Just an all out amazing time. There is so much to see....so many vendors. The vendors have…read moresamples and authentic products. The Carolina Pig Jig is held outside. There are over 20 Masonic lodges that are competing for a win for best bbq and sauce. The tickets are only $20 and you cannot eat as much bbq as your soul desires. I look at this festival as a prequel to the state fair that is held in October.

I love this festival…read more The fact there is an NC based festival that focuses on local vendors and creators is such a wonderful idea! I went to the sip and shop area where you can get an alcoholic drink and wander around. I got to sample so many amazing local foods, sauces, and sweets. I walked out of that place work so much stuff! Then the agriculture center has livestock and learning experiences for the little ones. This festival is definitely a must try if you've never been!

I love getting to see the local vendors and their art. Everything was arranged nicely so it was…read moreeasy to walk around and see everything. I liked that the town hall and community center were opened with signs to the restrooms we could use inside. That was convenient. Even more food options would be great. The ice cream available was delicious from Fresh Local Ice Cream, but too expensive at $6 a cup! The only thing I don't like about Lazy Daze is that it is during the hottest part of the year! It was 96 degrees and way too hot to walk around for too long.

This 2 day arts and crafts festival is located in downtown Cary. It's huge and features include…read moreart, music and food. There are events throughout the day featuring acrobatics and performances for kids and adults. Lots of high end artists to explore and enjoy. They have shuttles from various locations as there is limited parking nearby. The fair is located around the Cary town hall and beer garden. Wear your sunscreen and good walking shoes. There are lots of trees for shade but walking around you will be in full sun. Only thing I don't like about it is that you will have to carry all your purchases around but looking is free. Loved the bands that played throughout the day as well as the kids area entertainment.

Its a two day renaissance festival that is 15$ a day. You can get 1-day or 2-day tickets. It's rain…read moreor shine. Will go again next year!

Came in from VA for this event. Ample parking, many food options, staff and vendors very friendly…read more Kids and families welcome. Mix of plane clothes and awesome costumes. I got to hold a raven, sing sea shanty, dance, laugh, and and hear some really cool music. Knights battle, bag pipes, Ariel dancers, goblins with trinkets, fairy with bubbles for kids, all the vendors are super friendly and not pushy, plenty of bathrooms with hand wash stations. Getting bigger every year from what im told and we will be back. ​

The Carrboro Music Festival takes place one day every September. The have several 'venues' (parking…read morelots, lawns, and more traditional stages like the Cradle) set up around downtown Carrboro. There's a festival map that indicates where each of the soundstages are and gives playing times of the scheduled performances. They really do a great job of representing the many varieties of music that thrive in our local scene -- rock, blues, jazz, folk, celtic, bluegrass, :new:grass, indie power pop, etc. As street fairs go, this one seems a little less organized (could definitely do with some food and drink vendors). Bring blankets or tote-able chairs if you plan on spending the day, so you have some comfortable seating!

The Carrboro Music Festival makes maximum use of so many great venues in Carrboro like Cat's…read moreCradle, Open Eye, The Station, and Southern Rail and Armadillo Grill just to name a few.....During the festival, a host of great musical groups come out and perform and they cover a wide range of styles of music ranging from Jazz to Blues to Latin to Rock and all kinds of styles in between......This year, they didn't even let a little rain stop it from being a great party and I always enjoy MCing it.....Definitely worth putting on your calendar every year during the month of September...

Just spent the better part of Sunday at Centerfest 2019 and kudos to the committee who choose the…read moreincredible artists that were there. Every booth had something different and unique. It was SO well done. Parking was easy. I only have raves for those incredible artists who work so hard to bring us part of their heart in their artistry. The bonus, there were stores and art galleries open as well. Thank you Centerfest, for a wonderful day!

This is my 3rd or 4th year visiting Durham's Centerfest Arts Festival. It's always been a nice…read moreannual diversion. There are up and coming musicians and street performers as well as very talented artists selling their works. This year's crowd seemed somewhat smaller than prior years, and although there were many vendors, an unusually large number of jewelry booths were present. Still worth the time to stroll around and take in the sights and sounds on a beautiful day.

Wow! What a sh*t show! 2019 was my 8th and LAST WBF here in Durham. It has admittedly been 3-4…read moreyears since I last came to this one. My memories were awesome from past ones - there was fellowship and a bit of a party. I always go to the early sessions to enjoy the sunshine and hangout with the more serious beer drinkers/aficionados. There are so many good festivals out there - avoid this one - you have been warned. Now - if you're curious why, keep reading. 1) I got Early Admission tickets for 1 hours earlier entrance. It was until about 15-20 minutes after we were supposed to be let in that someone finally came to set up entry. What??? Completely unprofessional!! And they charged extra!! You should have someone ready to scan/take tickets long before you open. The guy who finally was setting things up was a real horse's patoot and was yelling rude things back at the irritated crowd. Then a blond woman, who I'm assuming he called on his cell phone, showed up all frenzied and tried to get things under control. 2) There were only 35 stations set up - only 29 of those were for beer. If my memory serves me correctly there were at least twice as many beer stations years ago. Participation has certainly dwindled and I'm sure will fall off a cliff this coming year. 3) The beer stations were mostly in the internal outside perimeter of the stadium where the concession stands are. Lame! The last ones I went to were either down on the field, the inside perimeter of the stadium, or both. There was no rain forecast. People want fresh air and sunshine not feeling sealed up in concrete! And if the answer/excuse is the Bulls don't want people on the field, please find another venue. 4) There were a lot of stands who were manned by people who had no clue about the beer they were serving. At one station I asked for the Wit - a snaggle toothed man said "The one in the orange can or the green can?" - the beer was also warm - yuck. There were at least two other stands that were completely unstaffed and had stacks of warm beer just sitting there (one of which was Greenman from Asheville). Other stations had one person running 2 tables and 4-5 taps. I pointed out to one guy (Elysium Brewing) that he had a bunch of product he was supposed to serving that was sitting on a wall behind another table. He seemed unconcerned and didn't even recognize his own clearly labeled product. He also made no efforts to retrieve it. Yikes! 5) The beer they did have was very generic. Really?! Was that an Anheuser Busch station I just avoided? Seriously, there were maybe 4-5 really good breweries there (e.g. Birdsong and River Rat) otherwise it was like walking through the beer section at Food Lion.... I really have no idea what happened to this festival - it used to be so awesome but now just plain...well you get the point. Jeez! Yelp didn't even want to participate - now that's saying something....

