The Raleigh Wide Open III celebration begins Friday, and contains a schedule of incredibly diverse events for almost every type of person in Raleigh. Not only will with the outdoor festivities begin at Noon on Friday, the new convention center’s first event, the International Festival and Raleigh World Wide Expo will begin then, too.
Schedule subject to change
Friday, Sept. 5, 2008
- Noon Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
- 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Naturalization Ceremony (Cabarrus St. Lobby of Convention Center)
- 11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Raleigh Wide Open III (Fayetteville St. and downtown)
- 11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Music and Entertainment — Three stages, more than 30 local and national acts.
- Noon – 10:00 p.m. International Festival and Raleigh World Wide Expo (Convention Center)
- 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. Kids’ Zone and Carnival (Wilmington St. and Lenoir St.)
- 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Arrested Development on WRAL/MIX Fireworks Stage, Alternative music on Cherry Bounce Stage
- 8:30 – 10:00 p.m. Chuck Berry on WRAL/MIX Fireworks Stage, Annuals on Cherry Bounce Stage
- 8:30 – 10:00 p.m. Movie in Moore Square: Shrek the Third
- 10:00 p.m. Fireworks
Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008
- 11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Raleigh Wide Open III (Fayetteville St. and downtown)
- 11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. Music and Entertainment — Three stages, more than 30 local and national acts
- 11:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. International Festival and Raleigh World Wide Expo (Convention Center)
- 11:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. Kids’ Zone and Carnival
- 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. Parade (Starts on Hillsborough St. near the Capitol and travels down Fayetteville St. to the new Convention Center.)
- 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. Soul Asylum on WRAL/MIX Fireworks Stage, Alternative music on Cherry Bounce Stage
- 8:30 – 10:00 p.m. Lou Gramm on WRAL/MIX Fireworks Stage, Islands on Cherry Bounce Stage
- 8:30 – 10:00 p.m. Movie in Moore Square: Transformers
- 10:00 p.m. Fireworks
Cherry Bounce Stage
As the schedule states, there are two performance stages, the Fireworks stage (sponsored by WRAL), and the Alternative Music stage (Cherry Bounce). The exact schedule for Cherry Bounce is not set, however some bands have been set. On Friday, Raleigh’s Annuals will headline. Bleeding Hearts, Dawn Chorus, Solos Unit, and others will precede them. On Saturday, Montreal’s Islands will headline and Freebase 808, Red Collar, The T’s, Urban Sophisticate, and others will precede.