same way, this series provides a modern connection with this great music of the past, exploring both the theological underpinnings of the pieces, as well as their musical brilliance.
