Welcome spring in style this Saturday, March 24, from noon-10 p.m. in downtown Cary. Only in its third year, the Mid-Town Square Spring Festival has become an anticipated event for fans of food, craft beer and live music.
Vendor booths and food trucks will line roughly two blocks of East Cedar Street, starting at Academy Street and extending past Bond Brothers Beer Company, the festival organizer. But from the beginning, the festival has been a showcase for live music.
“The first event we did was our grand opening, and we had Chatham County Line,” said Jay Bond, one of the founders of Bond Brothers. “It went really, really well, and we loved the vibe. People loved the way it felt, so we wanted to keep repeating it.”
As a former professional musician, Bond is especially excited about this year’s performers.
“I happened to get a band I know from New York City to headline — Oak & Ash,” he said. “The guitarist, Chris Tuorto, is actually from Cary. Also, the drummer from the band, Bryan Garbe, used to study at the drum studio where I used to teach years ago.
“I love their music. They were available, and then to find out the guitarist was from Cary was even more exciting.”
In addition to Oak & Ash, other bands in the lineup include the Debonzo Brothers, Inner Prolific, Down by Five, Doco, Squiz, Nico Zarcone, Eyeball, Solar Bear and Merges.
The festival has expanded this year, Bond says, to include five or six more bands and more performances on the event’s second stage — at Cedar Street Station.
The organizers hope to increase foot traffic to vendors farther down Cedar Street, and they also wanted to open the festival to more downtown businesses, several of which have opened in the past year — Postmaster Restaurant, Pro’s Epicurean, SideBar, Pizzeria Faulisi and Hustle Fitness.
Bond Brothers plans to release several new beers at the festival. The popular Cary Gold has been revamped, and it will be re-branded as Bond Brothers Lager. Other new brews include a kettle sour and a triple IPA collaboration with Vicious Fishes Brewery in Angier.
To go with the beer, tasty snacks will be served up by local food trucks. Those scheduled to attend are The Humble Pig, Chirba Chirba, The 13th Taco, Bulkogi, Mr. Mongolian, The Wandering Moose, Qspresso and Fresh.
As a bonus, festival attendees are also eligible to win a prize package valued at $500 from downtown Cary businesses. To enter, pick up a free raffle ticket from a participating business before March 24, and bring the ticket to the festival. Prize sponsors include: The Cary Theater, Mosquito Wizard of NC, Postmaster Restaurant, Pharmacy Bottle + Beverage, Hustle Fitness Studio, Pizzeria Faulisi, Pro’s Epicurean, Tutu School, Fresh Local Ice Cream, SideBar, Crosstown Pub, Prestige Dayspa and Studio, and Bond Brothers Beer Company.
