Yo, Fuquay.
Labor Day weekend is here, which means right now, reasonable adults in your community are spending their time brainstorming fantasy football team names like “CeeDeez TDs.” That’s all we have to say about that.
What we got going on this week: First Friday has expanded into a two-downtown block party, two local farms have family friendly activities, and Band of Oz shuts down Centennial Square Thursday with some Carolina beach music. Here's your week ahead.
First time here? Welcome in. Every Friday, we send the best things to eat, drink, hear, and do around Fuquay-Varina. Know someone who’d be into it? Send them this: subscribe here.
— First Sip Fuquay Team
THE SHORT LIST
Start Here: Your Weekend Lineup
If you only read one thing this week, make it this. The biggest stuff happening across town this week:
First Friday in Downtown Block Party - Friday, 5:00-9:00 PM: A night market, free trolley rides, kids' activities, animal encounters and late hours across both downtown districts.
Stay & Bloom: Charcuterie & Mocktails - Friday, 4:00-5:00 PM: Pick flowers before First Friday while supporting a scholarship and Suicide Prevention Month.
Friday Night Scoops & Hooves - Friday, 6:00-7:30 PM: Rescued goats, Fat Cat Ice Cream and lawn games at the sanctuary. Admission is $10.
The Corner Biergarten Greyhound Meet n Greet - Saturday, 1:00-3:00 PM: Meet greyhounds and learn more about the dogs from Greyhound Care & Adoption of North Carolina.
FM2FV Concert Series: Band of Oz - Thursday, 6:00-9:00 PM: Free Carolina beach music with six food trucks and three Fuquay breweries downtown.
FRIDAY
🏙️ First Friday stretches across both downtowns
Image Credit: FVDA
First Friday in Downtown Block Party | Downtown Fuquay and Downtown Varina | Friday, September 4, 5:00-9:00 PM | Free
September's First Friday is getting a block-party upgrade on both sides of town. Ransdell Road has a night market with up to 15 vendors, a DJ, a scavenger hunt, free hot dogs and ice cream tokens for the first 30 visitors to the FVDA tent. Depot Street adds kids' activities, police and fire department visits, puppy cuddles, animal encounters and a street filled with music.
Charlee the trolley makes free trips between Depot Street at Spring Avenue and Quaint Plaza from 5:00-9:00 PM. The Brewquay Prowler costs $15 for unlimited rides and adds stops at Fidelity Bank, Quaint Plaza and Aviator's brewery campus. Prowler service is weather permitting, but the trolley gives you a free route between districts either way.
ALSO FRIDAY
🌸 Pick flowers for a cause
Image Credit: Polly’s Petal Patch
Stay & Bloom: Charcuterie & Mocktails | Polly's Petal Patch | Friday, September 4, 4:00-5:00 PM | Tickets $20-$25; extra guest passes $5
Stay & Bloom opens Polly's gardens for a one-hour U-Pick in memory of Dalton Moore Ausley and in recognition of Suicide Prevention Month. Fig & Fleur will handle the charcuterie, Brisa & Co. will pour handcrafted mocktails, and 10% of event proceeds will be donated to Dalton's scholarship. Vendor food and drinks are sold separately from the garden ticket.
A $20 small-jar ticket or $25 large-jar ticket covers one hour among the blooms and includes admission for the picker plus one guest. Extra garden guests are $5, service fees are added and ticket sales for the 4:00 PM session close at 3:00. The session ends exactly when First Friday begins downtown, giving you a clean handoff from a quiet hour on Cokesbury Road to the block party.
FRIDAY NIGHT
🐐 Scoops and Hooves
Image Credit: Unsplash
Friday Night Scoops & Hooves w/Fat Cat Ice Cream | Smith Farm Goat Sanctuary | Friday, September 4, 6:00-7:30 PM | $10
The title does most of the explaining. Smith Farm Goat Sanctuary is opening for a Friday evening with its rescued herd, the Fat Cat Homemade Ice Cream truck and lawn games including cornhole and giant checkers. Hot dogs, popcorn, chips and drinks will also be available, and the sanctuary's Wild Goat Trading Post will be open.
Admission is $10 plus a small fee. Ice cream and concessions cost extra. The sanctuary ordinarily opens only for scheduled events and private tours, making this one of the simpler chances to visit without arranging a separate booking. It is only a 90-minute window, so getting there near 6:00 gives you time for the goats, a game and whatever flavor you’re feeling.
