Cooke Street Carnival is back for another day of block party fun in Downtown Raleigh. This year’s event, its third, will take place on the afternoon of October 15th, 2011 from 1-6pm on Cooke Street (between Lane and Jones streets -MAP) located in the Idlewild Neighborhood, just a few blocks East of the Governor’s Mansion in Downtown Raleigh. The event was inspired by the Notting Hill Carnival in London and Mardi Gras in London, as well as your typical Fall Festivals/Carnivals that happen all around the South each year.

Each year, the Cooke Street Carnival brings together thousands of Raleigh’s citizens to celebrate local arts, culture and music. Over 30 Raleigh art vendors, local food trucks, a beer truck, multiple bands and a large group of artists and circus performers are expected to participate in the event. Local folk rock bands The Small Ponds, The Tomahawks and Nests will headline the entertainment which will also include a dunking booth (Bonner Gaylord has already volunteered to get dunked), kissing booth, pie eating contests, new art photo-opp boards (by local artists Raines Thompson, Kristin Matzinsky, Sara Phoenix and Jessica Robinson), activities for the kids and other carnival inspired antics. A drum circle will keep rhythm at one end of the street while Johnny Swank plays his guitar (made from a metal Frito Lays lunch box) up and down the block throughout the day. Oh, and Mr. Tony Woodard will once again return as the emcee.

Food vendors will include Only Burger, Klausie’s Pizza, Slippin’ Sliders, Aviator Brewing, The People’s BBQ, Crumb, Pie Bird, Escazu Chocolate and coffee from Joe van Gogh with more to come. Artists and local businesses will line Cooke Street early in the morning to promote their ventures throughout the day. The carnival is an event originally started to foster community interaction and promote local artists, musicians and businesses. Compost Now, Good Girls Studio INC, Adam Peele, Metamorphosis Metals, Epona and Oak, City Blox, Amplified Art, DiggUp Tapes, Kinder Soles and City Fabric are just a few of the businesses that will be on hand selling and laying out their products for the community. Each of these are great examples of what it means to be a small business making their way in a big city.

The theme for this year’s event is Cooke Street Carnival 2011: The Sideshow. Having played second fiddle to the NC State Fair each year, the carnival has decided embrace its sideshow nature and attempt to bring out as much Circus Sideshow themed activities as possible. Look for circus freaks all along the street and bring your own interpretation of what it means to be a 21st Century Sideshow freak. There will be a stilt walker, hoola hoopers, a bearded lady, a tarot card reader and more to entertain throughout the day. Also, costumes are encouraged.

 Here is the music lineup (all bands and times are subject to change):

 1:00pm - Carnival Begins 

2:15pm - Nests

3:10pm - Pie Bird pie eating contest – Sweet

3:30pm - The Tomahawks

4:20pm – Pie Bird pie eating contest – Savory

4:45pm - The Small Ponds

5:45pm - Contest winner announcements

2-4pm -  One Tribe Ryhtm on side stage

2-4pm - Johny Swank Busking on the street

Djs before, after and between bands

Picture Courtesy of the Cooke Street Carnival

 Each year, The Cooke Street Carnival picks a locally based charity to sponsor and this year it will be the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina. So bring out your canned foods and look forward to having a fun Fall time at a carnival in the street.

 Check out more info on becoming a vendor and more at the Cooke Street Carnival website and for full information on the event, see the Cooke Street Carnival 2011 Event Page over at Facebook.

Info on last year’s carnival on the New Raleigh Blog 

More photos:http://www.flickr.com/photos/cookestreetcarnival

The Raleigh City City Council has just approved  the revised food truck ordinance (by a vote of 6-2) allowing food trucks to operate  in Downtwon Raleigh with certain limitations as of October 1, 2011.  While it has taken longer than some had hoped to reach this point, I think the proposed ordinance is a step in the right direction and has the flexibility of being revisited in the future to iron out any kinks in implementation. Keep an eye out for more food trucks in downtown Raleigh soon!

Major Provisions In Final Approved Ordinance

Trucks must be on private  commercial / industrial property (not on public streets).

Must be located at least 150 100 feet away from front door of any nearby restaurant.

May stay open to 3am (consistent with hot dog push carts).

Trucks to pay $150 Annual Permit Fee.

Today I noticed ZipQuest is running a living social deal where two people can go on a ziplining adventure for the price of one and I thought I would share some pics from my visit last fall. Here is the link to the living social cupoun deal (only a day left to snatch one up!)

