Your guide to the Top 10 things to do this week in the Triangle
Keep your gin up with all kinds of freaky and feel-good fall fun this week—from the opening of Durham’s long-awaited gin concept Corpse Reviver (of corpse you should imbibe!) to 11 days of N.C. State’s fab Fair Food Days to fear farms, flying witches, monstrous mazes, and more—even fun for you and your furkid with Barktoberfest. Enjoy! And as always, #SpreadLove (and spook), y’all.
N.C. State Fair’s Food Days
OK. So you’re not at the Fair trudging through mobs; daring that dude to guess your weight; spying livestock, art and oversize gourds; or riding the Zipper unit you might puke. But you can still have the stuff-your-face-with-Fair-food experience with the return of Fair Food Days. From Oct. 15-25 (10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily), get your your Fair food fix for 11 straight days from 22 local North Carolina fair vendors (takeout only), including the likes of Fat Boys BBQ, The Gobblin’ Gourmet, Chester’s Gators and Taters, and more. Click here for a full menu for each featured vendors; most are cash only. As far checking out that human-horse hybrid—well, we’ll see you in 2021. Details: Enter the Fairgrounds at Gate 9 off Trinity Road and park in the midway area. Walk up the hill toward Dorton Arena and you can’t miss the fine food vendors. Grab your faves and head to the house to enjoy—no gathering allowed; social distancing and face coverings are required while on-site. facebook.com/ncstatefair
Halloween Express Train
Track or treat! The North Carolina Railway Museum is back on track (get it?) and reopened to the ghoulish —er, public — the New Hope Valley Railway. Trade the broomstick for the Halloween Express Train and spook up four weeks of fun traversing kid-friendly scenes of flying witches, smoking cauldrons and more. Kids can also try their hadn’t at a game of Mummy Mayhem, in search of hidden mummies from their seat. And, of course, don’t miss the fam photo op with Halloween backdrop.
The fam-friendly Halloween Express trains will run Oct. 17, 24 and 31 with five train departure times (2:45, 4, 5:15, 6:30 and 7:45 p.m.). Tickets will only be sold online prior to ride days and not at the railroad on the day-of. Tickets cost $14 for all ages. In addition to individual tickets, a private Family Caboose will be available with seating for up to 10 family members. Go to website for social distancing guidelines. triangletrain.com
Offstage Live: Music at the Museum
Don’t miss the final installment of this magical Music at the Museum experience. Instituted in lieu of the N.C. Museum of Art’s popular summer concert series, the concert series streams live for the last time of the season from inside the museum galleries with Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba from Pittsboro (Oct. 20), who banded together in N.C. in 2011 shortly after Cissokho’s immigration to the U.S. A can’t miss concert, Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba “ecstatically explores the spiritual songs, stories, and rhythms of Senegal’s millennia-old Mandé culture. Cissokho comes from a long line of griots who are entrusted to maintain a West African village’s genealogies and ceremonial affairs through song, but he is much more than a preservationist. Cissokho and his band, Kaira Ba, effortlessly integrate the traditional sounds of the kora with a modern rush of electric guitar and an exuberant rhythm section.” While it’s free to watch, viewers are invited to donate to help North Carolina artists and the arts. The shows will also be aired in the future on UNC-TV with behind-the-scenes interviews. Livestream will be available through this YouTube link starting October 20 at 8 p.m. Support the band by purchasing an album. ncartmuseum.org/calendar/series_parent/offstage_live
Clayton Fear Farm
The iconic scare fest that is Clayton Fear Farm is back on select dates through Oct. 31 with the hayride and maze. Experience the terror of the Fear Forest Haunted Hayride — aka the longest 20 minutes of your life on a 40-foot hay wagon from hell charting territory few dare to go and from which even fewer return.
