It seems as if September is the month of festivals in our area. Following Hopscotch last weekend is SPARKcon in downtown Raleigh this weekend, and the following weekend is the Carrboro Music Festival in Carrboro. With Hopscotch out of the way we now have time to cover these longtime favorites in our area.
At 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 16, I will be joined by Gerry Williams, the coordinator for the 14th annual Carrboro Music Festival. The CMF has a long tradition and was one of the first music festivals in our state, starting before Hopscotch, Troika, Artsplosure, and SPARKcon, when it was called The Fete De la Musique. In 2002 the festival changed its name to what it is today but the goal remains the same: feed music to the masses. The event is taking place on Sunday, Sept. 25, and will feature 180 different acts at 25 venues. Join Gerry and me as we look to the past and the future at this great event.
At 6 p.m. musicSPARK organizer Stephanie Brinson is stopping by to chat about the SPARKcon art festival in downtown Raleigh. SPARKcon began six years ago and musicSPARK has been one of the central SPARKs throughout its duration. It started Thursday night and will continue through Sunday evening. This year’s musicSPARK is free for the first time and is very different from previous SPARKs. Listen in with Stephanie and me as we chat about this year’s event.
Continuing on with the SPARKcon trend at 7 p.m., I will be joined by Nikhil Shah of Locus Recordings, a start-up record label from Raleigh. Nikhil is providing the music for “Wear What You Are,” one of the fashion shows of fashionSPARK happening on Friday evening. This one will mainly exhibit Raleigh Denim, which will be featuring 17 new “looks” in City Plaza at 8 p.m. Nikhil is also providing the music mixtape for the afterparty at the Flanders Art Gallery, which will be following the fashion show. The afterparty is from 9 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
As always, “The Local Beat” starts at 5 p.m. and runs through 8 p.m. every Friday evening on WKNC. Listen live here and be sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and ReverbNation!