It’s playtime! The most famous LEGO exhibition in the world—from Exhibition Hub and Fever, the same team behind the successful Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience—will feature 90+ LEGO sculptures from artist Nathan Sawaya, both originals and reimagined versions of famous masterpieces like Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and Da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” at Pleasant Valley Promenade. Lego! theartofthebrickexpo.com
Through 6/11 The Weight of Everything We Know
“The limit does not exist!”—for love, physics and everything in between. Observe the undeniable weight of relationships and mathematics via this romantic comedy tale. Time to get astro-physical. theatreraleigh.com
Through 6/30 Scaffold
Art is for all. Explore this inclusive exhibition at Artspace feat. 37 NC women and nonbinary artists spanning a slew of styles and backgrounds. That’s the art we like to see. myfourdots.com
Through 6/30 De Colores Art Exhibition
Grab a look at amazing art from an array of artists reppin’ “the rich diversity and creative power of the Latino/x and Hispanic community.”diamanteartsculturalcenter.org
6/1–3 Jessica Kirson
A hilariously relatable comedy powerhouse, this comedian, consultant, producer and writer is sure to make you giggle with her vulnerability, silly characters and sheer funniness. goodnightscomedy.com
6/1–4 UNC Health Championship
For a tee-rific time, go for the green at the Raleigh Country Club via fare complements of Empire Eats, volunteer opps and themed days. Fore! unchealthchampionship.com
6/1–30 Pride Month
“Not gonna hide my pride.” Love out loud throughout the whole month of June via a slew of Pride events—from parties to runs to themed drinks and more. raleighmag.com
6/1 Triangle Word Clash
Calling all wordsmiths! Witness poet teams from around the state flaunt their best poetry prose and, ahem, slam the competition. ncmuseumofhistory.org
6/1, Thursdays Midtown Beach Music Series
“Wasted away again in Margaritaville”—er, North Hills! Answering the call of summertime is this highly anticipated annual beach music concert series taking place at Coastal Credit Union Midtown Park every Thursday evening. BYO beach chair. visitnorthhills.com
Game face: on. Catch these softball champs swingin’ and slidin’ at NC State for an evening sure to steal your attention. Just take it one pitch at a time… nchsaa.org
6/2–4 2023 Special Olympics North Carolina (SONC) Summer Games
Cheer on over 1,300 athletes at this very special sporting event feat. basketball, bowling, gymnastics, powerlifting, swimming and volleyball. And don’t miss Friday’s opening ceremony highlighting performances by Special Theatre Arts of Raleigh (STAR), Catch 22 a cappella singers and Cirque de Vol. Ready to go for the gold? sonc.net
6/2–4 USA Fencing Raleigh SJCC & Division II North American Cup
What’s the point? Well, the first USA Fencing event ever hosted at the Raleigh Convention Center (!) is taking place this week. Looking sharp, indeed. usafencing.org
6/2–7/12 To Market, To Market: A Group Exhibition
“This little piggy went to the market.” … And this art exhibit is honoring time-honored traditions—from flower markets and flea markets to fish markets, spice markets, fruit markets and more. BRB, we’re mark(et)ing our calendar (!). galleryc.net
6/2–18 Hands on a Hardbody
How far are you willing to go to drive away with the “American Dream?” Journey with 10 Texans as they compete to keep one hand on a truck in this based-on-a-true story roots-rock musical tale. raleighlittletheatre.org
6/3 Bubbles and Brisket If you like beef cuts and you cannot lie, moo-ve over to Smoky Hollow for NC F&B Podcast’s third annual Bubbles & Brisket bonanza feat. all the brisket and Champs you can handle. ncfbpodcast.com
6/3 Family Fun Fest!
