Guide to the best Events in Raleigh for September 2026

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I often feel conflicted when September arrives. I’m so overjoyed as I absolutely love Fall in Raleigh and all the fun that is to come between now and the holidays. But it’s a month that also chips away a little at that joy because it means summer is on the way out!

Another reason we love living in Raleigh so much, is that our warm summer weather usually stays until the end of October. So, in reality, September and October are the best months of the year because we get summer like weather with so many fun festivals and events on.

For this post, let’s dive into what’s happening in Raleigh in September. We can’t include everything and some events we don’t know about yet so please leave your ideas in the comments at the bottom for those reading this post!

Table Of Contents
  1. Featured: Igniting Hope
  2. Week 1: Sept 1-6, 2026
  3. Featured: Hopscotch 2026
  4. Week 2: Sept 7 – 13, 2026
  5. Week 3: Sept 14 – 20, 2026
  6. Featured: Boom Ball
  7. Igniting Hope Gala, Sept 17, 2026
  8. Week 4: Sept 21 – 30, 2026
  9. Coming to Raleigh for an event? The following may help

men dancing at festival

Featured: Igniting Hope

Completely reimagined for 2026, this year’s Studio 54-inspired event will be unlike any Igniting Hope before it, featuring a gourmet dinner, cocktails, live and silent auctions, dancing with DJ Joe Bunn, a powerful mission moment, surprises, and plenty of fun in between. This is not a traditional, buttoned-up fundraising dinner. It is an energetic night of community, entertainment, and purpose.

Funds raised through this year’s event will support groundbreaking research focused on the mental health of children and young adults through the Foundation of Hope Child and Adolescent Anxiety and Mood Disorders Program (CHAAMP) at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Department of Psychiatry.

  • Where: The Pavilion at the Angus Barn
  • When: Thursday, September 17, 2026, at 6:00 p.m.
  • Cost: $250 per person or $2,500 for a table of 10
Purchase Tickets

Week 1: Sept 1-6, 2026

men dancing at festival

Featured: Hopscotch 2026

Are you ready? I have my ticket in hand and cannot wait for this year’s Hopscotch Festival. You don’t even have to know anyone in the line up to have a great time. The city comes alive with a wide variety of music genres playing in outdoor venues and smaller music venues in Downtown Raleigh. Plus, there are free day parties, street activations, kids’ zones, and community gatherings in Moore Square. This is one of Raleigh’s most unique and fun festivals and this year they are offering single day passes!

  • Where: Various locations in Downtown Raleigh
  • When: September 10, 2026 – September 12, 2026
Learn more

First Friday, Sept 4, 2026

live band at raleigh times first friday in the street
Raleigh Times Raleigh
  • Where: Various locations downtown
  • Time: 5pm onwards
  • Cost: Free.

Support Raleigh’s great artisan community on the First Friday of every month. Art galleries and studios are open late with rotating exhibits and artist talks. We love wandering around the Artspace studios in the City Market area. Here is our guide to First Friday with updated events for the month.

Bands, Bites, & Boats, Sept 4, 2026

people gathering by lake to listen to music
Bands, Bites, Boats Bond Park

On the first Friday of every month, Bond Park Boathouse hosts musicians, food trucks, and after-hours boat rentals. What a great sunset experience to kick off the weekend.

  • Band: My Cousin Skinny
  • Bites: Beef Street and a Pig | The Flat Drum
  • Brews: Bond Brothers Brewing

17th Annual African American Cultural Festival, Sept 5- 6, 2026

  • Where: Fayetteville St
  • Time: 10am – 9pm
  • Cost: Free
  • Website

The African American Cultural Festival of Raleigh and Wake County (AACF) is a unique celebration of African American culture as expressed through art, music, food & community. This year they’re celebrating a special “Heritage Heartbeat: 16 Years in Rhythm” —the pulse that has sustained this beloved festival for 16 unforgettable years!

