Weekend best bets: Fireworks and Enofest
Independence Day celebrations kick off this weekend with a series of fireworks displays and festivals.
See our list of area July 4th celebrations to help you plan your long weekend.
Fourth of July Fun
Enofest (West Point on the Eno, 5101 N Roxboro Rd, Durham, NC, Durham) - Enofest will return July 1 and 4 with an immersive in-person experience with live music, a juried craft show, food and fun on the river.
Clayton Independence Day Fireworks (Clayton High School, 600 S. Fayetteville St.) - This July 1 hometown celebration features a variety of fun activities and attractions for all ages, including food trucks, shaded areas for dining and drinks, inflatables, DJ music, cornhole and other games. There will be free watermelon beginning at 6:30 p.m. on the baseball field while supplies last. The festivities will begin at 6 p.m. culminate with a fireworks display at dark. Admission is free, and spectator parking is available on a first-come, first-served basis on the Clayton High School Campus. The best location to view fireworks will be on the Clayton High School campus.
Fuquay-Varina Independence Day Celebration (Fuquay Varina Community Center South Park, 900 S Main St., Fuquay-Varina) - There will be fireworks, music and fun on July 1 at South Park. Gates open at 6 p.m., and fireworks will begin at sundown, which is generally around 9:15 p.m. A concert featuring Spare Change begins at 6:30 p.m. Food trucks will be onsite and the splash pad will be open from 6 to 8:30 p.m. The event is alcohol-free; however, coolers are allowed.
July 2: Red White and Brew food truck rodeo and Independence Day Celebration - Kick off 4th of July week on Sunday, July 2 in Downtown Smithfield with this event from 1 to 6 p.m. This a mini food truck rodeo and beer festival featuring eight to 10 food trucks on South 3rd Street. Admission is free. After 6 p.m., head over to the newly renovated Neuse River Amphitheater, located at 150 S. Front Street for Smithfield's Independence Celebration until 9:30 p.m. There will be live music from Spare Change, food trucks, games and activities, and a spectacular fireworks display at approximately 9:15 p.m! Please note that the time for fireworks may change due to weather conditions.
Music, food and more
July 1: The Taste of Raleigh 2023 - Enjoy sample-sized bites from the Raleigh food trucks, personal chefs, caterers and bakeries during this event on Saturday at The Life Enrichment Center at wake Chapel Church in Raleigh from 2 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $12.50.
July 1: Summerfest: Cirque Cinema - The North Carolina Symphony presents this show with Troupe Vertigo on Saturday at Booth Amphitheatre. Acrobats, contortionists, and aerialists perform awe-inspiring choreography to orchestral favorites that will thrill audiences of all ages.
July 2: Don Toliver's Thee Love Sick Tour 2023 with Pi’erre Bourne - Don Toliver is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. See him on stage on Sunday at Red Hat Amphitheater.
June 20-July 2: SIX - From Tudor Queens to Pop Icons, the SIX wives of Henry VIII take the microphone to remix five hundred years of historical heartbreak into a Euphoric Celebration of 21st century girl power! This new original musical is the global sensation that everyone is losing their head over. See this show at DPAC through July 2.
Family Fun
June 30: Kidz Bop - KIDZ BOP Never Stop Live Tour comes to Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek.
Spiders: Fear to Fascination - Spiders are the focus of a new exhibit opening Saturday at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. This exhibit immerses visitors in spider facts and secrets via interactive games, augmented reality, hundreds of preserved specimens and dozens of live spiders. It runs through Oct. 8. Museum members get into this exhibit for free. Non-member admission fees are $14 for adults and $10 for children ages 3 to 10 years old.
Marbles Kids Museum's renovated splash exhibit - The new and improved splash exhibit now features a 65-foot water table containing 225 gallons of water. The water table contains 19 interactive features including boat locks, a lighthouse that spurts a mushroom fountain of water, a swirling water vortex, boats and fish with magnetic elements that can be utilized with cranes and fishing poles, floating lily pads and water squirters and flies that spin around a venus flytrap.
