SouthWestRaleigh is chockablock with events year-round. Every First Friday of the month is celebrated with arts and activities downtown. City Plaza and the RedHat Amphitheatre hold regular concerts in summer and there are many annual events: MAIN celebrates the month of September in Raleigh as Festival Season and features a lineup of the Hopscotch Music and Design Festivals, the African American Cultural Festival, Raleigh’s festival of creativity: Sparkcon, and the International World of Bluegrass Festival. Ethnic festivals include the Lebanese Festival, the Caribbean Festival, the Greek Festival and the fabulous International Festival of Raleigh.

Hillsborough Street boasts its own lineup of events throughout the year and hosts Packapalooza, Live and Local Bluegrass, Art it Up, NCSU Homecoming, and a number of other events.

Pullen Park and Pullen Hill Terrace produce the annual Holiday Express and the Kirby Derby respectively, and nearby Dorothea Dix Park debuted its first big event this year: Destination Dix.

Finally, Raleigh’s two largest annual events also happen in SoutWestRaleigh: the NC State Fair and Raleigh’s New Year celebration, First Night Raleigh.