May is going to be a seriously fun month packed with a Greek Festival, Lemurpalooza, a Strawberry Festival, Feast From The Furnace, Blues and Brews Festival, Canine Day, and a whole lot more. Here are the month’s top events.
Storytime on the Roof
May 1, 2019 @ 10:30 am to 11:15 am at The Durham Hotel
This summer, kids and their grownups are invited to join the children’s librarians from Durham County’s North Regional Library for Storytime on the Roof. Bring a favorite pillow or blanket for sitting & don’t forget to stop by the coffee shop for coffee, juice, pastries, cookies, and lunch before or after storytime.
Wednesdays starting at 10:30am May 1 | June 5 | Jul 3 | Aug 7 | Sep 4 | Oct 2 | Oct 30* * Special Halloween end of the season party Pre-registration is required here: https://events.durhamcountylibrary.org/events
Southern Fried Queer Pride Durham 2019
May 3, 2019 @ 1:00 pm to 12:00 am at Durham, North Carolina
Southern Fried Queer Pride is a QTPoC-led queer and trans, arts & advocacy organization and festival based in Atlanta, GA. The 3 day lineup includes live music, workshops, dance parties, and more!
Bike Month Kick-Off Party
May 3, 2019 @ 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm at Durty Bull Brewing Company
Bike Month is a celebration and call to action reinforcing Bike Durham’s belief that everyone should have access to safe and affordable transportation regardless of race, wealth, gender identity, ability or where they live.
Celebrate the beginning of Bike Month at Durty Bull with a casual ride followed by a fun, social event for bike enthusiasts and mobility justice advocates to celebrate and emphasize biking in Durham. There will be raffle prizes, kid station, and more! Casual bike ride departs at 5:30 sharp (45 minute ride, about 5-6 miles) leaving from Durty Bull.
Liberty Arts Peep Show Fundraiser Party & Art Preview
May 3, 2019 @ 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Liberty Arts
When was the last time you saw a good Peep Show for a great cause?!! Be among the first shoppers in the door to get your pick of amazing art and fabulous silent auction goodies before the Liberty Arts Annual Spring Show and Sale Starts the next day.
Attendees great cocktails and delectable appetizers from many wonderful Durham restaurants including Toast, Lucky’s Delicatessen, Foster’s Market Durham, Dame’s Chicken and Waffles, Bull City Burger & Brewery, Bull City Ciderworks, Honeygirl Meadery. Enjoy live Music from The Other Side of Lonely. Tickets are $30 and are on sale now! 100% of the proceeds from the tickets go to The Liberty Arts Community Scholarship Fund.
Canine Field Day
May 4, 2019 @ 10:00 am to 11:30 am at Rock Quarry Park
Enjoy a day in the park with your furry friend! Canine Field Day activities include the Hyperflite Skyhoundz State Championship Competition, agility obstacle course, games & contests, demonstrations, and pet-friendly vendors.
Make friends with other pets and their humans, or even come just to pet all the cute dogs. This a free event- rain or shine!
Hayti Neighborhood History Walking Tour
May 4, 2019 @ 10:00 am to 11:30 am at Hayti Heritage Center
So, how do you pronounce H-A-Y-T-I ? What are the Hayti Neighborhood’s connections to the island of Haiti? …to Black Wall St.? …to the city of Durham at large? These questions are answered while many more are raised in this 75-minute tour of Fayetteville St., the commercial center of Durham’s largest African American residential neighborhood.
Stops include the neighborhood’s founding institutions: St. Joseph’s AME church, The Carolina Times, Lincoln Hospital and more! Stories include: Women of Hayti, Power of Black Churches and Urban Renewal. The tour begins and ends at the Hayti Heritage Center. Tickets cost between $12 – $20 depending on availability. Children are free.
Durham Greek Festival 2019
May 4, 2019 @ 11:00 am to 8:00 pm at Saint Barbara greek Orthodox Church
Experience the fabulous flavors, sights, and sounds of Greece on Saturday, May 4 and Sunday, May 5 at the Durham Greek Festival! Admission is free. Enjoy favorite Greek foods including gyros, grilled chicken pita wraps, pork souvlaki, spanakopita (spinach and feta cheese pie) and pastitsio (the Greek take on lasagna). Kick back with Greek wine and beer at the Taverna. Refuel with traditional coffee and iced frappés at the Kafenion. Live performances include the bouzouki band “Opa!” and traditional Greek folk dancing.
CPSC Strawberry Festival
May 4, 2019 @ 11:00 am to 3:00 pm at Old North Durham Park
The Strawberry Festival is a family-fun community event in Durham put on by Central Park School for Children. It’s held the first Saturday in May at Old North Durham Park. The park is behind the elementary school building at 724 Foster Street in downtown Durham.
For more than a decade, they’ve been chopping berries, painting signs, spearing juicy lemons with spicy peppermint sticks, enjoying fantastic local artists, and creating a strawberry-filled day each year where everyone can be a kid again.
Lemurpalooza!
May 4, 2019 @ 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Duke Lemur Center
Come meet the unique primates of Madagascar! This will be a special experience that allows families to stroll and view the animals at their own pace, rather than our usual guided tours. Keepers, educators, researchers, and more will be on hand to talk about the lemurs and answer your questions. Engaging educational activities will be provided for kids and kids at heart.
NOTE: This event is so popular there are TWO dates for May- the 4th and 31st.
Please note that RESERVATIONS MUST BE MADE IN ADVANCE, as only a limited number of spaces are available – and this event tends to sell out FAST! Learn more and reserve your space at http://lemur.duke.edu/lemurpalooza
Derby Day at the UClub!
