SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — Pop open your calendar and prepare to run down a weekend of fun. It’s Li’l Friday (local speak for Thursday)!
A lot is taking place to keep you happily occupied over the next four days. Thursday will kick off with a learning opportunity about the Waccamaw Siouan’s Healing Garden.
Live music from Stray Local, as well as from ’90s alt-rockers Everclear, are taking over local stages Friday and Saturday.
An antique show and sale will make Sunday Funday a breezy, easy day of shopping.
A spoken-word fundraiser, beer-and-workout session, locally short film festival, and trivia is on deck too. Cheers to Li’l Friday! There’s no shortage of things to do for the weekend.
Have an event you want considered for inclusion in Port City Daily’s Li’l Friday Roundup? Email shea@localdailymedia.com by every Wednesday, noon.
THURSDAY, MAY 20
Zoom Conversation: Waccamaw Siouan Healing Garden
Cape Fear Museum • 814 Market St. • Free
At 5:30 p.m. at Cape Fear Museum, two members of the Waccamaw Siouan Tribe, Ms. Darlene and Ms. Sue, will host a Zoom conversation to explore the Tribal Healing Garden. Raised beds feature plants native to North Carolina, including edible produce. There’s also a living plant wall with traditional herbs and medicinal plants, and a pollinator space. The garden highlights a water feature and fire pit to allow for gatherings, prayers and meditation.
Darlene Graham has had a 36-year career in the Columbus County School System and volunteers for the Waccamaw Healing Green Space, Pocosin Project and Tribal Garden. After 28 years of service, Sue Jacobs retired from the North Carolina Commission of Indian Affairs, and now works as an assistance coordinator for the Healing Green Space, Pocosin Project and Tribal Garden for the Waccamaw Siouan Tribe.
The conversation will be moderated by Waccamaw Siouan Ashley Patrick Lomboy, who works for Corning Optical Fiber and Cable. Lomboy upstarted the Waccamaw Siouan STEM Studio.
MORE THURSDAY HAPPENINGS:
Trivia at Seven Mile Post — Hosted by the gang at Local Daily Media (The Penguin, The Dude and Port City Daily), trivia at Seven Mile Post includes lots of fun prizes, not to mention $5 Sierra Nevada drafts. Free, starts at 6:30 p.m. 7219 Market St.
Elena Woodard — Wrightsville Beach Brewery’s beer garden will welcome Elena Woodard playing her own brand of acoustic tunes from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. As always, it’s free to attend, 6201 Oleander Dr.
FRIDAY, MAY 21
Friday Nights at Riverlights
Riverlights’ Marina Village • 4410 River Rd. • Free
The Riverlights community is getting into the arts market game at the Riverlights’ Marina Village Live Oak Commons once again. Going into its fourth season, Friday Nights at Riverlights will run bi-weekly from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. throughout the summer and into fall, featuring 15 to 20 local vendors. They’ll be selling one-of-a-kind, handmade goods, like art, jewelry, clothing, pottery and more, plus there will be live music and a food truck on site.
“Lots of vendors are eager to return to Riverlights this summer,” coordinator Amy McNabb said in a release. McNabb will be launching her own food truck, Mommiez (née Mommy’s E-Z Baking). “I am being intentional in vendor selections to assure no two offer variations of the same thing.”
Surrounding merchants, like Water + Color Art Gallery, and restaurants, such as Smoke on the Water, will be open, as will the nearby indoor amusement shops, like Club Golf.
MORE FRIDAY HAPPENINGS:
Stray Local — The former Wilmington band will be headed back to its roots to perform at Waterline at 7 p.m. Stray Local moved to Raleigh a year ago and have been recording through the pandemic, releasing new tracks every few months. “Shiver” dropped in January, and their latest track, “Animal Shapes,” came out Apr. 29. The band calls it “an indie pop anthem for women.”
“The song is about a woman who keeps falling back into a relationship that is bad for her and finally gets mad about it, basically swearing him off and distracting herself with different art projects,” Hannah Lomas described. “I know I can personally relate to blasting music, having a glass of wine and therapeutically throwing paint on a canvas after a break up.“
Lomas and her husband, Jamie Rowen, are planning to be in Wilmington next month to perform as well — on Jun. 18 at The Sour Barn and Jun. 19 at End of Days Distillery.
