All over Carrboro, indoors and out, all kinds of music, all for free. It's the Carrboro Music Festival. Held the last Sunday in September, the event features well over 150 artists performing in 25 venues. Whether your passion is rock, jazz, soul, Cajun, Celtic, reggae, bluegrass or world music you'll find your bliss. One of the cool things about the festival is it features not just bands but everything from solo performers to a 20 person jazz orchestras. Another is that the venues are not just bars. They are restaurants, parking lots and stores too.
In recent years organizers have tried to find ways to make the event as green as possible. For instance, a free bio-diesel shuttle runs back and forth from a nearby Park & Ride lot and a trackless train provides free rides between the Carrboro Town Hall and Weaver Street Market.
The entire Carrboro Music Festival is family-friendly with all musical acts being open to all ages. Additionally, the festival is run by a huge cadre of volunteers meaning it's a fun way for high-school students to get some volunteer hours.
The festival centers around the Carrboro Town Commons, which many people know better as the site of the Carrboro Farmer's Market. The Town Commons stage is one of the band sites and features a number of bands throughout the day. It's also where you'll find the festival food and craft vendors. And most importantly it's the site of the kid's activities. There's usually a bouncy house and one of those blow-up obstacle courses so you don't have to leave the music even if the kids need an activity break.
The festival, which began in 2002, was originally held in June and called the Fete De la Musique. Over the last decade, it has morphed into one of the community's favorite annual events and seems to get bigger and better every year. Here's where you can get the most up-to-date information and schedule for the Carrboro Music Festival.