Durham is where self-made synth beats are created alongside home-grown and international talent.
Where renowned hip hop artists come home to spit with our next generation of performers.

Where there’s no need to wait for Friday night; both large and small festivals and cultural events win the hearts of wandering souls from near and far — all week long.

Each year, 5,000 classes, tours, markets, competitions and performances await you here. The key to your next adventure lies in your own curiosity. Come taste, see, hear and discover.

Annual Events & Festivals The only way through is to do. Learn More

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Featured Events

Bull City Rumble

North Carolina's largest vintage motorcycle show, the Bull City Rumble is a world-renowned vintage motorcycle and scooter rally hosted by Ton Up NC annually on Labor Day Weekend. Thematically, the event has its roots in the traditional rivalry of Mods vs. Rockers, the sensationalized clash of two youth cultures- scooter riding mods and motorcycle riding rockers, in 1960's England. The event has evolved from its humble beginnings in a parking lot in 2005 to a...

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GeekCraft Expo

It's like a mall for geeks! If you're looking for "that" special thing – or things – to complement your geeky lifestyle, there is simply no better place to shop; everything for sale at GeekCraft Expo is incredibly unique, limited in quantity (i.e. NOT mass produced, this stuff is all made byhand) and totally nerdy! GeekCraft Expo provides geeky, super-fun make-n-take crafting activities for kids & families...free of charge! For kids (and adults) who are...

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Brazilian Day Festival

With live music, food trucks, capoeira, dance performances, and workshops.

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Durham 150 Fiesta

Celebrate the diversity of the Durham Latinx community with a free family event at the Carolina Theater in downtown Durham featuring the theatrical of FIESTA! Quinceañera, a REEL SOUTH/PBS documentary made in Durham by the award-winning creative team of Nuevo South, Rodrigo Dorfman and Peter Eversoll. Latinx celebrity and activist La Pakis will be emceeing and presenting a surprise quinceañera dance.After the film, everyone is invited to sample delicious free food from local Latino restaurants...

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CenterFest Arts Festival

SAVE THE DATE! The Durham Arts Council is bringing the 45th Annual CenterFest Arts Festival to downtown Durham on Sept 21 & 22, 2019. Visual artists from near and far will showcase their work, and 75 performing arts groups provide continuous music, dance and entertainment throughout the festival including extended Saturday evening entertainment. Add in food courts, hands on activities and Durham’s inspiring nonprofit and government services sectors and you have the best way to...

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NC Jerk Food Festival

Free Family Fun Day! Live music, Caribbean Food (Jerk Chicken, Jerk Pork, Jerk Seafood Curry Chicken, Curry goat, Oxtail, Corn, Manish Water, Patties, Roti, Doubles, Pholorie, Bake & Saltfish, Coconuts), Kids Zone, Beer Garden, and Arts & Craft Vendors.

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Black Wall Street: Homecoming

Black Wall Street: Homecoming is an annual networking conference for early-stage entrepreneurs, focused on the intersection of content, connections and culture. Celebrate and learn from diverse, multicultural entrepreneurs, their investors and the community that supports them. This year they will have programming for founders and builders -- people who are growing teams, companies, communities and movements. And since teaming up with Art of Cool Fest worked so well last year, they're doing it again. So...

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Art of Cool Festival

AOCFEST will feature a range of R&B, Neo Soul, Hip-Hop, Jazz, alternative and spoken word performances and speakers at 6 venues. Three-time GRAMMY® award-winning singer-songwriter, New York Times best-selling poet, and critically acclaimed actor Jill Scott will headline the AOCFEST stage on Friday, September 27th. Dreamville Records singer-songwriter Ari Lennox who hails from Washington D.C. will also perform at AOCFEST Friday evening. That same evening, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels will hit the Motorco Music Hall stage...

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Pride: Durham, NC

Pride: Durham, NC serves as the annual celebration of community, family, pride, and activism in Durham and across the state. Pride: Durham, NC brings love and activism back to the forefront of Pride as a way to drive stronger connections and further growth and success in a tumultuous political climate. All people with love in their hearts and progress fueling them are welcome at Pride: Durham, NC.

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Bull City Race Fest and Food Truck Rodeo

This festival has something for the fastest runners and families alike. Start and Finish at Diamond View Park at the American Tobacco Campus and Choose from the Half Marathon, Five Miler or 1 Mile distances. Enjoy a fall morning of running through downtown Durham, Duke University and surrounding Historic Neighborhoods. After you cross the finish line, enjoy delicious eats from a variety of delicious food trucks! The Bull City Race Fest is the culmination of...

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The Durham 150 Closing Ceremony Presented by Duke University and Duke Health

The Durham 150 Closing Ceremony will be a culminating event of Durham 150, the official yearlong commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the City of Durham’s incorporation, and will explore the history of Durham through narration, video, live performance and music. Tickets are now on sale. Purchase Durham 150 Closing Ceremony tickets here. The production will open with remarks from Mayor Steve Schewel, along with a welcome from Occaneechi Tribal Chairman, Tony Hayes. The Ocaneechi...

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Pieces: A Paradoxy

With an expectant, held breath, with heart in hands, piece by piece, bit by bit, I anticipate the beauty of becoming. The Durham Art Guild... Details

5 Points Gallery Presents - Metamorphosis

“Metamorphosis: a process of transformation, reorganization.” Exciting changes are afoot as ten prior Pleiades Gallery members along with... Details

Durham Art Guild's 65th Annual Juried Exhibition

This is the Guild's longest-running, largest, and most impressive annual exhibition featuring the work of 50 regional artists working in a... Details

Summa Bumma | An Alternative Mini Music Festival

Summa Bumma is an Alternative Mini Music Festival accentuating the essence of Summer. Through the celebration of the eclectic music scene,... Details

Film Screening: "Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am"

This artful and intimate meditation on the legendary storyteller examines her life, her works and the powerful themes she has confronted... Details

Art Exhibit - Screenprints, by Kristen DeGree

Print work inspired by nature, on view in the Durham Arts Council Allenton Gallery. Opening reception will be held on Friday, July 19, 6pm,... Details

Durham Bulls Baseball

Durham Bulls Baseball vs Gwinnett Stripers Details

Karaoke Night

It's on! Bring your best self to the Studio at Unscripted for karaoke every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month. Details

Art Exhibit – "Godchild"

Divinity and art in the Western world have worked together to create a set of toxic ideals, one in which Whiteness is the sole standard of... Details

Art Exhibit - "Circa 1960"

The period around 1960 was one of great artistic evolution in the United States. The long-standing influence exerted by Abstract... Details

Art Exhibit — "Where We Find Ourselves: The Photographs of Hugh Mangum, 1897-1922"

Self-taught photographer Hugh Mangum was born in 1877 in the newly incorporated, tobacco- fueled boomtown of Durham, NC. As an itinerant... Details

Golden Expression: the First Annual Exhibition of Golden Belt Resident Artists

View selections from Golden Belt artists – and visit the studios where these works are created. Details