Submitted by Melissa Howsam — Correspondent
Spark on your week with these SPARKcon events — when art, film, fashion, music, dance and creative culture collide downtown, and you get your fest on as 1200 Triangle creatives and their fans fill Fayetteville Street with fab, flavorful, frothy, funky and fam-friendly fest-style fun. SPARKcon, in it's fifth year and organized by Visual Art Exchange, goes Thursday through Sunday and has a blazing bonanza of events. Here are a few can't-miss triangle.com picks. (Click here for a full list of SPARKcon events)
tastySPARK
Belly up to a bevy of bites buses as they divvy up dollops of delish downtown-diner dishes. Then stick around and mix it up with the sipSPARK shakedown bartender best-of craft competition and a pint of other palatable pleasures. What better reason to heed your older bro's advice and go play in traffic?
Details: Sept. 17 & 18. Events and vendors vary by time and location. sparkcon.com/sched/tastyspark
circusSPARK
Ignite your SPARKcon experience by spending a night on the big top with a parade of three-ring performances — from firedancers and face-painters, to jugglers, acrobats and aerialists — and fly back to a tender time when your biggest problem was who stole your purple crayon.
Details: Sept. 16-19. Main event: Saturday night Variety Showcase on City Plaza's main stage, 7 p.m. sparkcon.com/sched/circusspark
ideaSPARK
Kick off SPARKcon by kickin’ over to recently reno’d KINGS for PechaKucha Night — a 20x20 format idea-sharing event where speakers show 20 slides for 20 seconds-per-slide — as a cluster of crafty community speakers (artists, entrepreneurs and designers) converge to showcase the cutting-edge projects and passions they've cooked up. Japanese for "chatter,"; PKN repeats last year's flourishing format for the fifth-annual inspired event — exposing talent and uncovering the unexpected. After the reels roll to a stop, mix it up with the presenters at the post-show mixer. ideaSPARK will also incite the Cabo craze — a new locally created card game which will premiere its public play as part of SPARKcon.
Details: Sept. 16, 18 & 19. Main Event: Sept. 16, 7:30 p.m., KINGS. Free. sparkcon.com/sched/ideaspark
musicSPARK
When Gloria Estefan presaged that "the rhythm is going to get you tonight," these are the "tonights" she was belting about. Wave your hands, sway your hips and bang your head to the beat, as you step up to the outdoor stage — two of them, plus an horde of local hotspots — as 150 musicians woo you into rhythmic rapture. Thursday, spill over to Pour House for the Small Ponds CD release with Bright Young Things and Starmount; Friday to KINGS for the A Rooster for the Masses/Jack the Radio/Rat Jackson show; and Saturday afternoon to Flanders for the Composer's Showcase. Jonesin' for more? Jazz up your Saturday night with a Jazz Showcase at Blu Bar.
Details: Sept. 16-19. Event times, prices and locations vary. sparkcon.com/sched/musicspark
fashionSPARK
Triangle's passion for fashion busts at the seams and struts down the runway in this "Wear What You Are" preview of the hip, hot, of-the-moment trends from 25 fab fashion, accessory and green designers for this fifth-annual couture craze. Pre-show, don your diva duds for a sophisticated soiree as cocktails and couture mix and mingle at the Cocktail Party for fashionSPARK sponsors.
Details: Sept. 16-18. Main Event: Fashion Show, City Plaza's main stage, 8 p.m.-9p.m. sparkcon.com/sched/fashionspark
bazaarSPARK
"What if the mall was cool? What would that feel like?" — maybe minus a time when all there was to do was have your mom drop you at its doors with your fellow trendy 'tweens. Alas, now you can go "bazaar" over the expo that exists to spark the shopper in you, when the market hits the streets and the clothes are off the hook. Saunter the downtown streets and sift through goods by 40 on-the-street local crafters and designers selling their latest local wears and sustainable chics — as fashion, food and friends collide for the stand-up market-able moment.
Details: Saturday, Sept. 18, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sunday, Sept. 19, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. sparkcon.com/sched/bazaarspark
