It’s another week in Downtown Cary, so check out what is happening this weekend (as long as the weather behaves)!
Friday (7/24)
Single Mingle
July 24 @ 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm- Downtown Cary Park
Find your trail partner at Downtown Cary Park this July during S’more than Friends, a nostalgic camp-themed singles mixer. Enjoy a gourmet s’mores bar, a live DJ, and classic camp games to break the ice. Cold brews will be available for purchase as you explore our park campsite. Whether you meet someone special or just enjoy the stars, it will be “in-tents” fun. No hiking boots required—just bring your best campfire energy.
Don’t forget to have your ID ready when you arrive at The Nest — we’ll need to verify ages before you join the fun!
Know Before You Go
The Nest will be closed to youth from 4 – 10 p.m. on July 24 for this adults-only program (21+).
This program is free and open to the public, ages 21+ only.
One Tribe Drum Circle & Fire Show
July 24 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
One Tribe Rhythms & Friends will perform every Final Friday from 7 – 8:30 p.m., March – October at the Old Library Site next to the Ivey-Ellington House.
As a part of the Cary Art Loop, join One Tribe for a free, family- friendly, drum circle with fire spinning by Caroleeena & Friends! Leading up to fire performances starting at 8 p.m., the drum circle will involve singing and “low impact” West African dances. All are welcome, no experience needed, and participants can bring their own instrument or borrow one! Come celebrate our community!
Cary Art Loop’s signature event is the Final Fridays Art Crawl held on the last Friday of each month from 6 – 9 p.m. Final Friday events are hosted by businesses and galleries on a monthly basis. Large crowds of art appreciators enjoy original art in our local art galleries, live music and many other exciting must see & do activities.
Saturday (7/25)
Cary Farmers Market
July 18 @ 8:00 am – 12:00 pm – East Park Street
Join the Cary Farmers Market for the traditional market season along East Park St., next to Downtown Cary Park.
Find a wonderful lineup of vendors offering all locally made and locally grown items. Shop for freshly-harvested produce, humanely-raised meat, and artisan-made goods. Stop by the info booth to learn about their matching program for SNAP/EBT.
Children can also get their very own Farmers Market Passport and participate in the Eat-A-Rainbow program, which encourages children to eat healthy, nutritious foods. Learn more about the new location, nutrition programs, and other information on their website or their Facebook and Instagram pages for regularly updated weekly information.
CaryLIVE! The Suitcase Junket
July 25 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
To help keep the Great Lawn safe, comfortable, and enjoyable for everyone, please review our guidelines below before arriving.
Elevate your evenings with the vibrant rhythm of CaryLive! Join us at Downtown Cary Park for a captivating concert series, where the stage is set for memorable musical moments. Free and open to the public, this enchanting experience welcomes all to come together, enjoy the rhythms, and bask in the beauty of community and music under the stars.
Matt Lorenz’s vision, manifest in The Suitcase Junket, developed in the tension between the grand and the solitary. Grand in its imagery, sound, and staging. Solitary in its thrift and self-reliance. What instruments he requires, Lorenz builds from scratch and salvage. What parts five players would perform, he performs alone. The spectacle of his one-man set bears constant comparison to legends of showmanship, brilliance, madness, and invention.
While audiences are captivated by his solitary form and the show itself, Lorenz, who homesteads in rural Western Massachusetts, is most serious about the songs. He has been building a catalog, writing a world into existence. Solitary on stage and on the road, his mind is crowded with characters, narratives, voices, imagery, sounds as wide and varied as mountain throat singers and roadhouse juke boxes, plus newsreels of the planet’s destruction and salvage. With this 2020 release, The End is New, Lorenz’s grand vision for the song overrides the how of it.
Growing up in Cavendish, Vermont, Matt Lorenz began playing piano at age five, and later took up violin, saxophone, and guitar. During his years at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, he studied music and adaptive instrument design, a pursuit that included building a prototype for a drummer who couldn’t use their legs, where they’d be able to play the bass drum and hi-hat through a system of pulleys. After college, he headed to Europe on a $150 plane ticket, ran out of money in Barcelona, and spent a year playing music in the streets. “That’s where I learned how to sing loud, which got me figuring out what my voice could do,” Lorenz notes. Once he’d returned to Amherst, he formed the band Rusty Belle with his sister Kate and, several years later, started The Suitcase Junket with the aid of a guitar he’d found in a dumpster. ‘The Suitcase Junket’ is a nod to Lorenz’s longtime love of collecting old suitcases, including an antique that he’s refurbished into a bass drum, and to a secondary definition of junket, i.e. “a pleasure excursion.”
Upcoming Lineup
August 22 – Delta Rae
These are the notable events taking place this weekend, but there is always something to do in Downtown Cary! Be sure to check out the directory to see the restaurants, bars, and shopping in the area!