This family-friendly event is free and open to the public, welcoming all to explore the creative offerings of some of North Carolina’s most talented local, regional and national artists. There’ll be live music, artisan stores, arts and crafts and so much more.

Raleigh Game & Geek Expo 2026, Sept 5 & 6, 2026

  • Where: Raleigh Convention Center
  • Time: Sat, 10am – 6pm | Sun: 10am – 4pm
  • Cost: $17+
  • Website

From gaming tournaments to free play areas, arcades, PC’s, TCG, tabletop, retro and modern consoles, there is something for every gamer. Learn something new, hear from industry experts and celebrities in the gaming and geek world. Participate in fun games and more!

Sporting Events & Concerts this week

Week 2: Sept 7 – 13, 2026

Hopscotch Music Festival, Sept 10-12, 2026

neptunes bar hopscotch live music
Neptunes

Earning notoriety as one of the country’s top music festivals is the Hopscotch Music festival, known for its eclectic music representation covering almost every genre —rock, hip-hop, metal, folk, electronic, experimental, and more. We attended for the first time last year and loved it. Already got our tickets and ready to go for this year’s Hopscotch! We found Hopscotch to be deeply rooted in community and culture

This year headliners include Dexter and the Moonrocks, Vory Wong, and King Princess. It’s three days of music celebration with a spirit and atmosphere that has been likened to the New Orleans Mardi Gras

Read our guide with everything you need to know before attending the Hopscotch Festival in Downtown Raleigh.

Beyond: The Cary Film Festival, Sept 10-13, 2026

  • Where: Cary Theater
  • Time: Various
  • Cost:
  • Website

Each fall in the heart of the North Carolina, Cary hosts its annual short film and screenplay festival presented at the historic Cary Theater. Engaged audiences, new and established filmmakers, industry professionals, and special guests come together to celebrate the art of short filmmaking.

Attendees will have opportunities to participate in panel discussions, filmmaking workshops, and more. BEYOND is designed to support emerging filmmakers with all events and social activities taking place within walking distance of our downtown theater.

Friday Night on White, Sept 11, 2026

Hundreds of people gathered in a downtown street for a festival
Friday Night on White
  • Where: White St, Downtown Wake Forest
  • Time: 6 – 9pm
  • Cost: Whatever you spend in the local stores
  • Website

If you’re looking for party with a community feel and great live music, head to downtown Wake Forest, North Carolina for their last Friday Night on White for the season. This month’s live music act is Liquid Pleasure.

We loved the fun party atmosphere on Friday night on White. The community comes out to connect, dance, enjoy food trucks and to support the local boutique stores open for shopping as well. Watch our video below:

Dreamland Carolina Circus Festival, Sept 12, 2026

  • Where: Downtown Cary Park
  • Time: 3:30pm – 9:30pm
  • Cost: Free
  • Website

The Carolina Circus Festival is putting on a whole day of free circus shows at Downtown Cary Park!

The Carolina Circus Festival. It will feature an arts market offering goods from local artists and food trucks, kids crafts, games, and workshops. Circus performances throughout the event will include ground and aerial acrobatics, as well as LED and fire shows! The fun doesn’t stop there!

Guests can participate in free hula hooping, juggling, and acting workshops throughout the Park! A silent auction will occur during the festival to help raise money for a charitable gift fund that promotes mental health and suicide prevention in North Carolina.

Whiskey, Wine & Fire, Sept 12, 2026

  • Where: Koka Booth Amphitheater
  • Time: 4pm – 9pm
  • Cost: $45+
  • Tickets

An Elegant Evening in the Pines! This exclusive foodie celebration will feature whiskey bars, elegant wines & cocktails, music, tented food stations, food trucks, & restaurants and intimate firepit. Tickets include a souvenir glass to enjoy all you care to taste whiskey & wine.

