For the third consecutive year, families, dance enthusiasts and the public will celebrate dance and music during the Wake Forest Dance Festival. This year’s event will take place Saturday, Oct. 5, at E. Carroll Joyner Park, 701 Harris Road. Free and open to the public, the 2019 festival will bring a day of dance to the Triangle in a spectacular outdoor setting. The Wake Forest Dance Festival showcases a diversity of dance genres, including classical ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz and world dance, by international, national and regional professional dancers as well as local rising advanced dance performers.

The second annual Wake Forest Film Festival, A Light in the Forest, will be held Friday and Saturday, March 13 and 14, 2020. The event will spotlight passionate, creative and thought-provoking movies by some of today’s most promising and accomplished local, national and international filmmakers. The two-day film showcase will engage audiences with films of all lengths and genres, including short and feature, documentary, horror, animation, narrative and student (high school and college). Intended for both the general public and film professionals, the film festival is an opportunity for filmmakers to showcase their films in a unique location to a discerning audience. The Renaissance Centre is currently accepting film submissions via FilmFreeway at https://filmfreeway.com/WakeForestFilmFestival. The website includes film screening fees and submission requirements, including stipulations that all submitted films should have a plot that “reveals” or “sheds light” on a topic or issue and foreign films must include subtitles. Tickets for the

The Wake Forest Farmers Market will host its Fall Crafts & Kid’s Market on Saturday, Sept. 7, from 8 a.m. to noon at 235 S. Taylor Street in downtown Wake Forest. For the first time, the Kid’s Market, featuring entrepreneurs ages 17 and younger who sell their handmade items, is combined with the Fall Craft Market. A limited number of booth spaces are available for crafters and kids. Online applications are due on Saturday, Aug. 24. Cost is $45, a $10 non-refundable application fee and $35 booth setup fee if application is accepted. Kid’s Market vendors pay the $10 non-refundable application fee and $15 booth setup fee. “Our Fall Crafts & Kid’s Market gives visitors an opportunity to shop with more than just the typical vendors at our community’s Farmers Market. We open it up to artisans selling homemade crafts and young entrepreneurs whose products we want to showcase,” said

Local performance artist Antino Art – whose award-winning work merges visual magic with spoken word poetry – will bring together poets and magicians from around the Triangle and beyond in a show that promises to move audiences beyond words. When Magic Found Poetry: A show beyond words debuts from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, at the Wake Forest Coffee Company. Visit www.antinoart.com/shows to purchase tickets. “Magic appeals to the intellect by blowing the mind while poetry appeals to emotions by striking the heart,” Art said. “When performed as one, the possibilities are endless.” Among those performing will be Wake Forest resident Colin Watson, better known by his pen name of Watson, whose emphatic storytelling style draws inspiration from punk rock and blind faith to leave his audiences in speechless tears. Travis Kyng from the Raleigh-based group Press Play Poetz will bring his spitfire performance style to the stage

Tickets are for sale at the Renaissance Centre Forest Moon Theater will present “Steel Magnolias” Friday through Sunday, Sept.  20 to 23 and 27 to 29, at the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre. Showtime Friday and Saturday is 7:30 p.m., while the Sunday showtime is 3 p.m. Written by Robert Harling, this heartwarming comedy-drama explores the special bond a group of women share in a small southern Louisiana community, and how they cope with the death of one of their own. As time passes, the women encounter tragedy and good fortune. Although their friendships are strained, in the end they find themselves growing stronger and closer. Advance tickets are $15 plus tax for adults and $13 plus tax for students and seniors. These prices reflect a savings of $3 per adult and student/senior on “day of” admission tickets. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.wakeforestrencen.org/tickets-events<http://www..org/tickets-events>. Please note: A sign language

The Wake Forest Human Relations Council (HRC) is soliciting youth (ages 10-18) and adult (ages 19 and older) nominations for the 10th Annual Good Neighbor of the Year Award. The award recognizes Wake Forest residents who work to improve the quality of life in their neighborhoods without seeking recognition for their efforts. Nominees are sought in three divisions: adult, middle school youth and high school youth. To qualify, a nominee must be a Wake Forest resident who has made a significant contribution to the community between Sept. 1, 2018, and Aug. 31, 2019. Employees of the Town of Wake Forest are not eligible. The online nomination form is available on the Town’s website at http://bit.ly/WFGoodNeighborAward. Completed nomination forms must be submitted by 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 30. Nominations forms must include the names of both the nominator and the nominee, along with a narrative of 400 words or less describing why the

Updated July 24, 2019 Various projects around town Updates based on information from Brendie Vega, Assistant Planning Director, and from other sources. *Abandoned partially built office building on Stadium Road. “That is actually a Wake Forest Dental Arts building,” Vega said. “I believe there were issues between the builder and the business owner.” There is a sign saying the building is available. The owner has not returned a telephone call. *Tru Hotel on Wake Union Church Road is in the construction drawing phase. *Cube Smart storage space on Wake Union Church Road should open shortly, Vega said. “The Sports Authority decided not to go into that location.” *Friendship Chapel Road extension. There is a request to extend the deadend road by 500 feet. Vega said it is to “get to the landlocked parcel between Holding Village and Heritage, opening up development opportunities.” Yes, and it also opens questions about how

This month’s Business After Hours will be held on Thursday, Aug. 29, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the Ledford Student Center on Wingate Street and hosted by the Southeastern Seminary and The College at Southeastern. * * * * Join the Women’s Business Alliance on August 22 for our Retail Therapy Social. Sip wine. Shop local. Give back. Feel good. It’s all happening from 5 to 8 p.m. at The Sutherland. Bring your girlfriends for a fun night out. This event is open to the public and all are invited to attend! Retail Therapy is a way to showcase our member businesses while raising money for local nonprofits. You can enjoy sipping wine while shopping, our members get marketing exposure and our nonprofit partners receive a portion of the sales. Everyone wins at Retail Therapy. How does it work? A $20 advance donation ($25 at the door) gives you

*The Wake Forest Farmers Market will be open from 8 a.m. to noon this Saturday, Aug. 24, in the employee parking lot along South Taylor Street behind Wake Forest Town Hall. Local farmers and artisans will have meats, seasonal vegetables, bread, baked good and other local wares for sale. See the market’s Facebook page for information about the vendors and sign up for a weekly notice about the offerings that Saturday. Remember the Wake Forest Farmers Market is unusual in that it is owned by the farmers who sell their wares there. *Monday Night Bingo at The Factory is hosted by the Wake Forest Kiwanis Club in the Mill Room from 7 to 9:30 p.m. every Monday night. All profits support the club’s projects for children. Visit www.wakeforestbingo.com for more information. *Tri-Area Ministry Food Pantry at 149 East Holding Avenue is now open from 9 to 11 a.m. every third