This second installment of NC State LIVE’s series of free outdoor concerts, this year features local musician Tray Wellington, whose genre-defying music has earned him acclaim well beyond the City of Oaks. Accompanied by his band, the banjo virtuoso brings a fresh bluegrass blend of Bossa Nova, jazz, and blues music to the shores of Lake Raleigh.
Gates and food trucks (featuring Beefy Buns, Arepa Culture, Sister Liu’s, and JAM) open at 5 p.m., and the concert kicks off at 6 p.m. If you can’t make this easygoing, family-free event—picture lawn chairs and picnic blankets—LIVE@Lake Raleigh has two upcoming concerts: A May 8 show featuring the cosmic rock of New Dawn Starkestra and a May 22 show featuring Boulevards, Raleigh’s reigning king of funk. —Sarah Edwards
Shakespeare nerds across the Triangle know that the Bard’s birthday falls this week, on April 23. And for the tenth year, Raleigh-based Pequod Productions and Burning Coal Theatre are celebrating with their annual reading of all 154 of Shakespeare’s sonnets, in person on Saturday and virtually on Sunday.
Block out a couple of hours this weekend to head over to Burning Coal Theatre for the live reading, beginning at 1 p.m., and leave any time. Drop in to hear readers recite (or perform) one sonnet, with the option of adding an additional minute to enhance their reading. Past enhancements have included reciting the sonnet in another language, adding music, puppets, or another performance element, or the reader talking about what their chosen sonnet means to them. On Sunday, also at 1 p.m., tune into a virtual Zoom session for readings of the latter half of the canon, which will be broadcast on Facebook Live. —Jane Porter
In 2017, Blake Gotliffe’s childhood best friend, Reece Byrd, passed away from a heroin overdose. Gotliffe, a survivor himself and now the chef and owner of Smithfield company Under the Oak Catering, has made it his mission to promote awareness and actionable change around opiate addiction ever since. Annual event Roots for Reece Chef’s Picnic, now in its seventh year, raises money for the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition, an organization that distributes life-saving supplies like naloxone.
The event brings together more than a dozen chefs from across the Triangle and Piedmont, including Jake Wood (Lawrence Barbeque), Katrina Sudnor (The Umstead Hotel & Spa), Eric Montagne (Locals Seafood), and many more, alongside beverage makers like Trophy Brewing and Neuse River Brewing. With tickets starting at $100, this isn’t a cheap event, but it is one where all proceeds go directly toward harm reduction across the state; VIP tickets are also available. —Sarah Edwards
Five Carolina Ballet performances unspool this week across evening and matinee concertos that feature live music from the Chamber Orchestra of the Triangle. Immersing yourself in the sweeping Tchaikovsky classic is reason enough to turn out to Raleigh Memorial Auditorium this week, but the performances also mark another important milestone: the retirement of ballerina Margaret Severin-Hansen, a founding member of Carolina Ballet and a company Principal since 2002.
Across decades, Severin-Hansen’s focus, grace, and technical agility have been a cornerstone at Carolina Ballet. This Sunday’s matinee marks her final performance with the company; for ballet-lovers in the Triangle, this show is a triumphant moment that can’t be missed. —Sarah Edwards
While it would be nice to never hear the phrase “Project 2025” ever again, our current reality suggests that is not currently possible. Perhaps the better tact, if we want to fight against it, is to learn more about the far right’s 900-page blueprint for President Trump’s second term.
In The Project, Atlantic staff writer and Durham resident David A. Graham unpacks Project 2025, taking a closer look at some of its core ideological beliefs that haven’t been quite as emphasized yet, amid the dizzying takedown of the federal workforce: an obsession with the nuclear family and patriarchal gender roles, and an unprotected workforce under the thumb of de-regulated corporations (also: targeting local media).
Unpleasant stuff to familiarize yourself with, to be sure, but, given the Trump administration’s success so far in rapidly constructing an authoritarian state, these are not details you want to sleep on. Topic-by-topic guide The Project publishes April 22; Graham will be in conversation about the book with Frank Bruni for this Flyleaf signing and talk. —Sarah Edwards
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