SPRING FESTIVALS. The Spring Daze Arts and Crafts Festival takes place at Cary’s Bond Park on Saturday, April 29, 9 a.m.–5 p.m. The event brings together 170 local artists. Enjoy food, activities for kids and music on three stages. The festival supports sustainability and encourages active lifestyles with outdoor sporting activities. The event is free.
Holly Springs hosts SpringsFest on Saturday, April 29, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. The free event takes place downtown and includes food, music, vendors, kids activities and more. A classic and exotic car show begins at noon on Main Street. Guests are encouraged to park at Ting Park and take a shuttle to the festival.
TASTY SAMPLES. Chef, entrepreneur and PBS celebrity Vivian Howard will be serving samples of her latest Viv’s Fridge fare from Wine Authorities in Durham on Saturday, April 29, 12:30 p.m.–2 p.m. Howard recently added new Mediterranean menu items to her smart refrigerator offerings. The smart refrigerators offer restaurant-quality entrees, snacks, sides and desserts in a convenient ready-to-eat or heat-and-eat format at 11 locations.
MAP OUT YOUR HIKE. Google and the National Park Service have partnered to help make visits to the nation’s 63 national parks safer and easier to access. New updates have launched on Google Maps (both on iOS and Android) to help park visitors navigate the parks and their trails. Google Maps will now display reviews and information about the trails that include:
- Whether the trail is paved, dirt, a loop, or an in-out trail.
- The trail’s level of difficulty.
- “Good for” suggestions, such as hiking with dogs and wheelchair accessibility.
- The best time to hike it if you want to avoid crowds.
Learn more here. Thanks to @RaleighWhatsUp for sharing this news.
ALL EYES ON FENTON. Warby Parker will host a store opening at Fenton on Saturday, April 29 at 10 a.m. The vision care store will offer eye exams and carry a full line of sun and optical eyewear offerings, including the new Summer 2023 collection. The Fenton store also features colorful custom store artwork by artist Julian Montague.
Photo courtesy of Warby Parker
POPULAR VOTE. Durham’s Alley Twenty Six Cocktail Syrups have been nominated in USA Today’s 2023 10 Best Readers’ Choice awards. Voting for Best Craft Mixer Brand continues until Monday, May 15. Winners will be announced Friday, May 26 at noon.
WINNING STUDENTS. Six teams from Wake County Public Schools are headed to the statewide NC Envirothon contest, which will test their skills at environmental problem-solving on April 28–29 at Cedarock Park in Burlington. Among those teams, two took first place at the regional competition in March:
Mean Green Beans, Panther Creek, Cary; and Mustang FFA, LeRoy Martin Magnet, Raleigh. Learn more here.
SHRIMP AND SONGS. Carolina Brewery (20 Lowes Drive, Suite 100, Pittsboro) hosts a shrimp boil on Saturday, April 29, noon–8 p.m. The brewery will serve Royal Red shrimp with a variety of beer, while Mel Melton & the Wicked Mojos will provide live music, 4–7 p.m.
Photo by KarynRMillet/GettyImages
POPULAR VOTE. Durham’s Alley Twenty Six Cocktail Syrups have been nominated in USA Today’s 2023 10 Best Readers’ Choice awards. Voting for Best Craft Mixer Brand continues until Monday, May 15. Winners will be announced Friday, May 26 at noon.
ART SHOW. On Saturday, April 29 at 10 a.m., Chesterbrook Academy Elementary and Middle School in Cary will host an art show featuring more than 200 pieces of student’s art projects and several free-standing collaborative art installations. Attendees will be able to view the pieces and meet some of the students behind the work. The show will also include a pre-drawn mural on which attendees can add their own artistic touch.
FOOD AWARD WINNERS. Nine companies from the Triangle recently won 2023 Good Food Awards, including Big Spoon Roasters, a first-time winner for its Pistachio Crunch Almond Butter. Other local winners are Boxcarr Handmade Cheese in Cedar Grove (Cottonbloom, Doeling cheeses), The Spicy Hermit in Durham (Sweet Onion Kimchi), Fullsteam Brewery in Durham (One Hefeweizen beer), Chocolatay Confections in Chapel Hill (Strawberry Sunflower Bonbon), Boro Beverage Co. in Chapel Hill (Pollinator Punch), Mrs. Ruth’s Jams in Apex (Blueberry Lemon Basil jam), and Videri Chocolate Factory in Raleigh (75% Guatemala Single Origin Dark Chocolate Bar, Blackberry Basil Caramel).
NEW SPECIES. Two new species of crayfish have been identified in North Carolina. The Stony Fork crayfish is named after a small tributary of the Yadkin River in western North Carolina, while the Falls crayfish is found only in the Lewis Fork drainage. They are acclimated to specific environmental conditions, according to Bronwyn Williams, the research curator of the non-molluscan invertebrates at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
WIN A TRIP. Visit North Carolina is offering trips for five sweepstakes winners as part of Dream Big in Small Town NC. Each winner will receive a $1,000 Airbnb stay voucher, a $500 VISA gift card and three $100 gift cards to three local amenities and attractions in the Northeast Lakes & Rivers region.