Corral the fam for fun at the museum via crafts, music, storytelling and more. Hands up for hands-on fun! ncmuseumofhistory.org
6/3 Haven Farm Grand Opening
New haven: found. Come out to Knightdale for the grand opening of Haven Farm’s garden gift shop/venue space with a yoga sesh, fab food truck fare, customized cocktails and more to boot. haven-farm.com
6/3 Raleigh’s International Food Festival Crimped hair, don’t care! Rock your best ’70s and ’80s fits at City Plaza for a costume contest; get caught on the kiss cam; go on a scavenger hunt; and shake what yo’ mama gave ya for the dance party TikTok challenge (winner gets a prize!)—all to work up an appetite to feast on bites and bevs from 60+ countries. Raleigh’s gone global! ncvibes.com
6/3 Summertime Beer Fest
Sign us up for summertime sips! For the second year in a row, tap into 25+ NC beers and take home a commemorative glass from Clouds Brewing Taproom. Cheers! cloudsbrewing.com
6/3 Summerfest: The Music of Whitney Houston Higher love found as the NC Symphony fetes Whitney with a night of powerhouse ballads by The Prom Queen of Soul. And “IIIIAAAAEEII… 🎶” ncsymphony.org
6/3 Tequila Lunch
What doesn’t tequila us makes us stronger. Enjoy this four-course tasting menu in the garden complements of chef Lam Nyugen and Multicultural Ambassador Patron Erica Marcello. Hey, it’s worth a shot. @rosewaterkitchen
6/3 V Foundation’s 30th Anniversary Gala
Cheers to 30 years! The V Foundation for Cancer Research is celebrating this milestone with a cocktail reception and wine-pairing dinner at Reynolds Coliseum, hosted by 1985 Wolfpack graduate and NC State Athletics Director of Content Strategy Jeff Gravley and famed sports anchor Jay Harris. “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up!” v.org
6/3–4 NC Outdoor Living Show
Nature is pretty neat. Make friends with outdoor enthusiasts all weekendlong at the NC State Fairgrounds for workshops, tastings, a “battle of the beards” and more. ncoutdoorlivingshow.com
6/3–10 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship
Take us out to the ball game(s)… for two classifications of the NCHSAA Baseball State Championships slated to slide into Holly Springs’ Ting Park. Play ball! ncaa.com
6/4 Pay-What-You-Can Food Truck Rodeo
For fab fare, fun and friends, roll up to A Place at the Table’s second-annual food truck soiree. Let’s dig in! tableraleigh.org
6/4 Satisfaction (The International Rolling Stones Tribute Show) You can’t always get what you want—but you can get what you need as this rock ’n’ roll tribute band treads the boards in Raleigh for the Stones 60th anny. lincolntheatre.com
6/6 Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers
Sometimes that’s just the way it is. … So make some noise for some ’Flicted fun with this seasoned musician famed for his 1986 Grammy-winning debut album with The Range and part-time membership with Grateful Dead. martinmariettacenter.com
6/7 Hot Summer Nights
Free your mind…! Everyone but scrubs and waterfall chasers (it wasn’t me) should spend a hot summer night with beautiful girls (and boys)—er, TLC, Shaggy, En Vogue + Sean Kingston. walnutcreekamphitheatre.com
6/7 Lifelong Hike: Picture Creek
Take a walk on the wild side—literally—through the world’s largest population of the endangered smooth coneflower in peak bloom during this trek at Picture Creek nature preserve. naturalsciences.org
6/7 Wine 101 Classified “R”
There’s no need to wine when you’re learning all about the grape deets of the drink. And as chef Doreen Colondres says “one life is not enough to taste all the grapes in the world.” Cheers to that. vitishouse.com
Hot—er, cold!—off the presses… juices are on trend—and, no, it’s not 2012. … If you thought the trend was so 10 years ago—you’re right—and it’s clearly packed with staying power. The main squeeze has now gained global popularity for its myriad health benefits and on-the-go ease—NTM a host of celebs reach for ’em (s/o to that green juice Gwyneth Paltrow brought to court). Thanks to its immune-building, well, building blocks, the potable potion continues to rank high in beverage market trends. In fact, according to Market Data Forecast, “the cold-pressed juice market size is expected to reach $1.05 billion by the end of 2027 in terms of value, with a compound annual growth rate of about 7%.” No surprise, given the immune system takes the cake—er, juice—for health goals at 66%, followed by digestion at 56%, heart health at 53%, and so on, according to FMCG Gurus. Add to that the bang for your buck—read: not having to buy all the expensive low-shelf-life fruits and veggies and press them yourself—and, well, it’s sort of a no-brainer that this liquid gold is likely here to stay. And if you’re lookin’ to up your flavor game, Flavorman predicts a tropical lean for 2023 (hey, pineapple, mango, grapefruit!)—and that’s a vibe we can get behind. Here, the juices that have us sippin’ into summer.
If you’re lookin’ for QT with your four-legged bestie (who isn’t), Raleigh’s got no shortage of places to ruff it. Want to pamper your pooch? This trifecta of dog bars, bakeries and dog parks is sure to get a round of a-paws.
