Second-Annual Packapalooza Festival Takes Over Hillsborough Street

The second-annual Packapalooza street festival and block party will take over Hillsborough Street on Saturday, Aug. 24, with a combination of food, fun and music. The festival will feature more than 200 booths and artisans.

Media coverage of the event, which is free and open to the public and will kick off at 2 p.m. and run until 10 p.m., is invited. Media parking will be available off Pullen Rd. near the Belltower.

Two stages will feature live musical and dance performances. Autograph sessions with numerous Wolfpack sports teams, including the 1983 championship men’s basketball team, will also be available.

At 3 p.m., design professor Justin LeBlanc, a Project Runway contestant, will sign autographs at the Art2Wear tent.

At 5 p.m., NC State student Scotty McCreery will perform alongside Chancellor Randy Woodson and Dave Doeren, NC State’s head football coach, at the stage near the Belltower.

Numerous “zones” along Hillsborough Street will give visitors a taste of NC State’s traditions, as well as the opportunity to create works of art, learn dance, play sports, explore students’ cultural backgrounds, learn about sustainability and purchase food from local vendors. Free water will be provided at various locations. The festival will end with the lighting of the Belltower at 10 p.m.

Hillsborough Street will be closed to traffic from Brooks Avenue to the Pullen Road roundabout. On-campus parking will be free in parking decks and in lots marked as B or C.

The Hillsborough Street Partnership helped plan the event. For a complete Packapalooza schedule, check the Web.

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