Rolesville Run to Remember 5K, Sept 12, 2026

  • Where: Redford Place Park, Rolesville
  • Time: 5K 8:45am | 1 Mile: 9:03am
  • Cost: Free
  • Website

2026 is the 25th anniversary of 9/11. The Town of Rolesville is holding a free 5K and Mile Walk for Heroes to kick off its 9/11 Honor and Remembrance event.  The 5K race begins at 8:46 am, the moment when the North Tower was hit. The Mile Walk for Heroes starts at 9:03 am, marking the time when the South Tower was struck.

After the races, join us for the 9/11 Honor and Remembrance Event to honor the lives lost and the heroes who answered the call at the Rolesville Elementary School parking lot from 10am – 1pm.

Fenton Art Festival, Sept 13, 2026

  • Where: Fenton, Cary
  • Time: 11am – 5pm
  • Cost: Free
  • Website

Shop for original art in oils, watercolors, acrylics, mixed media, sculpture and more, directly from more than 50 fine artists. Enjoy workshops, demonstrations, and opportunities to make public art in one of the Triangle’s premier destinations.

Sporting events & Concerts this week

Week 3: Sept 14 – 20, 2026

men dancing at festival

Featured: Boom Ball

  • Where: Namaco Park, Zebulon
  • When: Sept 19, 2026; 5 – 9pm

Baseball, but louder. Boom Ball takes the game you know and speeds it up into a shorter format where something’s always happening. Two co-ed teams go at it, the Lucky Llamas against the Chaos Crew, and the players bring as much personality off the field as on it. There’s music, contests in the stands, and you’re never quite sure what’s coming each inning. It plays like a live show and a ball game at the same time, built for all ages, whether you’re a die-hard sports fan or rounding up friends for a summer night out.

Get Tickets

Igniting Hope Gala, Sept 17, 2026

two men at ignite for hope gala
  • Where: The Pavilion at the Angus Barn
  • Time: 6pm
  • Cost: $250 per person or $2,500 for a table of 10
  • Website

Igniting Hope is one of the Foundation of Hope’s two annual fundraising galas, bringing the community together to raise critical funding for mental illness research in North Carolina. Completely reimagined for 2026, this year’s Studio 54-inspired event will be unlike any Igniting Hope before it, featuring a gourmet dinner, cocktails, live and silent auctions, dancing with DJ Joe Bunn, a powerful mission moment, surprises, and plenty of fun in between.

Don’t be expecting a traditional, buttoned-up fundraising dinner. This one will be an energetic night of community, entertainment, and purpose. Embrace the Studio 54 theme with silver, sequins, metallics, fringe, and sparkle: “Dress to dazzle—if it shines, shakes, or shimmers, wear it!”

Funds raised through this year’s event will support groundbreaking research focused on the mental health of children and young adults through the Foundation of Hope Child and Adolescent Anxiety and Mood Disorders Program (CHAAMP) at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Department of Psychiatry.

Juniper Level Botanic Gardens, Sept 18 – 20 , 2026

Waterfall and trees in a garden

Juniper Level Botanic Gardens is a 28-acre campus showcasing more than 27,000 different kinds of native perennials, exotic plants, rare delights and unusual specimens of trees and shrubs not found many (or any) other places on earth.

It’s a private garden, only open to the public 8 weekends a year. It is said to be one of the most spectacular gardens in the USA! We highly recommend visiting. It’s a hidden gem in Raleigh! Read more about Juniper Level Botanic Garden, Raleigh N.C. Watch the video below!

Marbles Imagination Ball 2026! Sept 18, 2026

  • Where: Marbles Kids Museum
  • Time: 7pm – 11pm
  • Cost: $150+
  • Website:

Imagination Ball is Marbles’ signature grown-up gala, raising money to ensure that every child has the opportunity to imagine, discover, learn and PLAY at Marbles. This year, guests will be inspired by the mystery of the ocean. Tickets include food & drink, live entertainment, exclusive games-of-chance and auction opportunities – all in support of Marbles’ mission.