The ZipQuest facility is located in a rural part of Fayetteville that is only about a hour and fifteen minute drive from North Raleigh.  When we went last year the cost was around $80 a person for a tour that takes about 2-2.5 hours with 8 different ziplines through the forest.  The current living social deal is $85 for two people so it is a pretty darn good deal.

When we went we were put with a group of 6 other people and had two great tour guides working with us on the tour. The spend the first 10-15 minutes helping everyone gear up and going over the equipment. Then they take you over to a small training zipling that is just 4 feet off the ground to teach everybody how balance on the zipline and how to safely stop yourself. The instructors take care of actually attaching your equipment to all the ziplines so you don’t have to worry about that part at all which is nice.

All the ziplines are attached to small platforms up in the trees throughout the forest. Once you go up to the first line, you will spend the entire time up in the trees using ziplines and suspension bridges to travel from tree platform to tree platform. Some are just short zips while the others are much longer, the longest zip is around 800 feet.

The tour is very scenic with views high in the tree tops from sixteen different tree platforms and a three different suspension bridges with one that goes over Carver Falls.  Needless to say there are lots of great photo opportunities. You are allowed to bring a camera, but you need to be carfeul that you don’t drop it along the way.

I highly recommend checking ZipQuest out if you are looking for something different to do on a nice fall weekend.  It is a gret family day out, but if you plan to take your kids along just remember that according to their website they must be at least 10 years old to zip and must weigh between 70 and 260 lbs. For more information check out their website or follow them on facebook.

You’ve probably heard by now that the biggest food truck rodeo in the Triangle to date is scheduled to take place this Sunday in Durham.  It appears it is being organized by the good folks at Only Burger and will include at least 17 other food trucks. The most trucks I’ve ever seen in one place is 7 or 8 so this is going to be huge!

When: Sunday August 14, 5:30pm-8:00pm

Where: Durham Central Park – Farmers Market Pavillion (website)

Food Trucks Scheduled

Bulkogi BBQ, Chirba Chirba Dumpling, Only Burger, Pie Pushers, Parlour, Daisy Cakes, Klausie’s Pizza, Will & Pops, Ko Kyu, Grilled Cheese Bus, Slippin Sliders, Farmhand Foods, Parlez Vous Crepe, Sweet N Savory, Dons Classic Ices, Crossroad Kettle Corn, Kona Chameleon Coffee, Kona Ice and possibly a few others!

I suggest you get there early and avoid the lines. These events can get very crowded! See you there!

This week’s picture was taken in Durham while enjoying a nice cold pint of Fullsteam’s Rocket Science IPA.  On this particular evening the Will & Pops  food truck made a very welcome Monday night visit. 

Fullsteam offers a great selection of beers that “celebrate the culinary and agricultural heritage of the South”. They also have guest taps offering a few beers from other local Triangle breweries.  Since Opening last August, their family friendly tavern at the brewery has become a favorite location for community events.

You can typically find one or more of the popular local food trucks parked outside the brewery on any given evening. Check out their website for more info about their beer making philosophy and get the latest news on events and food trucks scheduled.

The ComeUnityNow Festival will take place tomorrow July 30th from 10a.m. to 10p.m. in Raleigh’s Downtown City Plaza.  This is a FREE family-friendly festival that celebrates the spirit of Raleigh through music, art and service.  Featureing live bands, dancers and artists. Wake Interfaith Disaster Team and The Green Chair Project will benefit from the proceeds of this festival, which will be used to help the many victims in their recovery effort of the tornadoes of April 16th.

Musical performers will entertain audiences and be involved in jam sessions throughout the day. There will also be several local food trucks on hand including the Grilled Cheese Bus and Klausie’s Pizza.

Check out the event website for details about the music schedule and free parking locations. Stay cool!

Scene From May 2011 Latte Art Throwdown at Jubala!

If you enjoy the  local coffee scene, tonight is your chance to catch some of the Triangle’s most talented baristas put their skills to the ultimate test at the Thursday Night Throwdown (TNT) latte art competition at Jubala Village Coffee in Raleigh.

The event is hosted by Counter Culture Coffee and the great folks at Jubala. It features numerous barsitas from the various coffee bars throughout the the Triangle. If you haven’t experienced one of these competitions yet you are in for a treat. Baristas go head to head crafting their best latte art which is then judged by the audience. The winner moves on to the next round to compete again until the ultiamte champion is crowned.

Want to check out the action from the comfort of your own home? Imprompt2 Films will be on hand as well providing a Live Stream of the event on the imprompt2 website  for folks like who can’t make it!

