Fall is upon us and the weather this weekend looks to be beautiful! We at Goodnight Raleigh are excited about three upcoming events happening this Saturday, October 15. As our faithful readers know, Goodnight Raleigh celebrates the arts, architecture, history and the community of Raleigh. This Saturday you can experience all this and more. We are happy to announce the Cooke Street Carnival, the Downtown Raleigh Historic Church walk, and Triangle Home Movie Day.

The Cooke Street Carnival

The Cooke Street Carnival is an annual community street fair held every October in the Idlewild neighborhood near downtown. This year the family friendly festival features more than 30 vendors, including artists, food trucks, four bands, kid’s activities, a pie eating contest sponsored by Raleigh’s Pie Bird restaurant, a stilt walker and even a bearded lady! The carnival is free and open to the public. So y’all come on out and have fun at this neighborhood event. It runs from 1 pm until dark.

Photo courtesy Jedidiah Smith Gant

These are some photos from last year’s event.

Photo courtesy Jedidiah Smith Gant

And a good time was had by all!

Photo courtesy Jedidiah Smith Gant

I can’t wait to see the bearded lady!

The Cooke Street Carnival also sponsors a Can Drive for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina so bring some canned food to donate!

Downtown Raleigh Historic Church Walk

Sacred Heart Cathedral

The first annual Downtown Historic Church Walk will be held Saturday, October 15 from 9 am – 12 noon. This is a wonderful opportunity to visit and learn about the history and architecture of eight downtown Raleigh churches. The self-guided tour features Edenton Street Methodist Church, First Baptist Church Salisbury Street, First Baptist Church Wilmington Street, First Presbyterian Church, Christ Episcopal Church, St. Paul AME Church, Church of the Good Shepherd, and Sacred Heart Cathedral. All are within easy walking distance around Raleigh’s historic Capitol Square. Welcome balloons mark the entrances at each site, and visitors will find a church walk brochure at each location. It includes a map, photographs and historical information about these historic churches.

Historic Christ Church

Home Movie Day

Do you have old home movies in your family vault? Do you want to know what’s on them, what condition they’re in, and how to take care of them? Interested in what other people filmed with their old movie cameras back in the day? Then bring your family’s old 8mm, Super 8 or 16mm home movies to the Triangle Home Movie Day event, Saturday, Oct. 15.

At Home Movie Day not only will you be able to talk with film archivists about the best ways to preserve your movies, but you will be able to see them projected — a real treat if you have not seen them in a while. No home movies? Then come on out anyway and join in the fun watching the old movies of others. It’s not only historically significant — it’s fun too!

Home Movie Day is a worldwide celebration of amateur home movies, how they are important historical records of our culture and what we can do to save them for future generations.

Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011 from 1 – 4pm

North Carolina State Archives Auditorium
109 East Jones St.
Raleigh, N.C.

All three of these fun events are free and open to the public. Now that’s something for everyone!