Carrboro to combine centennial celebration with another festival

Carrboro will combine its centennial celebration with the annual Carrboro Day, a celebration official reported at Tuesday’s Board of Aldermen meeting.

The Carrboro Centennial Celebration event will be held May 1 and will feature circus performers, art and food.

“I have very good news for you all, the centennial celebration is guaranteed to be fantastic,” said Catherine Devine, centennial committee chairwoman.

Some board members expressed concern that because the town’s actual centennial is March 3, there should be some sort of celebration on that day as well as on Carrboro Day.

“There could be a kickoff, and then a culmination,” Alderman Lydia Lavelle said.

Devine also asked the board for an additional $6,500 for the celebration’s budget. The event is already slated to receive $5,700 in funding.

A “fiesta” after-party is planned for the evening following the celebration, and any extra money would fund it, Devine said.

She discussed possible bands the committee hoped to book, such as Carnavalito, a Raleigh-based Latin music group.

“Artists and performers will bring a lot of energy to this event,” Alderman Dan Coleman said. “It is all really exciting.”

The board decided it didn’t have enough information to vote on whether to allot the extra money and will decide at a later meeting.

Aldermen also heard a progress report on a design workshop for areas within the Northern Study Area, for which town staff members have identified five areas for re-zoning consideration to bring commercial growth to the area.

The workshop is designed to bring together the property owners and stakeholders that would be affected by the rezoning.

“There has to be more public planning processes,” Mayor Mark Chilton said.

The design workshop will continue to be organized and will be discussed at a later meeting.

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