Example of "Rosetta" Latte Art

Event Details
- Date/Time: Thursday July 28th 7-9pm
- Location: Jubala Village – 8450 Honeycutt Road – Raleigh, NC
- Free admission
- Open to the public (Vote for your favorite latte art!)
- $5 for baristas to enter the competition

I stopped by North Hills last night and found it jumping! I forgot that the put host live music every Thursday evening from 6-9pm as part of their Midtown Summer Beach Music Concert Series. The band performing last night was called Liquid Pleasure.  As you can see from the pictures they drew quiet a crowd.

The stage is set up in front of the movie theater inbetween Chick fil-A and Five Guys and has a nice area in front for dancing.  There is also a “kid zone” set up to the left of the stage. Folks arrive early to set up seats throughout the courtyard (which is closed to traffic during concert nights).  There are several good palces to grab a quick bite to eat or drink in that section of North Hills and I also spotted a budweiser beer truck selling drafts for $4.

 The band playing last night did a great job getting people up on their feet and on the dance floor. The theme for the concert series is “Beach Music”, but each band is different featuring different styles and instruments. For a full lisiting of the bands booked for the summer series check out the North Hills website here.

While the “Beach Music” theme in general lends itself to a slightly older crowd, the turnout  was a good mix of older adults, young families, and teens.  It is a popular event so make sure you get there early to avoid parking hassles. I arrived around 6pm and the area was already filling up and parking was starting to get challenging.

On my way back to my car I spotted the “ShuttleBug” transporting folks over to the concert from the other side of North Hills across Six Forks Road. I think this is a great idea and hope to see them build on this service in the future as the complex continues to expand. You can view additional photos from last night’s concert in my flickr photo album here.

I have always wanted to go on this tour, but always seem to be busy each time it rolls around. It sounds like such a cool event so I wanted to make sure others knew about it so you don’t miss this fun opportunity to see urban chickens! The Sixth Annual Raleigh Tour d’Coop will be held this Saturday May 21, 2011.

The Henside the Beltline Tour d’Coop is a one-day garden tour in and around downtown Raleigh. Open to adults and children, the tour showcases various hen houses and breeds. Coop owners are on hand at each location to discuss the how-tos of chicken keeping and there are opportunities for photographing and getting to know the chickens. The wide variety of coop styles as well as the surrounding back yard gardens make the tour interesting for the whole family while providing an opportunity to learn about raising chickens in a healthy neighbor friendly environment, and see how families integrate chickens into their gardening practices. For more information about the tour and where you can get your tickets on Saturday visit the event website here.

Lately I have been visiting a lot of Triangle Area coffee shops.  I enjoy the different vibe each one offers and am a big fan of how they all feature great locally roasted coffee.  Awhile back I checked out a cool little coffee shop called Cup A Joe in Hillsborough.  The shop is housed in a small and somewhat narrow brick faced building and has some really neat exposed brick wall along the interior.  Despite its small size, it does a great job of providing a cozy and welcoming environmental to enjoy some excellent coffee.

As you enter the coffee shop there are a small handful of tables on either side along the exposed red brick walls adorned with works from a local artist (this month’s art work by Dorothy Whitmore).  If you liek to enjoy your drinks outside there are also two tables set up out front along the sidewalk.  Cup A Joe serves coffee roasted right there in Hillsborough by local coffee roaster Joe Van Gogh.  I am not a coffee expert, but my wife and I both agreed it tasted fantastic and made for some excellent cappuccinos and lattes.

If you want to take some of their great coffee home with you or get some as a gift for a friend they have a self serve station where you can scoop and weigh out your own whole bean coffee for purchase.  Several different roasts are available including decaf options.  If you don’t have your own coffee bean grinder at home the barista is more than happy to do it for you there at the shop.

Downtown Hillsborough is a place I still need to explore much more, but I am happy to have already discovered this cool coffee shop where I can relax and plan my future visits.  You can learn more about Cup A Joe and stay updated on upcoming events at the shop by following them on their facebook fanpage here. 

If you are looking for a good excuse to head out that way for a visit consider visiting downtown Hillsborough for one of their Last Friday artwalk events organized  by the  Hillsborough Arts Council.  During these monthly events the dowtown area is buzzing with people visiting local art galleries, studios and shops and a free concert is featured on the old courthouse lawn.  However, no visit for Last Friday would be complete without stopping by Cup A Joe for their monthly Pie Contest!  The pie contest for May will feature Strawberry Pies.   For more info about the Last Fridays festivities check out the event website.