Illuminate Art Walk Sip n' Stroll Tour

PLEASE NOTE: This tour is running every Friday and Saturday in December at 5:30 pm, and the final tour is on Friday, January 3rd. When you are signing up, if you do not see a particular date listed for a tour between now and January 3rd, it means that the tour is SOLD OUT! The tours on Friday, December 13th and on Saturday, December 14th and 21st are sold out. Be sure to secure your tickets asap!

Raleigh Walking Tours is excited to be partnering with the Downtown Raleigh Alliance to bring you the 2024 Illuminate Art Walk Sip n' Stroll tour!

My public tours are usually pay-what-you-want. However, because the Downtown Raleigh Alliance is sponsoring these tours, they are completely FREE to attend! Many thanks to the DRA for its generous support!

Downtown Raleigh comes to light every holiday season with Illuminate Art Walk! Since the winter of 2020, the Downtown Raleigh Alliance has brought energy to Fayetteville Street-and beyond–with large-scale, interactive, and light-based art pieces.

Much of the art changes from year to year, and this tour will allow you to see and explore all of the new art on Fayetteville St. in 2024! A highlight of this year's celebration is The TUNNEL created by BIG ART, powered by Creos. The TUNNEL is an interactive, 100-foot beacon of light with towering, mirrored LED structures that reflect vibrant colors, patterns, and mesmerizing effects.

Although this tour is free, advance registration is REQUIRED. I need to monitor the number of people on the tour, and I also need to be able to communicate with you if the tour needs to be cancelled for any reason.

PLEASE NOTE: If it is raining in downtown Raleigh at the starting time of the tour (5:30 pm), this will result in an automatic cancellation of the tour!

The tour will start outside the NC Court of Appeals Building, which is located at 1 W. Morgan St. Specifically, we will start at the corner of Fayetteville and Morgan Sts., across the street from the State Capitol Building. We will be starting on the west side of Fayetteville St. next to the green dinosaur, Trish the Triceratops!

The tour route is just a few blocks long. We will essentially be going from one end of Fayetteville Street to the other. The end point of the tour is approximately three blocks away from the starting point.

This tour leaves the starting point quickly! If you are late, you can catch up with us by heading south down Fayetteville Street. We will cross the street when we leave the starting point, so we will be on the left side of the street (i.e. the east side) as you head south on Fayetteville St. We will eventually cross back over to the other side of the street, but you will most likely find us on the left side.

The Illuminate Art Walk tours are approximately 1 hour long, but may be slightly shorter or longer depending on the size and speed of the group. There will not be any restroom breaks or stops for food/drinks.

This tour will take place entirely within the downtown Sip n' Stroll district! But you do not need to buy a drink to participate in the tour -- this is not a pub crawl!! While we will not be making any specific stops for drinks, please feel free to arrive early and purchase a drink at a participating establishment before the tour starts. The Anchor Bar and the Raleigh Times are two bars that are relatively close to the starting point. For a list of all the establishments that participate in the Sip n' Stroll program, please click HERE.

PLEASE NOTE: You are not permitted to bring your own alcohol to this event! All alcoholic beverages must be purchased from a participating establishment and must be in a specific Sip n' Stroll plastic cup with a date & timestamp, so you also cannot use a koozie with your beverage because the details on the cup need to be visible throughout the tour.

Anyone who is under the age of 21 is more than welcome to participate in the tour, but WITHOUT an alcoholic beverage!

Once the tour starts, we will not be stopping for any drinks along the route, so please make sure that you have a beverage at the start of the tour if you want one!

Street parking in Raleigh is free on Fridays at most locations after 6:00 pm and is free all day on Saturdays. If you prefer to park in a deck, there are several decks and parking lots in the area to choose from. I recommend parking in a city-owned deck because they are free all day on Saturdays. They are also free for your first 2 hours of parking on Fridays if you arrive before 7:00 pm and are completely free after 7:00 pm. The three closest city owned parking decks are all located on south Wilmington St. -- 117, 233, and 429 S. Wilmington St.

You can also find a list of places to park downtown at https://raleighnc.gov/apps-maps-and-open-data/services/find-parking

I am looking forward to seeing you on the tour!

Host or Publisher Raleigh Walking Tours, LLC