SATURDAY, MAY 22
Everclear
Burnt Mill Creek • 2101 Market St. • $30 and up
Nineties rewind!
Go ahead and prepare for an earworm — “Santa Monica” and “Father of Mine” will be on repeat in your head after catching Everclear on Saturday night at Burnt Mill Creek.
Comprising Art Alexakis (vocals, guitar), Dave French (guitar), Freddy Herrera (bass), and Brian Nolan (drums), Everclear has gone through many changes through the year, though Alexakis has been the mainstay keeping the alt-rockers on track. To date, Everclear has released 11 albums, with their last being 2015’s “Black Is The New Black.” They continue to tour year after year, and in 2017 celebrated the platinum success of 1997’s “So Much For The Afterglow.” Fans will hear tracks from the album, as well as cuts from Everclear’s debut, “Sparkle and Fade.”
Tickets to the BMC show start at $30; events kick off at 4 p.m. and there is a 9 p.m. curfew. Partial proceeds will be donated to Live Fearlessly — a foundation to help individuals with cystic fibrosis. No on-site parking nor outside food or drink allowed on premises.
MORE SATURDAY HAPPENINGS:
Lunge for Your Lager — Catawba Brewing is bringing together two peas in a pod — well, sort of. Lunge For Your Lager is Catawba’s newest form of fitness, wherein folks come into the brewery at 10:15 a.m. on Saturdays to knock out their workout and then stick around to enjoy a brew of choice after class. The workout is $15 with complimentary beer. 4712 New Centre Dr.
Humble Jumble Arts Sale — Free and open to the public, Cameron Art Museum is hosting an art sale for locals to have a chance to own a Claude Howell, Jack Berkman, Tom Graffagnino, Walter Frost, Betty Brown, Ann Carter Pollard, Elsie Boyce, Frederic Remington, Edwin Voorhees, Topher Alexander, and Clyde Jones. Browse work by local artists Renato Abbate, Fritzi Huber, Donna Robertson, Curtis Krueger, Joanne Geisel, Donna King, Mitzi Ito, and more! Masks and social distancing are required. The sale lasts from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. at 3201 S. 17th St.
Revolutionary Poetry Night — A spoken-word fundraiser is being held for three BLM protesters who were charged with vandalizing a Trump billboard last fall. Revolutionary Poetry Night takes place at City Hall, 102 S. 3rd St., from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., “to support black and anti-racist community members being targeted and falsely charged by the WPD and the district attorney,” according to its organizers. The open mic welcomes ally voices; all money raised goes to help pay for legal fees for Tim Joyner, Lily Nicole and Joshua Zieseniss.
SUNDAY, MAY 23
Wilmington Antique and Art Sale
Elks Lodge • 5102 Oleander Dr. • $10
As a partnership between the NC Junior Sorosis and NC Sorosis, the Wilmington Antique Show and Sale at the Elks Lodge will launch all weekend, from May 21-23.
Over 25 dealers will come from several states, offering Early American and English furniture, primitives, jewelry, linens, silver, glassware, prints and other decorative arts. The event will open Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
The event’s proceeds — admission is $10 for the whole weekend — will go back into the community, specifically to local charities, scholarships and local projects.
More information can be found here.
MORE SUNDAY HAPPENINGS:
Port City Shorts — The Port City Playwrights Project will launch its first filmmaker showcase on May 21, which will continue through June 12. There will be six locally shot and locally written short films available to screen for free — though a donation to the nonprofit is welcome. The group allows scriptwriters a chance to hone their craft, network with other colleagues and share in the creative process, as well as present affordable, original works to the public. Individuals must register to screen the films.
Have events you want considered for Li’l Friday? Email shea@localdailymedia.com
Subscribe to PCD now and then sign up for our newsletter, Wilmington Wire, and get the headlines delivered to your inbox every morning. Send tips and comments to info@portcitydaily.co
