As North Carolina continues to relax COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, many Chapel Hill residents are looking forward to attending festivals and concerts within the community again. Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture is hosting events curated from community feedback with the first set for next week.
The Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture division of the Town of Chapel Hill previously sent out a survey to gather community feedback on events. This division took over running town programming events from the Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation Department in 2018.
Susan Brown, the executive director of Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture, said some of feedback for future events included being uniquely Chapel Hill, music centered, having a positive impact on the local economy and a minimal impact on the environment.
While COVID-19 may still impact the planning of events this fall, Brown said changes were already planned prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re thinking about more frequent smaller scale things,” Brown said. “We’re thinking about really focusing on music and arts and making it all local.”
One of the first events Chapel Hill has planned is Movies Under the Stars. This family friendly movie series is taking place this year in the Forest Theatre and the Town is planning to show Coco, Moana and Frozen II. The first of the three movie nights is scheduled for Thursday, July 29.
Brown announced the Arts & Culture team is planning four outdoor concerts in the University Place parking lot later in the fall. She said local musicians and bands from the Tracks Music Library in Chapel Hill will be featured in the series.
“We’ll do it over four Thursdays in September,” Brown said. “Details coming soon, but with two bands each from Tracks [Music Library] and themed nights. We’ll have a jazz night, a bluegrass night, a hip-hop night. It’s going to be super fun.”
The popular Festifall event will also return, but will look a little different from years past. Brown said there will be a couple modifications to the annual October festival including making it a multi-day event and changing locations.
“Rather than closing down Franklin Street which we know has a big impact on businesses – and not always a positive one – we’re going to program some different spaces downtown,” Brown said. “[Spaces like] some side streets, 140 plaza type of places and really focus on the arts market part of it and add in some music, some sort of artistic intervention – think of it kind of as an arts block party.”
Brown said these events will encompass the feedback gained from residents in the planning survey.
For more information on upcoming Chapel Hill Community Arts & Culture events happening soon, click here.
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