Annual Events

November

Great Tarboro Art Bazaar
Blount-Bridgers House
Many exceptional local and regional artists exhibit and sell fine art in the 1808 Blount-Bridgers House every autumn. This annual event began in the early 90’s and has been a popular venue featuring affordable art for the beginning collector as well as mature works for the seasoned buyer. Profits from the sale go to the operations of the constantly changing artist gallery. Sponsored by the Edgecombe County Cultural Arts Council. For more information, call 252-823-4159.


December

A Tar River Christmas

Downtown Tarboro
Visit our Facebook page, Tar River Christmas for event details! 
Remember when you were a young child and couldn't wait for your town's Christmas parade? The chill in the air? Remember when the sound of choirs and Christmas music filled the air and your heart? Remember driving around and looking at Christmas lights with your family? Remember waiting in line to see Santa, getting on your tip toes from time to time; in hopes of catching a glimpse of the jolly old elf? Remember the joy and laughter? Remember seeing old friends and family?
Come to Tarboro NC for a Tar River Christmas the second weekend in December. Step back in time to your youth and experience a small town Christmas at its finest. A beautiful historic district filled with pristine homes, a quaint downtown filled with shops and eateries, and a town full of big hearted people.
So, load up your friends, family, and neighbors and take the short drive on over to Tarboro and see what you've been missing. You'll catch yourself wanting to come back for more!

NC Symphony Holiday Pops
Edgecombe Community College
The holiday spirit is inescapable as the NC Symphony enlivens audiences with seasonal holiday music. Held in Keihin Auditorium at Edgecombe Community College, the concert features Assistant Conductor Joan Landry leading the musicians and audience in a jolly carol sing-along. Sponsored by the Edgecombe County Chapter of the North Carolina Symphony Society.

Tarboro Christmas Parade
Main Street
Everyone loves a parade, and the Tarboro-Edgecombe Chamber of Commerce puts on a fantastic one.  Beginning in the beautifully decorated Downtown, the parade slowly rolls up Main Street as kids and adults line the sidewalks to wave at floats and see Santa ride by.

May

Blount-Bridgers Historical Gardens Annual Symposium
Tickets & Information
Sponsored by the Blount-Bridgers Garden Committee, this annual Garden Symposium features notable guest speakers and vendors from the fast-growing garden industry and attracts green thumbs and garden clubs from across the region. 

Happening on the Common
Tarboro Town Common
Original arts and crafts are the focal point of this festival held on the Tarboro Town Common that draws several thousand people on the third Saturday of May with an array of artists, craftspeople, nonprofit booths, and food vendors that seems to expand each year. A favorite community event for nearly 35 years, the Happening hosts a variety of musical and entertainment acts that perform throughout the day-long event. Displays of everything from fine art and photography to every type of beading and pottery, Christmas ornaments, soaps and lotions, jewelry, custom leather goods, walking sticks, painted t-shirts, baby quilts, metal works, glass, gem stones, jams and jellies, calligraphy, decorative bird houses, scented candles, embroidery, dolls, pocket books and more line an entire block of the Town Common

NC Symphony Pops on the Common
Tarboro Town Common
Music on the lawn and under the stars brings families out onto Tarboro’s Historic Town Common in droves to this free performance by the NC Symphony. Maestro William Curry conducts the 65-member Symphony orchestra in a crowd-pleasing fashion. Sponsored by the Edgecombe County Chapter of the North Carolina Symphony Society.