Durham Events Calendar
Inspiring FOMO since 1869
Every day in the Bull City, there’s a wide variety of events happening to help you connect with our vibrant community. In fact, our event calendar hosts more than 5,000 visitor-friendly, Durham-grown events per year. Event organizers, small businesses and other organizations put together events like concerts, social gatherings, fund raisers, fairs, festivals and more, all designed for connection and sharing of cultures. If you're already here or planning a trip, use our search function below to find events suited to all interests and ages, from festivals and holiday headliners to creative DIY events, trivia nights, art exhibits, makers' markets and more.
Plan a Trip Around Durham's Biggest Annual Events
Durham is home to many homegrown festivals and events that happen annually and are easy to plan a trip around. From beats to barbecue and everything in between, check out our seasonal events page to find the perfect time to visit the Bull City.
Submit an Event to our Calendar
If you're a Durham-based venue or organization and you'd like us to include your event on our calendar, follow the link below to find our submission guidelines and submit your information.
Submit an Event
Featured Events
Thanksgiving: History & Legacy Tours
The modern Thanksgiving holiday stems from a mid-19th century campaign by Sara Josepha Hale for the adoption of a national thanksgiving holiday. President Abraham Lincoln created the federal holiday in 1863 during the American Civil War. So how did our Thanksgiving narrative come to focus on a fantastical meal shared between colonists and American Indians? What messages did Americans hope to convey with the Thanksgiving holiday? What were some popular Thanksgiving foods of generations past...
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Cigar & Bourbon Pairing
Join a professionally led course on the art of pairing cigars and bourbon. This class is for new cigar smokers and seasoned cigar smokers alike. Get ready to indulge in a unique pairing experience that will tantalize your taste buds and elevate your senses. This course will demonstrate hand-rolling techniques along with proper cutting, lighting and smoking. Then move to the porch to indulge in a guided pairing journey including a trio of bourbons to...
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Handel’s Messiah
Since 1933, Handel’s Messiah has been the fulcrum of the Chapel’s concert life and a cherished Duke holiday tradition. Handel’s masterwork traces the history of humanity’s divine redemption through Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection, in music that is both treasured and timeless. This year Messiah will be performed with period instruments and Baroque-era tuning, as Handel himself would have heard it. Each performance will last approximately two hours and fifteen minutes with intermission. Seat cushions...
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Holiday Cocktail Class
Participants get a tour of the distillery, free tastings, and learn hands-on how to make some of your favorite holiday cocktails.
Must be 21+
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Durham Holiday Parade
Cheer on dynamic floats, hometown bands, drill teams, schools, and community groups as they make their way down Main Street at the Durham Holiday Parade. The procession will conclude with a guest appearance from Santa.
Free EventRain or Shine
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Chocolate & Bourbon Pairing
This luxury class will take you through different Mystic Bourbons and the chocolate pairing that brings out the amazing flavors. Learn about, and taste, all of their spirits along with a classic chocolate pairing.
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African American Dance Ensemble Kwanzaafest
Kwanzaa Fest is more than just a gathering; it’s a time to honor African American culture and values, including unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith.
It's also a time for reflection and celebration, with communal feasts and gatherings that bring together family and friends.
Performances start at 2:00 pm.
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Jason Isbell
Six-time Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Jason Isbell is one of the most respected and celebrated artists of his generation. The North Alabama native possesses an incredible penchant for identifying and articulating some of the deepest, yet simplest, human emotions, and turning them into beautiful poetry through song. Isbell sings of the everyday human condition with thoughtful, heartfelt, and sometimes brutal honesty. After releasing multiple critically-acclaimed albums, appearing in an Academy Award-nominated film, Killers of the Flower...
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Garmin Marathon Durham
5K, 10K, half-marathon and full-marathon races Course highlights include: Start at the historic American Tobacco Campus Scenic Watts Street with landmark buildings and well-preserved early 1900s homes Runners will jump on the American Tobacco Trail full of culture and history All distances will finish on Brooks Field at Wallace Wade Stadium on the Duke University campus, with all the pomp and circumstance of a regular college dayShuttle services will be provided from the finish line...
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Cosmic Baseball Takeover Tour
Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band
Led by the celebrated vocalist and luminary Julia Keefe (Nez Perce), the Julia Keefe Indigenous Big Band brings charisma, passion, and...
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Marc Ribot: Reframing Dylan
Marc Ribot will perform re-interpretations and re-framings of Bob Dylan’s mid 1960s-era visionary poetry, the poetic environment from which...
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John Scofield Trio featuring Vicente Archer and Bill Stewart
Over the last four decades, trio format is John Scofield’s favorite mode of expression. The John Scofield Trio brings together Scofield on...
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David Foster & Katharine McPhee
DAVID FOSTER is one of the most illustrious composers of our time. With 16 Grammy Awards, including three for Producer of the Year, an Emmy...
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Branford Marsalis Quartet
Saxophonist Branford Marsalis is one of the most influential and revered figures in contemporary music. The NEA Jazz Master, GRAMMY Award...
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YahZarah
YahZarah is a fearless and genre-defying artist whose powerful voice and dynamic stage presence have made her one of the most celebrated...
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John Holiday
Acclaimed concert singer John Holiday has performed at world-renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center,...
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Brandee Younger
Harpist Brandee Younger is redefining what her instrument can do—and who it’s for. On Gadabout Season, her latest release for Impulse!, she...
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Diana Krall
Diana Krall is the only jazz singer to have eight albums debut at the top of the Billboard Jazz Albums chart. To date, her albums have...
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Naughty & Nice: A Holiday Cabaret
This holiday season, being on the naughty list isn’t so bad!
Cabaret stars Miss Candice & Ivy Sublime are back at Weldon Mills Distillery...
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The Great Gatsby
The Most Spectacular Show of the Season
THE PARTY’S ROARING IN THE TRIANGLE!
THE GREAT GATSBY is a “Broadway extravaganza that explodes...
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Holiday Music Series: Ally J
This holiday season, The Durham Hotel is celebrating with a series of festive performances throughout the hotel. Join in on the heated Roof...
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