It’s always on me. It’s not some band’s fault if I haven’t heard of them.
HAPPY HOPSCOTCH to those who celebrate! The city will come alive this weekend starting today!
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We’re walking over to see Nine Inch Nails tomorrow at Lenovo Center. That’s as close as I’ll have come to Hopscotch since the early 2010s. 
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I’m sure most of us are aware of the events going on around town, but there’s a lot of free fun this weekend if you get out in DTR. Weather should be perfect as well. Tonight is First Friday with a lot of Halloween themed events. Raleigh Wide Open is also this weekend, it’s the free festival replacing the bluegrass festival.
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Falling for Local is tomorrow as well!
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What I like about Moore Square for the tree is that it could anchor a market that could remain there for the holiday season while not closing Fayetteville to traffic for a month. It would be really cool if Raleigh could actually invest in replicating a European style Christmas Market. It could be a real differentiator for the city regionally. When I search online for America’s best Christmas Markets, there aren’t any listed in NC, SC, or VA. Imagine drawing folks to the city for the Southeast’s best Christmas Market!
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Are there Christmas markets in North America that stand out to you? I honestly don’t ever think I’ve been to one.
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Wouldn’t that kill all the grass?
Moore Square is already set up for a market with the wide arching sidewalk, the central sidewalk, and the large plaza area in the southeast quadrant. We just need the investment in more than just cheap tents to make it really special.
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So I think having tents along those paths could work but I feel like events at Moore Square don’t do it right. There were tents ON the pathways because they couldn’t set up on either side because of the short walls or the metal fences. This lead to a pretty claustrophobic experience.
I also wish the food trucks could park on the edge OFF the walkway and not on it. I actually like those little metal dividers that give the walkways an edge but I wish they operated like bowling lane bumpers and could just retract at the push of a button. 
(for events)
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Yeah, it definitely needs to be better designed and more substantial, but that sort of investment likely requires the market to be more than a day or a weekend. It should last for at least a few weeks and in accordance with other events during the holiday season downtown including the parade, the tree lighting, performances at Memorial, Illuminate, ice skating, etc. Give folks stacked reasons to come downtown for an event and stay downtown after it.
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I’ve been to the one in Philly and it’s pretty good. Interestingly PA has 2 and both in the Philly area (Bethlehem being the other).
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It’s easy to be on brand for a Christmas Market when your town’s name is Bethlehem.
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I was thinking more of an obligation. 
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I mean City Market exists… would be REALLY NICE to see that utilized to its fullest potential, here…
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A Christmas market would draw crowds of people who would spill over to the blocks around it, including patronizing the businesses in City Market. It’s a win-win IMO.
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They also have one out here in Seattle. I went with my wife last year for the first time & we both loved the live caroling & mulled wine! We also found some unique Christmas gifts to send back to family in Raleigh.
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I’ve actually been to the Christmas Markets in Manchester and Liverpool UK. It consumes the whole city, and its like our State Fair but if it was in the streets. They have rides for kids, fair candy & food, hot chocolate with bailey’s, and lots of local farmers market like shops. It also lasts several weeks. They said they have a big festival like that cause they really don’t have anything going on in the fall.
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