Just like its namesake city, the inaugural Raleigh Comedy Festival promises to be an expansive (but walkable) affair: three nights, six downtown venues, 17 shows, and more than 50 comedians. Headliners include former SNL cast member Luke Null, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert alum Caitlin Peluffo, and musical comedy duo Good Cop/Rad Cop. Festival-goers can stroll between downtown bars to catch back-to-back sets, stand-up showcases, and open mics. Tickets to individual shows start at $20; you can also snag an all-access festival pass for $150.
For Raleigh insiders and skeptics alike, don’t miss “The Roast of Raleigh” at King’s on Thursday night, featuring mayor Janet Cowell, North Carolina Democratic Party chair Anderson Clayton, and a handful of other local notables. We can only assume the roast will cover such topics as traffic, gentrification, and political dysfunction. Fun! –Chloe Courtney Bohl
Birds are chirping, flowers are blooming, and the sun is setting an hour later. If that’s not enough motivation to get outside and touch some grass this weekend, the Cary Night Market returns to Downtown Cary Park this Friday after a wintertime hiatus. Pack your picnic blanket (and a sweater, maybe) and spend an hour or two eating, shopping, and people-watching as the sun sets.
The market features about 50 artisans (selling everything from pottery to baked goods), a handful of food trucks, live music, and lawn games. The vendors are carefully curated and ever-changing: in honor of Women’s History Month, all of the businesses at Friday’s market will be founded or run by women. While you’re there, wander through the 7-acre park, which has a little something for everyone: two dog parks, a huge play structure, public art, and an open-air bar. –Chloe Courtney Bohl
It’s been five years since Raheem Williams, who performs as Jooselord Magnus, has released an album—the last release, the raw, relentless, 19-song, high-energy MOSHPIT MESSIAH, occasioned a rave profile in the INDY: the Durham rapper’s “rage and anger are directly inspired by his commitment to speaking out about the social injustices Black communities face in America,” Kyesha Jennings wrote.
Now, Jooselord is back with the seven-song release Mentally I’m Here and is releasing the project with a concert (joined by guests) and first listen at Motorco Music Hall. The concert poster features perhaps the most relatable image you’ll see all year: A tiny, helpless-looking doodled figure against a blank space with the caption “Its all I can do to keep sane.” Keep sane at this pay-what-you-can concert, and maybe consider paying a little more at the door—this special concert is raising money for Jooselord’s son, Onyx, who is battling brain cancer. —Sarah Edwards
The brainchild of filmmakers Sabine Gruffat and Bill Brown, this 7th annual celebration of experimental short films takes place at The Chelsea Theater this weekend, across two evenings and one afternoon.
Programs have poetic groupings and unfold in short, dream-like bursts, also like poems: On Friday, the event kicks off at 7 p.m. with “The Instability of Clouds,” with nine short films that range from 3:40 to 15 minutes; a 9 p.m. showing follows with seven films coagulated around “Night Music.” “The open call is exciting,” Brown told the INDY in 2023, speaking to the lineup. “We never know who will share work with us or what they’ll send.” Individual tickets are $10 per program or $25 for a weekend pass. Open your mind and go forth into the cosmos. —Sarah Edwards
The 90s teemed with loud, niche, drug-fueled alt-rock festivals, or so I’m told. This was the decade of The Warped Tour, Ozzfest, and Lilith Fair—and the rowdiest, grungiest father of them all: Lollapalooza.
The history of Lollapalooza, from its 1991 inception—it was originally conceived of by Perry Farrell as a farewell tour for Jane’s Addiction—to its final 1995 flameout, is documented by Tom Beaujour and local author Richard Bienstock in Lollapalooza: The Uncensored Story of Alternative Rock’s Wildest Festival; a book crammed with interviews with bands like Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, Sonic Youth, Ice-T, and many more. On the heels of the book’s March 25 publication, local writer Michael Venutolo-Mantovani joins Beaujour and Bienstock for a conversation about Lollapalooza—and the reverberations the festival had for the 90s and the music industry. A 5:30 p.m. book signing will be followed by a 6 p.m. talk. —Sarah Edwards
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