City: Raleigh, NC

Category: Annual Events & Festivals

Telephone: (919) 832-8699

Description: The city closes off six blocks downtown for two days to make room for scores of artists and artisans to fill the streets with booths of paintings, pottery, jewelry, photographs, woodcraft, blown glass, and the like. Party musicians like Buckwheat Zydeco provide music for thousands to shop by. Kids can experiment with musical instruments, dress up like rock stars, play chess on a life-size board, or make puppets with members of the Paperhand Puppet Intervention, a giant puppet performance troupe. Acrobats perform and artists create a mammoth sand sculpture in Moore Square to commemorate the festivities. Downtown residents stage a home tour to coincide with Artsplosure and downtown restaurants offer special prix fixe menus. Admission to the festival is free but attendees should bring money for parking, food, and, of course, art.