Celebrate Fuquay-Varina

The town's flagship fall street festival, filling downtown Fuquay-Varina for six hours on a Saturday. Free to attend.

Fuquay-Varina has an unusual downtown, being two historic centers that grew together, and the street festival makes use of that geography rather than fighting it. There is more walkable frontage here than most towns of comparable size can offer.

What tends to be on:

• Vendor and craft stalls along the closed streets
• Live music on multiple stages
• Food trucks and local restaurants
• Children's activities and rides
• Downtown shops open and trading

Practical notes:

• Park on the edge and walk. Central parking goes early.
• Ten to four means the lunchtime peak is the busiest by a distance
• Bring cash for smaller stalls
• The downtown area is flat and stroller-friendly

This runs the same Saturday as Wendell Harvest Festival, the Wake Forest Diwali Festival and Falling for Local at Dix Park, which makes 3 October the single busiest day on the county's fall calendar. Pick one properly rather than trying to do two.

Free to attend.

Fuquay-Varina has grown quickly over the past decade and the festival has grown with it, which shows in the number of stages and the length of the vendor run. If you have not been for a few years, it is a bigger event than you remember.