Happy Friday, Wilmington. You know the drill – grab your coffee (or whatever you sip in the morning), kick back, and let Wilmington Brief serve up everything you need to know for the weekend ahead.

📰 In the news

Local happenings: Wilmington transforms beaches with a roaming experimental art festival, welcomes a sprawling vintage market, and warns drivers of a months long garage shutdown — catch up here.

State-level stories: Biomanufacturing hubs still hiring hundreds statewide, pediatricians caution against leaving kids home solo before age 10, and scammers spoof court notices to extort cryptocurrency — see what else is brewing.

National headlines: Study finds adults inhale thousands of plastic fragments daily, many hearts age faster than their owners, and Ford recalls F-150 hybrids without seatbelt chime — peruse the best of the rest.

Highlights this week

• Engage with NHC commissioners at meeting
• Experience sensory-friendly mornings at Children’s Museum
• Join Tuesday’s city council meeting
• Library hosts a summer book sale
• Unlock dozens of travel deals with AARP

🫶 We got your back

Markets: Nothing beats swapping gossip under awnings and scoring tomatoes that haven’t racked up more highway miles than a touring band when the humidity hits swim-to-your-car levels. Explore Wilmington farmers markets.

Golf: Think your home course is impressive? Try Pinehurst and other travel-worthy greens that set the bar for every round. They could spoil your weekend game.

Reads: The smell of paper, the thrill of cracking open a new story, and the chance to accidentally spend two hours debating which cover looks cooler, Papercut Books is basically a playground for bookworms (minus the monkey bars, plus way more coffee).

Health: Forget outdated weight loss fads and gimmicks. Modern science has changed the game. GLP-1 medications (like the ones behind today’s most talked-about treatments) are helping people manage weight in a safer, more sustainable way. Check out your options today.

👀 Why just read it when you could be in it?

Own or manage a local business? Thousands of your future fans read our emails — advertising your products, services, listings, and events with us is easy.

You can advertise with us or submit an event for free.

📆 Around town this weekend

All events are subject to change without notice. This is entirey outside our control. Please check official event pages and social media for the most up to date information.

Today

🎤 Malik Elassal @ Dead Crow Comedy | Friday (8/1) at 7:00pm – Lebanese-Canadian comic Malik Elassal swings back home after packing Montreal’s Just For Laughs and snagging an FX series. Prepare for razor-sharp riffs on small-town absurdities, culture clashes, and why northeast Calgary maybe deserves its own zip code. Bring an open mind.

🌜 Night Tour of the Burgwin-Wright House @ Burgwin-Wright House & Gardens | Friday (8/1) at 9:00pm – We’re ditching Netflix for an evening at the Burgwin-Wright House, wandering through candlelit hallways packed with Colonial gossip, supernatural superstitions, and zero electricity. Tickets are $20, plus tax, but space is tighter than a corset, so call to reserve your spot.

This weekend

📜 Guided History Tour @ Airlie Gardens | Saturday (8/2) at 10:00am – Nothing says ‘grown-up fun’ like wandering through centuries-old live oaks while someone points out native orchids and swamp critters, right? Join a guided history tour at Airlie Gardens, where horticulture, ecology, and 19th-century gossip all bloom in equal measure.

🚤 Black Water Adventure @ Wilmington Water Tours | Saturday (8/2) at 10:00am – This river cruise sneaks you beyond the usual waterfront into the black water stretches of the Cape Fear, complete with Captain Doug’s offbeat history tidbits and riverside wildlife. Grab a morning coffee or a hair-of-the-dog Bloody Mary from the bar, and bring your camera.

🎶 Port City Rock Jam | Saturday (8/2) at 11:00am – Swing by Bowstring Burgers & Brewyard for a two-stage rock blowout, with 13 local bands and vendor booths to fuel your snack and merch habit. Best part, it’s all for charity, backing music programs for kids and keeping our rivers spick and span.

🧩 Sensory Sunday @ The Children’s Museum of Wilmington | Sunday (8/3) at 10:00am – If you’ve been secretly wishing the museum ran on whispers and low lights, grab the kids for a sensory-friendly Sunday takeover. Expect fewer crowds, soft sounds, dimmed bulbs, and chill-out corners. Think baby spa meets art gallery without toddler meltdowns.

📚 Book Sale @ Northeast Regional Library | Sunday (8/3) at 1:00pm – Think your to be read pile is looking a bit sad? Swing by the Northeast Library’s summer book sale for hardbacks at two bucks and paperbacks at one. No fancy gadgets, just bargain fiction, non-fiction, and fellow book hoarders ready to chat.

Next week

📚 Family Storytime @ Pleasure Island | Monday (8/4) at 10:15am – Pleasure Island Library has a 25-minute storytime that’s more toddler-friendly variety show than silent reading circle. Expect songs, chatty bits, stories, movement drills, and scribbles for full early-literacy bragging rights. Just breeze in early or snag a bench in the overflow play zone.

🌽 Farmers’ Market @ Wrightsville Beach Municipal Grounds | Monday (8/4) at 8:00am – Monday mornings don’t have to be a drag when they come with vine-ripe tomatoes, local seafood, and coastal sunshine. This beachside market has everything from juicy peaches to one-of-a-kind crafts—plus, no meter hassle while you shop.

🎤 Open Mic Monday @ Barzarre | Monday (8/4) at 7:30pm – Monday nights at Barzarre turn into your weekly variety show, where kazoo solos meet stand-up attempts and touring bands might drop by. Sign up at 7, enjoy free entry and cheap brews, then either charm the crowd or bomb gloriously. Anything goes.

Wanna see more? Browse our full events calendar →

🎶 Live music & entertainment

• 8/1 Jared Michael Cline @ Porters Neck – 4 pm
• 8/1 Boba Funk @ Cloud 9 Rooftop – 7 pm
• 8/1 Emery Freeman and more @ Live At Ted’s – 8 pm
• 8/2 The Griffins and more @ Pine Valley Library – 6 pm
• 8/2 Overtyme Band @ Cloud 9 Rooftop – 7 pm
• 8/2 Malik Elassal @ Dead Crow Comedy – 7 pm
• 8/2 Henry Cho @ Wilson Center – 8 pm
• 8/3 Drive-By Truckers and more @ Greenfield Lake Amphitheater – 6 pm
• 8/5 Jared Michael Cline @ Smoke on the Water – 6 pm

🏠️ Price is right – Wilmington edition

How it works: We’re going to give you some facts about a home for sale, including a picture of the outside, the kitchen, and one additional room. Your job? Guess how much it’s listed for (preferably before you click to find out).

*This 👇 could be your listing. Hit us up if you’ve got a home (or 12) to sell.

Listed by: Sabourin Homes Team (Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage)

All-brick charm meets architectural whimsy in this Landfall hideout, where a vaulted-ceiling Treehouse Sanctuary floats above the wooded backyard. Designed by Mark Loudermilk, the screened-in retreat keeps even the No-See-Ums at bay and features exposed rafters, tongue and groove detail, and a majestic fan for breezy afternoons. Plantation shutters, a showpiece fireplace, and a formal dining room add a dash of Southern polish.

The kitchen brings the party with a beverage bar, 44-bottle wine cooler, and glass-front cabinets for your best stemware. Tucked on a lush .87-acre lot in Saybrook, the home is minutes to Wrightsville Beach and Mayfaire.

Make your guess, then (and only then)… see how much it costs →