Boom Ball, Sept 19, 2026

boom ball players doing acrobatics
  • Where: Namaco Park, Zebulon
  • When: 5 – 9pm
  • Cost:
  • Tickets

Boom Ball takes the baseball game you know and speeds it up into a shorter format where something’s always happening. Two co-ed teams go at it, the Lucky Llamas against the Chaos Crew, and the players bring as much personality off the field as on it.

There’s music, contests in the stands, and you’re never quite sure what’s coming each inning. It plays like a live show and a ball game at the same time, built for all ages, whether you’re a die-hard sports fan or rounding up friends for a summer night out.

BugFest, Sep 19, 2026

butterflies on a plant stem

  • Where: North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
  • Time: 10am – 7pm
  • Cost: Free
  • Website

Bug lovers, get ready for the largest bug even in the USA. More than 100 exhibits on the fascinating world of arthropods. You can also participate in games and activities and chat with entomologists and scientists. This year’s bug theme is hoppers — plant, leaf and tree.

Farmers Fall Festival, Sept 19, 2026

Aerial view of a downtown park and street.
Downtown Cary Park

Help celebrate the fall bounty of harvest season with our local farmers. There will be live music on the main stage, a kids performance area, fun games and interactive exhibits, local food and craft beer, art & crafts and a mid-day pie-eating contest.

Festa Italiana, Sept 19, 2026

woman teaching pasta cooking class on state
  • Where: Hunter Street and Town Hall Courtyard in Apex
  • Time: 11am – 7pm
  • Cost: Free
  • Website: festanc.org

Festa Italiana Raleigh was founded by a small group of Italian – Americans in the Triangle in 2018. Since then, it has become a much-anticipated annual event celebrating Italian culture, music, food, wine and more. There will be cooking demonstrations, live music, cannoli eating contests, Italian merchandise entertainment and a kid’s area! Last year we really enjoyed learning how to make gnocchi and watching the cannoli eating!

Oktoberfest Clouds Brewing, Sept 19

  • Where: Clouds Brewing Taproom
  • Time: 1-10pm
  • Cost: $16.84+
  • Website

The Little German Band & Dancers is back at this German inspired Raleigh brewery! The party will host traditional contests, food trucks, and special beer releases including their Signature Oktoberfest beer from Clouds Brewing is Cloudstoberfest. There’ll also be a keg ceremony and stein holding contests. Saturday entry ticket includes first beer and Oktoberfest boot-shaped glass!

11th Annual Asia Fest with Dragon Boat Racing, Sept 19, 2026

dragon boats on symphony lake koka booth cary
Image: asianfocusnc.org
  • Where: Koka Booth Amphitheater
  • Time: 9am-5pm
  • Cost: $12.88 / Under 12 and 65+ free
  • Website:

We loved attending this unique Triangle event last year. Where else do you get to see dragon boat racing? Koka Booth in Cary and its Symphony Lake is a beautiful spot for it. The Greater Triangle Dragon Boat Festival, or Asia Fest, is a chance to celebrate Asian culture, diversity, and history. There are also games, stage performances, cultural exhibits, vendors and unique ethnic street food. 

Hops For Hope, Sept 19, 2026

  • Where: Midtown Commons Park
  • Time: 2- 6pm
  • Cost: $40
  • Tickets

This lively, family-friendly festival pairs corporate teams with local breweries to create unique beers, all shared with the public in a spirited afternoon of tasting and celebration. Enjoy live music, delicious food trucks, a dedicated kid’s zone, and more – all while supporting a mission that helps children reach the care, they need to thrive.

La Fiesta del Pueblo, Sept 20, 2026

Another celebration of a vibrant culture living in Raleigh. La Fiesta del Pueblo is the time to honor Latin American culture with live music and dance performances, visual and folk-art exhibits, educational booths, and activities for the whole family. Live music includes Grupo Mojado, internationally famous and nominated for a Latin Grammy for Best Group Album!

