SOUTHEASTERN N.C. — Li’l Friday features dozens of ways for people to enjoy the weekend via theater, music, art, culinary happenings and more.
All events featured were scheduled as of Thursday; however, it’s wise to check in ahead of attending any one. Inclement weather, changes in schedules and unforeseen circumstances may shift for organizers at the last minute.
Thursday, Nov. 5
ABBAmania
Thalian Hall, 310 Chestnut St. • Tickets: $53 and up
The world’s longest-running live ABBA tribute concert has been touring globally since 1999 and is coming to Thalian Hall at 7:30 p.m.
The group pays tribute to the Swedish disco-pop sounds of “Dancing Queen,” “Take A Chance” and “Waterloo.” ABBAmania has performed 3,000 concerts in more than 35 countries. They often perform in the 1970s costumes, staging and lighting.
Tickets to the show start at $53.50.
OTHER THURSDAY EVENTS
‘Hysteria! An Original Play’ — An original play staged at N. Front Street Theater, “Hysteria” was written and directed by Jesslyn Wilson and Meghan Cook, with music by local Billy Heathen. The show follows centuries of women, enduring varied struggles — overcoming accusations of witchcraft and surviving modern-day reality TV. In addition to featuring an original score and an original song called “Less of Me” by Julia Desmond, the show includes puppets designed by Alexandra and Phil Covington. The cast includes Joe Basquill, Georgia Cole, Jackson Cole, Brendan Carter, Anna Driscoll and others. Tickets are $28 here.
Friday, Nov. 6
Cape Fear Kite Festival
Carolina and Kure beaches • Free
One of the most colorful events to light up the shoreline takes place this weekend on Pleasure Island. The Cape Fear Kite Festival is a weekend-long, family-friendly engagement that kicks off Friday afternoon, offering a sneak peek of kites in flight at Kure Beach Pier.
On Friday evening, at dusk along the Carolina Beach beachfront near the Boardwalk, kites light up the night sky, fluttering and flying aglow. There is also a neon dance party with a DJ and drone show, too; it takes place from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
On Saturday and Sunday at Fort Fisher State Recreation Area, more than 100 professional kite flyers will showcase creations of all shapes and sizes, styles and colors. At the rec area, there are also live bands, food trucks and drinks, and vendors set up. The event takes place both days from 11 a.m to 4 p.m.
Leashed and well-behaved dogs are welcome.
OTHER FRIDAY EVENTS
Rodolfo Zuniga Quartet — A night of jazz is on the horizon with the Rodolfo Zuniga Quartet performing at UNCW Music Department’s Beckwith Recital Hall. Drummer and composer Rodolfo Zuniga, from San José, Costa Rica, has performed with Gary Campbell, Ira Sullivan, Bill Mays, Silvano Monasterios, and others, and teaches jazz at Cal State University Fullerton. The musician has released multiple albums and been featured at festivals around the U.S. and in Central and South America. The latest configuration of Rodolfo’s group is an octet featuring the original “Surfaces” jazz trio he performed with for years, alongside a string trio, electric guitar, and vocals. He performs at UNCW at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are $17.14.
Celebrate Downtown Wilmington —The City of Wilmington will host “Celebrate Downtown,” a free, family-friendly event featuring information about city projects, community activities and an outdoor movie, “Hocus Pocus.” The event takes place at Riverfront Park. From 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and attendees can explore displays about downtown initiatives, meet city staff, ask questions and share feedback about upcoming projects. There will be food trucks, Halloween treats, lawn games, music and activities for all ages. The movie begins at 6:45 p.m. and attendees are encouraged to bring blankets for the screening. The event will take place at 10 Cowan St. Learn more here.
Port City Blitz — More than two dozen bands are scheduled to take the Waterline Brewing stage this weekend at 721 Surry St. The event takes place on Nov. 6 and 7, with tickets priced $48 to $67 here. The event is an all-ages punk show and will have skate demos, a punk rock flea market and varied food trucks on site. Music can be heard by The Rumjacks, Strike Anywhere, Holyroller, The Explainers, Dial O, Kicking Bird, Hyperloops and more on Friday, followed by Corrosion of Conformity, Zodiac Panthers, Rocket 77, The Vibrolas, The Knuckleheads and more on Saturday.