If you aren’t scared to death, venture to the Haunted Maze and find your way through 8 acres of extremely tall Sudangrass. Prepare to be scared. Dress comfortable and expect the unexpected. Hello, darkness, my old friend… Mask and social distancing required for all staff and guests. Pre-purchased timed tickets are encouraged. You can buy tickets in advance online, $22. claytonfearfarm.com
Barktoberfest
Bow wow yippy yo yippy yay… the dogs are in the Compass Rose Brewery house (Oct. 17, 1–4 p.m.)! Grab your pup, a pint and howl up a good time with some feel-good fun to help support those pups who are waiting to find their forever homes as part of Trips With Pets’ 4th Annual Partners for Animal Welfare Series (PAWS 4) to benefit Love Mutts Rescue. See, brews and barking = benevolence. Oh, and don’t forget to consume up your furkid in her spookiest Halloween duds — Hairy Pugger, anyone? facebook.com/compassrosebrewery
Nocturnal Nature
Parks and rec gets a ghostly upgrade as several local centers host Halloween hauntings and happenings. On Oct. 16, take a walk on the wild side and get a gander at things that go bump in the night via a fam-friendly night hike: Family Naturalists: Nocturnal Nature at Walnut Creek Wetland Center (8 p.m.; best for families with children ages 4+). Only one person per family needs to register. Participants will be required to wear masks and undergo a wellness check, which includes a few questions and a touchless temperature check. Please register at least four days in advance, and dress for the weather. Register for any program online via RecLink using the barcode listed. Before registering for any program, please review the Raleigh Parks Know Before You Go. Event barcode: 259398, $5 per family; raleighnc.gov
Pumpkin Carving for Charity at Unscripted
Oh, my gourd! Saturday (Oct. 17, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.) is for philanthropic rooftop pumpkin carving at Unscripted. Carve a pumpkin en plain air with gourd-geous views of downtown DURM and d0-good feels as a portion of the proceeds from the day benefit the Durham Children’s Initiative (DCI). Bonus: hot dogs, BBQ chicken skewers and shrimp tacos on the grill for purchase to keep your creativity fueled, and a live DJ to keep up the beat. Purchase your $20 ticket through OpenTable; BYO carving tools, and you’re all set. blog.unscriptedhotels.com
Haunted Forest at Panic Point
Hallo-scream is here. Fright night found at NC’s No. 1 Haunted Forest at Panic Point in Youngsville, where seeds of panic were planted 10 years ago. Comprised of four haunted attractions and 32 unique scenes, Panic Point’s feature attraction is its Haunted Forest. Find your way through tears of blood and a half-mile of murderers, spiders & aliens via 11 scenes of mayhem, like the Butcher Shop, Pallet Maze, Church, Clown Town and more. On the Dark Trail, find backwoods mutants, a zombie swamp, a survival bunker and beyond. And don’t miss the “Masters of Murder” over in the Killers in the Corn, or the haunted Menacing Maze.
Tickets from $27.50. For safety protocols, follow all instructions regarding Health Department requirements. Remain in your vehicle until you receive a text. Wear a mask at all times. Stay socially distanced from other groups. Sanitize hands frequently. Tickets can be purchased online. raleighhauntedhouse.com
Hen Institute
Fly the coop over to Sertoma Arts Center in Raleigh and check out the new Hen Institute, a mobile chicken coop full of egg-laying chickens — aka a public art project, community space and classroom employing hens as a mechanism to engage with ideas from sustenance to motherhood to generosity and much more through art, food, education, and community. On-site through Nov. 8 with plenty of fowl play fun, including The Way of the Hen Oct. 17 (noon).
For the free 60-minute dual in-person and Zoom event, Head and Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina Greensboro Gregory Grieve will lead a traditional (socially distanced) Zen silent meditation; and poet, writer, performance artist, and lecturer in humanities and social science at the University of North Carolina Greensboro Sarah Krive will conduct the slow looking exercise.
Then, for some “poultry in motion” on Oct. 18, check out Reading for the Birds (1 p.m., free), as poet and performer Chris Vitiello (aka the Poetry Fox) reads poems written for the chickens at the Hen Institute, written off of Attar’s “Conference of the Birds,” Lucretius’ “On the Nature of the Universe,” and English and French field guides to birds and birdsong. Humans are also welcome to attend. If you attend a program in person, please wear a mask and observe social distancing. 1400 West Millbrook Road, Raleigh; heninstitute.com
Corpse Reviver Bar & Lounge Opening
Revive your spirit as Durham Distillery Celebrates its five-year anniversary with the long-awaited Oct. 15 opening of their modern gin and martini bar, Corpse Reviver Bar & Lounge — a natural extension of their award-winning Conniption Gin brand and Durham Distillery, and named for the classic gin cocktail, Corpse Reviver #2. Modeled after the luxe modern gin bars of London with luxurious art deco style, Corpse Reviver Bar & Lounge is situated in a former coffin shop (fitting!) on the ground floor beneath the distillery with an entrance and outdoor patio facing the historic train trestle. Don’t miss the signature cocktails on draft, including a nitrogen-infused Corpse Reviver #2 cocktail — or your chance to up your gin knowledge. The new bar institutes strict safety measures: new air filtration system, waiver signatures, temp checks, mask requirements, contact tracing, and seating by reservation only (for 90-minute intervals via TOCK). Reservations are live via theCorpseReviver.com; @CorpseReviverCoctkailBar.