May 4, 2019 @ 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at The University Club
Put on your fancy hats, seersucker suits and cheer on your favorite horse as you watch the Kentucky Derby and listen to entertainment provided by The Bloomsbury Boys. Chef Alejandro will prepare several Derby inspired food stations. Enjoy the official drink of the Kentucky Derby – the Old Forrester Mint Julep. Prizes will be awarded to guests with the best Derby attire, and our friends at ZimZoom
$45 per person or $40 per person for groups of 4 or more.
Star Wars Yoga & Jedi Mindfulness
May 4, 2019 @ 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm at American Tobacco Campus
Head to ATC for a fun approach to mindfulness for the whole family. Join Growga for Jedi Mind-fulness to celebrate Star Wars day with Family Star Wars Yoga before the Durham Bulls Game!
May 12 (Mother’s Day) Baby Goat Festival
May 12, 2019 @ 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm at Prodigal Farm
You can tour the 94-acre farm and milking parlor, play with the wee goats, meet the milking does, and taste nationally award-winning cheeses. Activities include things like soapmaking demonstrations by Red Mountain Goodness, beekeeping demonstrations, music, mead tastings by Honeygirl Meadery, longsword demonstrations, and more.
Please note – you just need 1 ticket per car or van – regardless of how many people are inside!
Free Admission for Durham County Residents at Museum of Life and Science
May 14, 2019 at Museum of Life and Science
The Museum of Life and Science is a great interactive science park on 84 acres. It includes a two-story science center, a large butterfly conservatory, and 60 species of live animals in its outdoor exhibits.
Durham Community Days is one of the ways they provide access for all families in our community. Admission is waived for Durham County residents with ID.
Bark in the Park
Bark in the Park are dog-friendly promo nights at select Durham Bulls games. Human tickets for the event are priced at $9, and canine tickets are priced at $5. Proceeds from all canine tickets will be donated to Second Chance Pet Adoptions. Grab tickets here.
See all the 2019 dates on our guide to the Bulls Promotional Nights.
Hub Farm Spring Festival
May 18, 2019 @ 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at 117 Milton Road, Durham, NC 27712
Come join us for a day of FREE Spring fun at the Hub Farm! We’ll have tasty food, strawberry taste tests in the garden, tree climbing in our woods, boating on the pond, tours around the property, a plant sale by Northern Ag students, pollinator activities hosted by local organizations, and a few demonstrations in our brand new apiary! This year we will also be featuring the projects of Durham Public Schools Teachers as BOLD Fellows.
All ages of humans are welcome, but unfortunately, they cannot accommodate pets because of their own livestock. Of course, service animals are welcome.
Exchange Club’s 5th Annual Durham Blues and Brews Festival
May 18, 2019 @ 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm at Durham Central Park
The Durham Blues and Brews Festival is the main fundraising effort of the Exchange Club of Greater Durham, a service-oriented civic club. In 2015 they set out to create a unique music festival experience that served only NC craft beer with proceeds benefiting the Durham community. The total contributed to local Durham charities and programs has exceeded $120,000.
Enjoy UNLIMITED 12 oz pours from North Carolina’s finest Breweries while listening to live blues bands. Tickets range from $20-$100 and can be purchased here.
Feast From The Furnace
May 18, 2019 @ 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at Liberty Arts
Watch as Durham-based designer Elijah Leed makes beautiful hand-blown glass art while you sip wine and feast on an array of small plate appetizers cooked in the same furnace.
The evening will kickoff with a leisurely tour of the Liberty Arts studio where you can interact with some of the very talented artists and browse the art they create. This one-of-a-kind fundraising dining event is one you won’t want to miss.
Storytime at Locopops
May 21, 2019 @ 10:30 am to 11:30 am at Locopops
Join us for storytime and a craft at the Locopops Dessert Cafe in Durham. Local author Sarah Scruggs King will read her book Franny the Nanny in Gumdrops for Breakfast. Kids can make a popsicle bookmark craft. Recommended for ages 3 to 7.
All are welcome! Enjoy a treat with your ticket! Locopops Dessert Cafe offers coffee, pie, popsicles, ice cream and more. Each $5 ticket includes $3 of dessert cafe credit. Each $10 ticket includes $6 of dessert cafe credit. Credit must be used during the event. Tickets are required.
2019 Walk for the Animals
May 25, 2019 @ 10:00 am to 1:00 pm at Duke University East Campus
Grab a leash and join us Saturday, May 25, for the 2019 Walk for the Animals, at Duke University’s East Campus lawn. With your commitment to animal welfare, and involvement with the Walk, APS can give Durham animals the second chance they deserve – to live the lives they have always imagined!
Lake Michie Boat Parade
May 26, 2019 @ 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm at Lake Michie Recreation Area
Celebrate Memorial Day with family and friends while watching boats lit up after dark in the Lake Michie Memorial Day Boat Parade! There is no fee to watch the parade. Preregistration is required to register a boat in the parade.
Lemurpalooza!
May 31, 2019 @ 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Duke Lemur Center
Come meet the unique primates of Madagascar! This will be a special experience that allows families to stroll and view the animals at their own pace, rather than our usual guided tours. Keepers, educators, researchers, and more will be on hand to talk about the lemurs and answer your questions. Engaging educational activities will be provided for kids and kids at heart. Guests can enjoy dinner from a fabulous local food truck, or pack a picnic to enjoy. Community fun, adorable lemurs, and an opportunity to conserve the environment and endangered animals all add up to a perfect spring evening!
Please note that RESERVATIONS MUST BE MADE IN ADVANCE, as only a limited number of spaces are available – and this event tends to sell out FAST! Learn more and reserve your space at http://lemur.duke.edu/lemurpalooza
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Author: Best of the Bull Staff
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