The Great Pumpkin Blowout — Looking for a creative way to get rid of your rotting pumpkin? The North Carolina Historic Sites and Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site has just the event from noon to 4 p.m For a $10 fee, participants can bring their Jack-o-lanterns to detonate with the same technology that was used during Civil War times to blow up torpedoes. According to the historic site, the gourds that don’t have as much carving will provide the best explosions. Tickets are available onsite the day-of but it’s free to watch. All proceeds fund educational programming at the site. It takes place at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site, 8884 Saint Philips Road SE.
Saturday, Nov. 7
Polish Festival
St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, 4849 Castle Hayne Road • Free
The annual Polish Festival is returning to the Cape Fear region this weekend at St. Stanislaus Church in Castle Hayne from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors by the thousands — upward of almost 10,000, actually — descend on the area annually during the first weekend of November to indulge in Polish foods, deserts, drinks, music and more.
The church brings in authentic kielbasa, pierogi, golabki, kruschiki, and more from Pennsylvania to sell. Homemade food prepared by parishioners will also be for sale, featuring potato pancakes, stuffed cabbage, sausage rolls, topped with homemade sauerkraut, and pastries, like chrusciki cookies and nut rolls, priced $8 and up.
Admission is free, but proceeds benefit the upkeep of the church and help subsidize its food pantry, Helping Hands.
Polish music will be played live by the Harbour Towne Fest Band, bringing pop-polka sounds, and Front Street Brewery will have its annual Polish beer for sale.
The festival will also feature crafts for purchase, a raffle with cash prizes, and will have a children’s area with games and inflatables.
OTHER SATURDAY EVENTS
Southeast NC Veterans Parade — Veterans and active-duty personnel are being celebrated on Saturday in downtown Wilmington Southeast NC Veterans Parade, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. It kicks off he parade kicks off at the corner of Hanover and N. Third streets, concluding at Market and Third. It’s free to attend and open to the public, but be prepared to endure closed streets downtown. See them all here.
Arty Party — The Arts Council of New Hanover County and Wilmington will host its annual fundraiser, themed “Arty Party Goes to Paris.” It takes place at Sayed Hall on the campus of UNCW from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and includes business leaders, philanthropists, civic leaders, and arts enthusiasts and artists. There will be live performances from musicians, dancers, actors and more, as well as craft cocktails, food and more. Tickets are $150 here.
Switchfoot — A ‘90s American alternative rock band from San Diego is coming to Greenfield Lake Amphitheater. Consisting of Jon Foreman, Tim Foreman, Chad Butler, Jerome Fontamillas and Boaz Roberts, Switchfoot started on the Christian rock scene but gained mainstream appeal in the early aughts after a handful of songs appeared in Nicholas Sparks’ film, “A Walk to Remember.” The group also won the Grammy for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album for “Hello Hurricane” in 2009. The group released a new album, “Forever Now,” earlier this summer. Tickets to their Greenfield Lake Amphitheater show are $50 here.
‘Taxi Driver’ — It’s the 50th anniversary of the classic “Taxi Driver” directed by Martin Scorsese. The film, starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel and Cybill Shepherd, won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1976. The story follows a psychotic New York cabbie driven to violence by loneliness and desperation. It’s screening at Thalian Hall at 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7, and 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 8. Tickets are $10 to $12 here.
ELO Experience — Electric Light Orchestra is known for their progressive, orchestral art rock, featuring cellos, strings, and synthesizers against electric guitars, drums and keys. The band, originally founded by Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood, changed lineup throughout the decades but is best known for songs like “Don’t Bring Me Down,” “Evil Woman,” “Telephone Line,” and “Mr. Blue Sky.” They’ve inspired psych-rock bands like Flaming Lips and Super Furry Animals and a 12-piece band, complete with violins, viola, cello, and electric guitars, and accompanied by Wilmington Symphony Orchestra’s string section, will be performing their music at Wilson Center Friday at 6:30 p.m. Tickets start at $34.50 here.
Emo Kids in Concert — On Nov. 7, Bowstring Brewyard will host the nation’s top Emo party band, Emo Kids in Concert. The group plays through classics by My Chemical Romance, Fall Out Boy, A Day To Remember, Panic! At The Disco, blink-182 and more. Tickets are $20 online and concert-goers can also vote on the setlist they want to hear.
