RALEIGH, N.C. —
Hopscotch Music Festival returns to downtown Raleigh for its ninth installment this week. The three-day event transforms the city center into a destination for music lovers to immerse themselves in the full spectrum of genres, from rock to rap, blues to bass, folk to funk and everything in-between.
This year’s headliners include
R&B sensation Miguel, Hopscotch alums The Flaming Lips, indie rockers Grizzly Bear and guitarist Nile Rodgers and funk band Chic. Headlining shows are at a stage in City Plaza on Thursday through Saturday and at Red Hat Amphitheater on Friday and Saturday.
Saturday night features a special performance from Wayne Kramer and Dennis Thompson of MC50 alongside Kim Thayil of Soundgarden, Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty, King’s X bassist Dug Pinnick and Marcus Durant of Zen Guerilla. They wlil be playing MC50’s Kick Out The Jams in its entirety plus other MC50 records for the group’s 50th anniversary tour.
The festival also includes a plethora of North Carolina-based performers including Blanko Basnet, Young Bull, The Love Language, The Tom Peters’Theremin Order and M8alla.
A major change this year is the absence of the Hopscotch Design Festival. New Kind, a Raleigh-based creative agency, operated the design counterpart to the festival’s typical music offerings. In a statement released
on the festival website, New Kind said the festival would be taking a break this year.
Not all of the fun happens at night. There are
free Hopscotch day parties scattered throughout downtown, including Saturday's Hopscotch Makers Market which features more than 40 vendors on the 100 and 200 blocks of Fayetteville Street.
September in the Triangle is jam-packed with music entertainment.
Art of Cool Fest, a progressive jazz festival based in Durham, is celebrating its fifth year by moving from its end-of-April dates to the end of September. The inaugural
Dreamvillefest, which debuts at Dorothea Dix Park on Sept. 15,
finally released its lineup on Friday. The festival is spearheaded by Dreamville co-founder and rapper J. Cole, who was spotted two years ago during Hopscotch 2016 in conversation with representatives from the city of Raleigh and other Dreamville executives throughout festival weekend.
The end of September also means the return of
IBMA's World of Bluegrass to downtown Raleigh. The event includes Wide Open Bluegrass, a free street festival and ticketed performances at Red Hat Amphitheater.