Hause of Dogs Ready to let the dogs out? Put two paws up for a pet boutique, barkery and birthday paw-ty space—this Smoky Hollow pup oasis is essential paradise for four-legged friends and their companions. And the spot has plans to partner with neighboring businesses for community events such as Doga—aka yoga with shelter dogs roaming between the mats (did all the dog people just let out a collective squeal?!). Smoky Hollow, @hauseofdogsraleigh
If lil Lucy can hold her licker (had to), trot down the street where happy hour = happy hound at West Street Dog—aka an indoor dog bar (!) with a bonus off-leash dog park… so a pup pourhouse, if you will. For the extra playful pups, doggy day care and evening/weekend social hours serve up extra ops for them to join the pack. Smoky Hollow, @weststdog
Dogs “wuv” Dix—esp. romping around unleashed in its size-specific play spaces. And pet parents dig not having to sweat their Pomeranian getting stepped on by a Saint Bernard. Sun’s out, paws out! DTR, dixpark.org
Raleigh’s first (!) cupcake shop/boutique bakery celebrates a milestone birthday.
Want a piece of this? Sara Fitzpatrick has proven you can (literally) have your cake and eat it too, as her treasured The Cupcake Shoppe celebrates its 16th anny this year. After spending ~seven years in the corporate world, Fitzpatrick felt a lack of fulfillment in her career—and craving creativity/passion in her profession, she began tapping into the possibility of a sweeter gig.
“At the time, I was living in Florida and felt very interested in Raleigh,” says Fitzpatrick. “I wanted to get back to my home state and bring something to the area that seemed to be lacking. It was a combination of a love of beautiful sweets and wanting to start something of my own.”
And she truly baked her business up from scratch. After compiling a business plan, testing recipes, doing research on the DTR sector and drawing inspiration from bakeries in other cities, Fitzpatrick stumbled upon her storefront during a visit home one Thanksgiving.
“I discovered this space with its really big windows,” recalls Fitzpatrick. “The appeal for me was the idea of the neighborhood bakery. I wanted a quaint cozy cafe where people could come enjoy a pastry with a cup of coffee—but could also serve what I felt was an untapped market: the custom cake and specialty dessert niche.”
Before transforming into the cake concept it is today, the Glenwood South digs housed an old furniture refinishing warehouse, The Highsmith Interior Building. “The space was not anything you see today,” explains Fitzpatrick. “We had to transform it from the dirt up. When we saw the space, I knew I was ready to take the leap—and that was the spark that ignited the fire for me to jump in.”
To boot, building and maintaining a small biz is no piece of cake. Fitzpatrick attributes passion, commitment and community support to her sweet spot’s success over the shop’s 16-year tenure. “The biggest thing is, you have to be in it for the long haul,” she says. “Some years are easier than others… and there’s no handbook.”
So what makes Raleigh’s first custom cake shop so sweet? “We bake fresh every morning,” Fitzpatrick maintains. “The motto behind the product is you eat with your eyes, but it also has to taste really, really great.”
“Since we are a small-batch bakery, another special joy for us is that we are able to take requests from customers—and they bring us great ideas,” adds Arlen Mabe, the shop’s front-of-house manager. To add icing to the cake, the menu stays up-to-date with fresh dessert selects (in addition to its always available list of fan faves!).
To signify its sweet 16, the shop is debuting a special menu next month (from July 27–29), feat. fun flavors and added flair. Think: funfetti blondies, sprinkle cookies, sparkle lemonade (made with edible glitter!), and double chocolate brownies topped with giant swirls of frosting and fun sprinkles, to name but a few.
Cake connoisseurs can also keep an eye on Instagram throughout the week leading up to the big day for throwback pics and trivia Qs (winners score gift cards!)—plus, swing by the store July 27 to see a chalk mural by Peak City Chalk outside the shop and a selfie station/balloons inside.
“We are so proud to be able to tell people we’ve been open for 16 years,” says Mabe. “We sometimes feel like an unassuming storefront—but we stay true to what we do and I’m glad to see that it keeps drawing people in.” Cheers to many more years of sweetness! thecupcakeshopperaleigh.com
The Wandering Moose to open first brick-and-mortar
Not all who wander are lost… And this fan-fave food truck has found its new brick-and-mortar home in North Raleigh, expected to open end of June/early July. The tavern-style outpost boasts a batch of rough-cut barn wood details throughout the interior, complete with barstools, tables and chairs sourced from recently shuttered Sawmill Taproom (co-owner Matt Lundgren previously tended bar there for 10 years)—plus pinball machines (!) and a patio area with sunshades, tea lights and plants. The food truck will be stationed outside, dishing all your Wandering Moose faves—with the op to get food to-go—while the full bar will feature 10 beers on tap and five to six signature ’tails (think an old fashioned, margarita, bloody mary, etc.). “We want to have that just kind of simple neighborhood bar feel,” says Lundgren. “We’re not doing anything over the top; it’s gonna be really simplistic. Our goal is to have a bar for everybody.” That includes sports fans… as the entire space—both indoors and out—is littered with TVs, making it a prime game day spot. @wanderingmoosenc