SATURDAY
🐶 Greyhounds at TCB
Image Credit: Greyhound Care & Adoption
The Corner Biergarten Meet n Greet | The Corner Biergarten | Saturday, September 5, 1:00-3:00 PM
Greyhound Care & Adoption of North Carolina is bringing its Fuquay meet-and-greet to The Corner Biergarten Saturday afternoon. You get two hours to meet greyhounds and spend time with the organization behind the event. GCA-NC works to place greyhounds in loving homes while supporting current owners and people considering adoption.
That makes this most useful if you have real questions about the breed but are not ready to begin an application from the couch. GCA-NC considers factors including existing pets, yard safety, children in the home and how long a dog would be alone, so there is more to discuss than which greyhound has the best ears. Stop in during the two-hour window, then head to Aviator Amphitheater if you want to catch The Cheeze Factor at 4:00 PM.
THURSDAY
🎼 Band of Oz puts Carolina beach music in Centennial Square
Image Credit: Town of Fuquay-Varina
FM2FV Concert Series: Band of Oz | Centennial Square Parking Lot | Thursday, September 10, 6:00-9:00 PM | Free
Band of Oz opens the fall run of FM2FV with three hours of Carolina beach music downtown. The group calls itself a Carolina beach-music mainstay since 1967, which is enough time to know exactly what a crowd wants when the dancing starts. Admission is free, and the Town has six food vendors lined up: Holy Fries, TJ's Kitchen, Tombachi, The Darling Doughnut, Anna's Pizza and Pelican's SnoBalls. Aviator, Mason Jar Lager Company and Oaklyn Springs will handle the local beer.
Bring a chair, but leave the cooler at home. East Academy Street closes between Main Street and South Fuquay Avenue from 4:00-10:30 PM, so arriving before the 6:00 PM start should make parking simpler. Accessible spaces are available in the Fidelity Bank lot and are first come, first served. This is the week's biggest Fuquay music event and a considerably livelier Thursday than most calendars manage.
LIVE TUNES
🎶 Your Weekend Music Calendar
Image Credit: Story Charlemagne
Here’s this weekend’s lineup:
Friday, September 4
Story Charlemagne at Oaklyn Springs Downtown Varina - Friday, 6:00 PM: Soul, indie rock and folk at the Broad Street taproom.
3rd Stage Band at Aviator Ready Room Stage - Friday, 7:00-10:00 PM: Rock inside the Ready Room.
Maskell Freeman at Aviator Pizza Pub - Friday, 7:00-10:00 PM: The acoustic option among Aviator's three early sets.
Sam Trebing at Aviator TapHouse - Friday, 7:00-10:00 PM: Rock at the TapHouse while First Friday runs downtown.
2Digh4 at Aviator Hangar Bar Stage - Friday, 8:30-11:00 PM: Americana for the later Friday crowd.
Saturday, September 5
The Cheeze Factor at Aviator Amphitheater - Saturday, 4:00-7:00 PM: An afternoon rock set on Aviator's outdoor stage.
Red Bear at Aviator Pizza Pub - Saturday, 7:00-10:00 PM: Rock at the Pizza Pub.
Travis Russell at Aviator TapHouse - Saturday, 7:00-10:00 PM: Americana if you want a different lane from the two rock stages.
Afterburn at Aviator Hangar Bar Stage - Saturday, 8:30-11:30 PM: The latest set of the night and the fourth Aviator stage in play.
Sunday, September 6
Jason Bunch at Aviator TapHouse - Sunday, 2:00-5:00 PM: A three-hour acoustic afternoon set.
Jaycie and Chris at Aviator Hangar Bar Stage - Sunday, 2:00-5:00 PM: Acoustic pop at the Hangar Bar.
Open Mic at Oaklyn Springs Brewery - Sunday, 2:00-5:00 PM: Local musicians rotate through the N. Main Street brewery.
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THE REST
Honorable mentions for the week
Plant Bingo at Oaklyn Springs Brewery - Friday, 6:30 PM: Cards are $5, and winners take home plants.
Music Bingo at The Corner Biergarten - Saturday, 8:00-10:00 PM: DJ Gino hosts TCB's first-Saturday monthly game.
$4 mimosas at The Mill - Sunday: The standing Sunday special; hours were not published.
Labor Day Town office closure - Monday, 8:00 AM-5:00 PM: Fuquay-Varina government offices are closed.
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