Press Releases

North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green has been named an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow by the Academy of American Poets.

Hundreds of middle and high school students will compete Saturday, April 27, at the National History Day Competition in the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh. The 450 students from 70 schools are the winners of district competitions held across North Carolina. The public is invited to view their projects on the theme “Triumph and Tragedy in History.”

Dancing in the street, a 5K run, a classic car show and a new health and wellness fair are all activities being held in conjunction with Mountain Gateway Museum’s 35th Annual Pioneer Day festival Saturday, April 27, in Old Fort.

Become an 18th century naturalist like John and William Bartram! This father/son duo visited the area in the 1760s and documented the unique environment of southeastern North Carolina. 

Gold mining at Reed Gold Mine was in its heyday in the 1850s -- before the California gold rush -- when for gold mining North Carolina was the place to be. In 1799, young Conrad Reed discovered a 17-pound gold nugget while fishing in Little Meadow Creek, giving rise to America’s first gold rush. Historic interpreters at Reed Gold Mine will recall that time Saturday, April 27.

Come Hear NC! As the North Carolina Arts Council promotes the Year of Music, come enjoy old-time tunes and music by Raleigh’s Southern String Band, Thursday, April 25, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, 109 E. Jones St., Raleigh, at a free “Thursday Talk.” 

The North Carolina Arts Council and partners in Rocky Mount and Goldsboro will present free concerts that celebrate Eastern North Carolina’s rich African American musical heritage this spring. Eastern North Carolinians are among the transformative figures in the history of jazz, gospel and popular music and this legacy was documented in the African American Music Trails of Eastern North, a guidebook to eight eastern counties.

Did you know the state tree is the pine? How about that the state sport is stock car racing? Multiple plants, animals, and arts have been made symbols of the state; come out to learn about these things and meet your North Carolina state symbols at the symbol for our state, the NC State Capitol! Join the Capitol for a day of free, family fun on Saturday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. 

It’s called the “Outlander Effect” in Scotland – attractions that appear in the award-winning “Outlander” television series have seen visitor numbers increase by as much as 67% since the series debuted in 2014.  

Come Hear NC will sponsor the Main Stage at Red Hat Amphitheater during the Wide Open Bluegrass festival Sept. 27 to 28 in Raleigh, which will be open to the public for free for the first time in the festival’s history. Come Hear NC is a program of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and the North Carolina Arts Council designed to celebrate 2019 as the Year of Music as proclaimed by Governor Roy Cooper earlier this year.