If you’re in Wake County and looking for an experience comparable to those found in New York, New Orleans, and even Paris, then bring your blanket, chairs, and picnic basket down to Moore Square.
The Downtown Raleigh Alliance in partnership with William Peace University has discovered the perfect recipe for a relaxing evening to end the week.
Jazz In The Square is a live concert series in Moore Square on Thursdays from 6 – 8 p.m. There are three more concerts scheduled for the fall: September 12 (Gregg Gelb Jazz Quartet), September 19 (Thrio), and September 26 (Al Strong).
While Raleigh is no stranger to outdoor events and concert series, Jazz In The Square, with the downtown skyline serving as a backdrop, is unique in appearance and ambiance.
Lucy McInnis is the Director of Events & Development for the Downtown Raleigh Alliance. The native New Yorker said the weekly event reminds her of home.
“I think Jazz In The Square is one of the cool events in Downtown Raleigh because it really has that kind of whimsical, magical, music in the park, feel that I think you really can’t get anywhere else,” McInnis said.
Everyone brings their chair, blanket, or whatever they need to make their space comfortable. Once the music starts Moore Square transforms into, well, just about any place in the world you can imagine where music is played outside.
“You’re stepping into a place where you think oh, this could be in Paris, or this could be in New York City,” McInnis said. “When a lot of people think of Moore Square they don’t think of a beautiful moment like that, you know like jazz in Central Park or the New Orleans Jazz Festival or the South of France Jazz Festival or anything like that.”
Moore Square and the South of France don’t often get mistaken for one another, but recreating the entire Moore Square experience was part of the goal of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance.
“Looking around and seeing all these other people within a couple of inches of you with their own chairs, food, blankets, kind of sharing the space together to create an even larger space,” McInnis said. “This is more than the end of the week, Thursday night, kind of wind down.”
Vendors line up the perimeter of Moore Square, where attendants can get an adult beverage, a quick snack or a sweet treat.
“There are onboard charcuterie boxes you can get, that’s also a downtown, female, black owned business,” McInnis said. “You can get a really nice glass of wine from Red White Bubbly and Blue, you can get a beautiful charcuterie cheese and meat plates with homemade crackers and you can go sit in the grass with whatever else you have and whoever else you have.”
Peace also has a booth off to the side of the main stage, where people can stop by and learn more about the university.
“Partnering with Downtown Raleigh Alliance to bring free, live music to the heart of the city has been a fantastic experience,” Tara Whitbread, Peace Associate Director of Admissions said. “Each event has had such a vibrant atmosphere, and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed connecting with Peace alumni, local neighbors, and fellow concert enthusiasts.”
Jazz In The Square has also organically created a relationship between residents and downtown businesses.
Jazz In The Square ends at 8 p.m., and naturally, a lot of people want to explore the surrounding city blocks that hug Moore Square.
The foot traffic leaving Moore Square, flooding into the businesses downtown is a match made in heaven.
“There’s so many places over here that get boosted by having 1,500 people right here in the heart of downtown in Moore Square,” McInnis said. “Also, it’s the diversity of vendors, and attendants, that’s something we’re really proud of.”
