Food festivals, a blues festival and comedy highlight our 11 Best Bets this week
From masquerade galas to music ops and a Food and Beer experience to boot, our Best Bets for the week have your social calendar covered.
Bull City Food and Beer Experience
Thirty fine restaurants. Thirty fantastic breweries. Belly up for benevolence at this bigger-and-better-than-ever event to benefit Band Together and Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association. In its eighth installment, the signature DPAC event features unlimited samplings, plus the Harris Onstage Experience, showcasing live music & local food trucks. Level up your experience by visiting each level of DPAC’s lobbies and the stage. 123 Vivian St., Durham. Feb. 23, 4 p.m. Check for ticket availability. bullcityexperience.com
Rob Schneider
“You can do it!” Three-time Emmy winner (as part of the “SNL” writing staff), movie star (“The Waterboy,” “Big Daddy” and many, many more) and comedy star brings his trademark talent to town for a night of laughter. Raleigh Improv. 1224 Parkside Main St., Cary. Feb.21, 7 & 9:15 p.m.; Feb. 22, 6:30 & 9 p.m. $30. improv.com/raleigh
Raleigh Blues Festival
“Blues is our name and having fun is our game.” Set your calendar: Friday is the 11th annual Raleigh Blues Festival, featuring Tucka, Pokey Bear, Nellie “Tiger” Travis, Roy C, Lacee and Big G. See you there! Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Memorial Auditorium, 2 E. South St., Raleigh. Feb. 21, 8 p.m. From $49. dukeenergycenterraleigh.com
Sir Walter Raleigh Half-Marathon
13.1-ers, the Sir Walter Half is back for its second installment, this year moving to Crabtree Creek Greenway — starting by the recently redeveloped Gateway Plaza, and running to Anderson Point Park (and back) — for a beautiful City of Oaks jaunt. Post-run, head to Mordecai Beverage Company for an Afterparty (2425 Crabtree Blvd., Raleigh). Race: Gateway Plaza Raleigh. Feb. 22, 7:30 a.m. Registration $75. raleighhalfmarathon.com
Johnny Mathis
Legendary Johnny Mathis and his unmistakable voice return to Raleigh with the North Carolina Symphony for an evening of romantic faves to include “Chances Are,” “Gina,” and much more, with conductor Scott Lavendar, for the The Voice of Romance Tour - North Carolina Symphony Special Event Concert. Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts, Meymandi Concert Hall, 2 E. South St., Raleigh. Feb. 21 & 22, 8 p.m. From $49. dukeenergycenterraleigh.com
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
Duke Performances and the Carolina Theatre present the self-dubbed “The World’s Foremost All-Male Comic Ballet Company,” affectionately known as the Trocks. A small but stalwart corps de ballet, the company “has been ‘dragging’ the classical ballet canon since the mid-1970s,” with gender-bending performances that “place a tight lens on ballet’s inherent theatrics, employing comedy and camp to tease the technical rigor underpinning it all,” with shows that command us to “humorously, lovingly — ponder our assumptions about gender and our collective understanding of who tells the stories we have come to accept as canonical, and how.” 309 W. Morgan St., Durham. Feb. 22, 8 p.m. From $10. carolinatheatre.org
Masquerade Gala
It’s Pardi (read: Party) Gras, baby! Masked merriment awaits at the North Carolina Museum of History’s first black-tie Mardi Gras-themed Masquerade Gala, held by its membership group. Carnival and cocktails collide at the open bar with live music by Diverse Groove, hors d’oeuvres, silent auction tables and tarot card readings on offer. Masks optional; VIP options available. 5 E. Edenton St., Raleigh. Feb. 22, 8 p.m. From $50. ncmuseumofhistory.org
Drew & Ellie Holcomb
On the heels of their first joint EP, “Electricity,” married musicians Drew & Ellie will bend the boards at Carolina Theatre as part of their The You & Me Tour. After meeting at the University of Tennessee, the Nashville duo began touring together in 2006 with Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors, until the arrival of their daughter, after which Ellie took a step back to focus on motherhood and her solo career (think the likes of No. 1 debuts: children’s book “Who Sang the First Song” and children’s album “Sing: Creation Songs”). Drew’s band’s also has been on the rise. In 2019, Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors released critically acclaimed new album “Dragons,” which hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Folk/Americana Album Sales Chart. This week, the duo will take stage in Durham to perform both solo and joint selections. 309 W. Morgan St., Raleigh. Feb. 25, 8 p.m. From $35. carolinatheatre.org
Railroad Earth
Having always subscribed to the get-in-where-you-fit-in mentality and known for their genre-bending implementation of bluegrass instruments in nontraditional styles and arrangements, RRE — Todd Sheaffer (guitar), Tim Carbone (violin), John Skehan (mandolin), Carey Harmon (drums), and Andrew Altman (bass) — heads to Lincoln Theatre. They’re coming off the release of two singles (“The Great Divide” and “It’s So Good”) from their upcoming record, “All for the Song,” set to bow early this year. 126 E. Cabarrus St., Raleigh. Feb. 21, 8 p.m. $25. lincolntheatre.com; https://railroad.earth
Evening of Entertainment
Talented choral and dance students — 500 of them — will light up the stage while generating college scholarships for seniors in Durham Public Schools in this musical showcase presented by the DPS Scholarship Foundation and Durham Public Schools. Durham Performing Arts Center, 123 Vivian St., Durham. Feb. 21, 7:30 p.m. From $12.50. dpacnc.com
Pop-Up Art: Feathered Faces
Take a walk on the wild side with this Feathered Faces pop-up at the North Carolina Museum of Art, where you can take inspo from the feathers, beaks and claws on view in John James Audubon’s “Birds of America” folios to create a unique bird mask of your own. East Building, Studio 1, 2110 Blue Ridge Road, Raleigh. Date, time. Price. ncartmuseum.org
This story was originally published February 19, 2020 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Food festivals, a blues festival and comedy highlight our 11 Best Bets this week."