Sporting events & Concerts this week

Week 4: Sept 21 – 30, 2026

Juniper Level Botanic Gardens, Sept 25 – 27, 2026

red flowers in garden

Juniper Level Botanic Gardens is a 28-acre campus showcasing more than 27,000 different kinds of native perennials, exotic plants, rare delights and unusual specimens of trees and shrubs not found many (or any) other places on earth.

It’s a private garden, only open to the public 8 weekends a year. It is said to be one of the most spectacular gardens in the USA! We highly recommend visiting. It’s a hidden gem in Raleigh! Read more about Juniper Level Botanic Garden, Raleigh N.C. Watch the video below!

Benson Mule Days, Sept 24 – 27, 2026

a parade of mules and carriages down main st benson
Mule Days Parade | Photo: JohnstonCounty.org
  • Where: Main St Benson, Johnston County
  • Times: Various (all day events)
  • Cost: Some free and some ticketed events
  • Website: https://bensonmuledays.com/

Benson Mule Days is a legendary 4-day festival, one of the largest in North Carolina drawing in 20,000-30,000 people. If you like quirky then this festival in celebration of all things mules and farms is for you.

The tradition began in 1949 when Nowell Smith, Jr. and the McLamb Brothers had the idea for a festival that would both celebrate the farmer and foster community spirit by incorporating the town’s main draft animal – the mule.

Expect Rodeos, mule competitions, arts and crafts, food vendors, dances, carnival rides, camping, parades, Bluegrass shows, and musical concerts. Saturday’s Mule Day parade is a highlight. Benson is about 30 minutes from Raleigh in Johnston County.

Raleigh Tamale Festival, Sept 26, 2026

  • Where: Moore Square
  • Time: 11am – 2pm
  • Cost: Free
  • Website

Celebrate the art of a good tamale at Raleigh Tamale Festival is on Sat in Moore Square. There’ll be a competition for the best tamale in Raleigh, as well as performances, activities and food trucks.

American Dance Festival: Made in NC (Encore Performance), Sept 26

  • Where: Downtown Cary Park
  • Time: 7:30pm – 9pm
  • Cost: Free
  • Website

A captivating outdoor evening of modern dance featuring four distinct, short performances commissioned by the American Dance Festival. This special showcase features the world-premiere works of four incredible North Carolina-based artists.

  • Tracey Durbin, a major contemporary force known for her extensive choreographic collaborations.
  • Jabu Graybeal, a Pittsboro native and award-winning tap artist who has performed globally on stage and screen.
  • Courtney Liu, an Elon University professor who beautifully merges Broadway experience with contemporary movement.
  • Amanda K. Miller, an international choreographer who brings decades of world-class, expressive dance experience to the stage.

Grab a spot on the lawn, bring a blanket, and enjoy the performances!

Holly Springs Pride Festival, Sept 26, 2026

  • Where: Holly Springs Cultural Center
  • Time: 3pm – 6pm
  • Cost: Free
  • Website

This family-friendly celebration of belonging brings together neighbors, allies, local businesses, performers, artists, and changemakers for a day filled with love, laughter, and connection. From live music and storytelling to local vendors, food trucks, games, and interactive activities for all ages, the festival is a vibrant reflection of the diverse voices that make Holly Springs shine.

Sporting Events & Concerts this week

RALEIGH VENUE GUIDES:

Coming to Raleigh for an event? The following may help

Man and woman standing in front of a portrait of a man with a beard and the word Raleigh.
Casso Hotel

If you’re visiting Raleigh from out of town for any events, here are our recommendations for accommodation in downtown Raleigh.

If you are visiting from out of town and have a few extra days, here are some itinerary guides to help you plan out your days exploring Raleigh:

If you are visiting from out of town and have a few extra days, here are some itinerary guides to help you plan out your days exploring Raleigh:

Comment: What events and festivals are you most looking forward to attending for the month of September?

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