Raleigh's Fayetteville Street Reopening To Feature Food, Fireworks, Music

Posted 1:50 p.m. Jul 24, 2006 — Updated 11:12 a.m. Dec 18, 2006

RALEIGH — After years of serving as a pedestrian mall, Raleigh's Fayetteville Street reopens to traffic on July 29.

Join the City of Raleigh as it kicks off the reopening with Raleigh Wide Open festivities with WRAL's Debra Morgan and Greg Fishel.

Festivities begin at 6 p.m. Saturday, July 29, at Fayetteville and Morgan streets and will include the MIX 101.5 WRAL-FM Opening Parade, live music, food vendors, a beer garden and wine-tasting.

The parade will lead to the south end of the street, where the main stage will feature the harmony of Raleigh's alternative-country band Tres Chicas at 7 p.m.

At 8 p.m., the main stage will swing in time to the music of Royal Crown Revue. The main stage will be between the One and Two Hanover buildings, south of Davie Street.

The downtown summer sky will explode with the WRAL Fireworks Extravaganza about 9:30 p.m. that officially conclude the celebration.

For those still wanting more, the City of Raleigh will offer a free showing of "The Pink Panther" as part of the "Saturday Movies in Moore Square" series. Lawn chairs or blankets are recommended for seating. "Saturday Movies in Moore Square" is held every other Saturday throughout the summer.

Parking downtown will be free for "Raleigh Wide Open" at five city lots:

Cabarrus Street Parking Lot, 100 E. Cabarrus St.;

Convention Center Parking Deck, 429 S. Wilmington St.;

Moore Square Parking Deck, 233 S. Wilmington St.;

Municipal Parking Deck, Morgan Street entrance, W. Morgan St.; and,

Wilmington Street Parking Deck, 327 S. Wilmington St. The Fayetteville Street party will mark the end of 16 months of construction that returns the street's 100 to 400 blocks to vehicular traffic. The conversion from a pedestrian mall began March 14, 2005, and came with a price tag of $9.33 million. The four blocks are being converted to a 40-foot-wide thoroughfare with parallel parking on both sides of the street. Traffic signals at Davie, Martin, Hargett and Morgan streets are being modified. Hargett and Martin streets are being converted to two-way traffic.

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