North Carolina Spot Festival — A Hampstead tradition since 1963, the North Carolina Spot Festival will take place Saturday and Sunday at 14221 N.C. Highway 17. Upward of 50,000 people attend over two days to enjoy food, arts and crafts vendors, kids’ bounce houses, as well as the North Carolina Spot Festival Pageant and live music. Annually, around 5,000 pounds of spot — small members of the drum family — are served at the event. The fish have been provided by Atlantic Seafood since 2008 after then-sponsor JH Lea and Sons retired — a fishery that served the Hampstead area for 90 years. Spot plates are sold for $12, served with hushpuppies, French fries and coleslaw. For nonseafood eaters, around a dozen vendors selling cheeseburgers, barbecue, funnel cakes and other offerings. Plus, live music is performed by The Carolina Band (12:30 p.m.), Machine Gun (3:30 p.m.) and Cooper Greer (7:30 p.m.) on Saturday, as well as Billy Yaeger Acoustic (11 a.m. ) and The Band of Oz on Sunday at 2 p.m. Lawn chairs welcome (pets and coolers are not). Also, there will be paid inflatable activities for $20 and craft vendors will be on site. All proceeds go back into the community to fund Topsail schools and Pender EMS and Fire and the festival is run entirely by beneficiary volunteers. More than $30,000 has been raised in years past. Gates open 9 a.m. both days and close Saturday at 10:30 p.m. and Sunday at 5 p.m. Admission is $5.
Sunday, Nov. 8
Monty Python’s ‘Spamalot’
Wilson Center, 703 N. Third St. • Tickets: $50 and up
Hot off a critically acclaimed Broadway revival in 2023, “Monty Python’s Spamalot,” the Tony Award-winning best musical, comes to CFCC’s Wilson Center Nov. 7-8, for three performances. Lovingly ripped off from the film classic “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” “Spamalot” features a book and lyrics by Eric Idle and music by John Du Prez and Eric Idle.
“Spamalot” features everything from flying cows and killer rabbits to British royalty, French taunters, dancing girls, rubbery shrubbery and, of course, the Lady of the Lake. The musical features songs that have become beloved classics in musical theatre, including “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life,” “The Song That Goes Like This,” and “Find Your Grail.”
Tickets are $50 and up here.
OTHER SUNDAY EVENTS
Out to Sea NC Seafood Festival: Saltwater Stories — The Out to Sea NC Seafood Festival is taking place with varied events across town from Nov. 8 through 10. Hosted by Seabird and its owner and chef Dean Neff, the festival features a variety of talented local chefs at various venues paired with history, learning, and above all, delicious seafood creations. Saltwater Stories will feature Voyce Chef Keith Rhodes and highlight the impact of African American foodways on North Carolina’s coast. The stories will focus on the Nixon family who opened the first oyster shucking plant in New Hanover County. John Mallette from Southern Breeze Seafood in Jacksonville, NC, will be doing a cooking demo and two-time James Beard nominee Rhodes of Voyce. Read more about the previous Saltwater Stories Rhodes did over the summer here. Tickets to Sunday’s edition are $75 a person here.
Badass Women of Old Wilmington Walking Tour — If you haven’t heard of Little Wilmington Tours — from founder and 30-year Wilmington resident Steven S. Little — let us introduce you to one of their latest adventures: Badass Women of Old Wilmington Walking Tour. The 90-minute tour features insight about some of the fierce women who helped shape Wilmington’s history — rebels, revolutionaries, spies, troublemakers, and champions. A local guide brings to life the history through personalities and impact. Groups of a dozen or less walk along the historic district of downtown Wilmington to learn about the women. Tickets are $15 to $25 here for a 6 p.m. departure.
Marshall Morgan Project — Wilmington’s most well-known photographer is having his physical photos sorted and digitized by a group of locals. Marshall Morgan has become a Wilmington icon, capturing people, towns and landmarks in the region for almost 50 years, frequently walking the streets of Wrightsville Beach to downtown from 1979 to 2004 with his camera in hand, snapping photos of everyone and selling them out of VW. For almost two years, filmmakers have been documenting and sorting hundreds of thousands of photos, dubbed the “Marshall Morgan Project.” To participate in the final count of more than 500,000 photos of the Big Picture Sort, an event at Holiday Inn Resort at Lumina in Wrightsville Beach is taking place from 11:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. The goal is to have 100 volunteers go through the final 245,000 photographs, organizing and preserving history as every photo Morgan snapped tells a story and puts a fragment of Wilmington’s history into perpetuity. Sign up is here.
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