What’s Happening Now!
A curated list of upcoming community events, activities, and gatherings happening in Raleigh and the surrounding area.
October 2026 Events
Raleigh Wide Open Music Festival
October 1-3, 6:00 pm | Free
Presented by PNC Bank and produced by PineCone, the festival features live music across multiple stages, local food and drinks, art vendors, and family-friendly activities.
Fuquay-Varina Festival
October 2, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm | Free
Enjoy live music, carnival rides, a beer garden, food trucks, an artist village, a kids zone, the King BMX Bike Show, The Big Dino Show and more!
Movie Night: Frankenweenie
October 2, 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm | Free
Enjoy a spooky outdoor movie night with a screening of Frankenweenie at the Great Lawn Pavilion in Downtown Cary Park. Bring your family and friends for a fun evening under the stars!
‘Taste of Asia’ in Raleigh
October 3, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm | Free
This free multicultural festival features authentic Asian cuisine, live cultural performances, a traditional fashion show, dragon boat-themed activities and family fun!
Falling for Local in Dix Park
October 3, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm | Free
Celebrate fall at Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh with a free, family-friendly festival featuring live music, games, hay rides, a pumpkin patch, and more. Bring the whole family and enjoy a fun-filled day of autumn festivities!
Wendell Harvest Festival
October 3, 9:00 am to 9:00 pm | Free
Enjoy a full day of family fun in Downtown Wendell with a parade, Kids Village, live performances, a children’s entrepreneur market, a nacho eating contest, foam party, magic show, and more. Stick around for an evening concert featuring The Embers. The festival takes place rain or shine!
Fall film series in the park: Beetlejuice (1988)
October 3, 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm | Free
Join Durham Central Park, 501 Foster Street, for a family-friendly outdoor movie nights! Bring blankets, cushions or lawn chairs for comfortable seating.
Movie Night: Halloween Double Feature
October 24, 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm | Free
Celebrate Halloween at Downtown Scary Park with a spooky double-feature movie night! Enjoy family-friendly activities followed by Disney’s The Haunted Mansion, then stick around for the classic supernatural thriller Poltergeist. Bring blankets, cushions, and chairs, and grab a bite from on-site food trucks while enjoying a frightfully fun night in the park.
Hollyfest
October 31, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm | Free
Celebrate the Holly Springs community at HollyFest, a free, family-friendly tradition featuring local artists, businesses, food vendors, children’s activities and live entertainment. This year’s festivities also celebrate the Town’s 150th anniversary with line dancing, a scavenger hunt, a mini pumpkin patch and more!
North Carolina State Capitol Tours
Saturdays | 10:00 am to 5:00 pm | FREE
N.C. State Capitol
One East Edenton Street, Raleigh, NC
North Carolina State Capitol Visitor Information
Enjoy free guided or self-guided tours of the historic State Capitol. Visitors can explore the building weekdays from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm or Saturdays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Wake County Public Libraries Events
Daily | Times Vary | Free
Events | Wake County Government
Discover upcoming community events, programs and activities hosted by Wake County Public Libraries. The calendar features a variety of free events for all ages and families throughout the year. Check the schedule often for new additions and details!
Opportunities to Join the Child Welfare Workforce
Tomeko Brown
North Carolina is one of nine states in the United States that operates as a federally mandated, state supervised, county administered social services system. This means that social services (including child welfare services and adult services) receive funding and authorization of programs at the federal level. The state (Health and Human Services) provides oversight and support while each county agency is responsible for the delivery and administration of necessary services and benefits to children and families across the state.
Since 2015, North Carolina Child Welfare Services has been working on agency-wide improvements in areas such as service provision, family and youth leadership, staff development, and improving services and support for youth in out-of-home care. Throughout these past eight years, the state has witnessed many positive impacts in communities across the state as a result of these improvements. While county-child welfare agencies continue to raise their standard of care and professionalism in service to their communities, one of the most difficult challenges they face in recent times is staffing shortages. Across the state of North Carolina, many county child welfare agencies are working at less than full capacity staff levels, which leaves the workforce and community feeling the strain. In the field of social work, there are many unique opportunities to assist family members, children, and youth. Social workers help families to tap into their strengths and build resilient support networks to work through personal challenges and make their families safer and healthier. Honoring the principles such as “families are experts about themselves,” “judgements can wait,” and “everyone has strengths,” child welfare staff work tirelessly with families to keep them together, increase access to resources for parents and youth, and engage other community agencies to actively support overall family, child, and youth, wellness. If you or someone you know may be interested in joining the child welfare workforce, please take a look at what opportunities may be available to you here!
For more information about child welfare jobs, visit the links below.
- https://www.ncdhhs.gov/childwelfareworks
- https://www.ncdhhs.gov/divisions/social-services/about-dss/general-information
- https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/services.pdf
To look at our archive of past events, you can click the button below.