Of the two WBFs -- Durham & Raleigh -- the Durham one is unequivocally my favorite. The ballpark is…read morethe perfect set-up (and doesn't have the scent of public urination that Moore Square does). October has the perfect weather... and so many great seasonal beers! It also seems less crowded than Raleigh's. Tents shield you from the sun (or rain), and keep things navigable... like all the NC Beer together in one happy place. The best part about WBF compared to other beer fests I've attended is the detailed program which can help you locate a brewery and see exactly what they have on tap. The second best part of WBF is just the sheer variety. You cannot drink your way through the entire thing -- but you'll have fun trying! Disclaimer: Yelp has been a proud media sponsor of WBF-D in 2011 & 2012.

The wife and I always enjoy going to the herb fest. It is held in the festival park at Wake Forest…read moreevery year for a week towards the end of April / beginning of May timeframe. When you arrive at festival park there are carts / wagons towards the entrance. Grab one of these because you will want to load up once you see the variety. As you head down into the center of the park you will see a bunch of tables lined up with various herbs on them. They are organized and categorized very nicely to help find what you are looking for. There are typically several varieties of each herb grouped together. They also have several very knowledgable staff on hand to answer any questions you may have. At last year's herb festival I was actually a star! They shot a quick video of yours truly asking a question to the herb specialist for the evening news. In reality I asked him several questions and found out some very interesting things. Did you know that Rosemary does not grow well in a pot? Rosemary apparently grows best in the ground and prefers sandy well drained soil. We also learned why we have such a difficult time growing Cilantro. Ours always gets very scrawny and just grows seed pods (coriander). Apparently the difference is simply temperature. Even if grown in the shade under other plants the temperature in our region is not suitable for Cilantro. It will grow coriander if you like, but the cilantro leaves will only thrive in areas with consistent temperatures below 80 degrees. He did point us to Culantro which we had never heard of. The name sounds similar to Cilantro for good reason. It is basically Cilantro for warmer climates. It grows well even in hotter areas and tastes like Cilantro but the leaves are longer and skinnier with what looks like sharp edges. It is very comforting to be able to ask people the best way to take care of the herbs so you can ensure your new purchases thrive and do not wither away. If you prefer you can also browse the tents around the perimeter of the herbs containing a variety of merchandise and food from local businesses. Many offer any type of trinket you can imagine while a few local restaurants have food samples and coupons to entice you to come see them. Over towards the stage there is almost always some type of live entertainment ranging anywhere from a magician for the kids to local high school bands. The dates and times of each performance are posted on the website so you know what to expect or can plan your trip if one of them looks particularly interesting. There are also a few of the typical festival food fare such as hot dogs, funnel cakes, and lemonaid. Once you have loaded up on your herbs you head back to the entrance towards the couple of tents. Typically there is a small line here but it goes pretty quickly as there are multiple cashiers to assist you. Several individuals rome around and will count up your items and hand you a ticket detailing your purchases. You then step up to a cashier and hand them the ticket so they can ring you up. They will take cash, check, mastercard, and visa. We go every year and always enjoy a lazy day (starting with a coffee from Wake Forest Coffee Company of course). The only problem I foresee with next year is where to put our new items. We have completely filled our screened in porch this year with containers of plants so I suppose we will have to replace some items or get inventive!

I visit the Wake Forest Herb Fest every year. I've done so since we moved to WF as it is a great…read moreway to stock up on some homegrown/organic herbs for your kitchen or garden. Herbfest is free and is situated at the Festival Park on South White. It used to take place over the course of a week, but this year, it was over two consecutive weekends. Since we were out of town the first weekend, we went this past (lesson learned, there are not as many options on the last weekend). I went looking for my standards: lavender, cilantro, mint, lemon basil, and catnip. I found all of what I was looking for, except the cilantro. I was able to learn a bit from the staff who told me that I can start my own cilantro by using coriander seed and advised me as to how to go about doing so. I also purchased locally grown tomato plants and am going to start my own growing of tomatoes this year. Also available at Herbfest this year was the White Street Brewery Beer, however, they were only offering the Scottish Ale. Not as many options on the last weekend, I assume. Also, the first weekend, there is live music, and different exhibits from the local high schools. The Herbfest is definitely a great local event, and a way to support local gardeners, and a learning experience as well! A must every year!

Tucked next to the Page-Walker Center and on the Cary town government campus is a "garden". It's…read morereally a small outdoor stage with a decent-sized grass area in front surrounded by garden. Various musical groups (not famous, but still decent) will perform there during the summer, generally on Friday evenings. It's quite a fun place to sit out on a blanket as the sun goes down, eat a picnic dinner, watch the little kids free-form dance, and listen to some fun music. It's a small venue, so it feels intimate. It's generally lightly attended, so I haven't had to show up early for seating. Occasionally a train will drive by on the tracks about a hundred yards away. During intermission, go inside the center and look at the art on display there. The concerts are free, and it's a relaxing way to spend a summer evening. Look for the schedule titled "Starlight Concert Series".