Downtown Durham's Tree Lighting Has a New Neighbor Across CCB Plaza This Year

The holiday tree goes up in CCB Plaza at 201 N. Corcoran St., and for nine years the Pour Taproom sat at the plaza's edge inside the Unscripted hotel. Pour's wall of 64 self-serve taps charged by the ounce on a digital wristband. Its last night was Halloween.

When the tree is lit on Saturday, Nov. 21, a different business will be running that space. Fullsteam will be serving roasted chestnuts and gingerbread at the plaza, and it now pours from a building next to the water tower that lights up at American Tobacco Campus on Dec. 2. So each of downtown's two big lighting nights now has a taproom beside it that wasn't there last December. The Bullpen social district cup lets you carry a drink from one stop to the next.

The Corner Facing the Plaza Changed Hands in Three Weeks

Blackbird Brewery of Wake Forest is moving into the former Pour space on Corcoran Street, and Hey Durham reported that it is doing a "rolling opening." The plan is to sell its own beer starting in November while renovations continue. Co-founder Harmony VanGundy told reporters that regular hours aren't set yet but the taproom will "for sure" be open for the Nov. 21 tree lighting and other December holiday events. Axios Raleigh reported the same plan and pointed readers to Blackbird's social media for pop-up hours. Discover Durham lists the taproom at 202 Corcoran St.

The handoff was planned. The News & Observer reported that Pour co-owner Andrew Shaver said a new business was expected to take over the space, which was one reason Pour closed when it did. The Durham bar was the last Pour location in North Carolina. The brand had started in Asheville and later opened in Charlotte and Wilmington.

The new taproom will be different from Pour in one way that matters on a cold December night. The space has a kitchen that Pour hadn't used in years, and Blackbird plans to use it. Josh Wittman, a Blackbird partner who is also involved with The Federal, Motorco and Stanczyks, is helping get the kitchen running. Blackbird's Wake Forest location has no kitchen at all, so customers there bring their own food. Durham's version also plans to serve wine, ciders and batch-made cocktails alongside beer brewed in Wake Forest. The plants and finished interior come later, with renovations expected to run into 2027.

Fullsteam Now Sits Under the Other Holiday Landmark

The second change happened earlier in the fall. Fullsteam opened its American Tobacco Campus taproom on Sept. 29 and started kitchen service Sept. 30, Hey Durham reported. It's in the campus's old power plant, between the water tower and the smokestack. Unlike the original Rigsbee Avenue location, it doesn't brew on site. Fullsteam's beer is now contract-brewed in Rocky Mount and at the NoDa brewery in Charlotte.

The building has more going on than a bar. Chef and baker Phoebe Lawless leads food, beverage and hospitality. Lucky's Lounge has low ceilings and neon lightning bolts. Fullsteam also took over the 100-seat theater that Duke's Center for Documentary Studies used to run, and it plans watch parties, cultural events and movie nights there. Owner Sean Lilly Wilson told Hey Durham he wanted "an only-in-Durham type place."

That puts it right under the American Tobacco Campus Tower Lighting on Wednesday, Dec. 2, from 5 to 9 p.m. The free event includes a WRAL televised segment, Jeanne Jolly & The Mistletoes at 6 p.m., Fust at 7:15 p.m. and family activities. Downtown Durham Inc. says the festivities continue at Diamond View Park after the lighting.

The Bullpen Cup Is What Links the Two Nights

Downtown Durham's social district, The Bullpen, has been in effect since Dec. 1, 2022. It runs from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week, so both lighting nights fall well within its hours. Its guide lists CCB Plaza as a public gathering spot where you can enjoy a drink, and Discover Durham describes the American Tobacco Campus lawn the same way. Blackbird Brewery is on the Bullpen's current "Order Here" list of businesses that sell drinks to go into the district. The guide lists Fullsteam ATC there as well. Hey Durham reported that Blackbird's to-go drinks will follow the district's rules.

The rules Downtown Durham Inc. publishes are specific:

• Drinks must be bought from an ABC-permitted business inside the district. No outside alcohol is allowed.
• Cups can't be glass and can't hold more than 16 ounces. Cold drinks go in clear cups and hot drinks in white ones.
• Each cup has to show the Bullpen logo, the "Drink responsibly. Be 21" wording, the business that sold the drink, and the date and time it was served.
• Finish or toss your drink before you leave the district, and before you walk into a different business that serves alcohol, unless that business allows outside drinks.

Downtown Durham Inc. also posts an interactive boundary map on the same page. That's the place to check before walking a cup toward any stop outside the core blocks. This is general information, not legal advice. The Bullpen page and its posted signage are the final word on where and when a cup can go.

Nov. 21 at CCB Plaza, Hour by Hour

The Downtown Durham Tree Lighting runs from 4 to 8 p.m. It's free and open to all ages. Pierce Freelon is DJ and MC. Here's the published stage schedule:

1. 4 p.m., Nina School of Dance
2. 4:30 p.m., Batala
3. 5 p.m., Takiri
4. 5:30 p.m., Al Strong Brass Band
5. 7 p.m., tree ceremony
6. 7:30 p.m., Mayor Leo and honored guests

The food and drink list reads like a walk around downtown. The Federal brings soup, Rose's brings its onigiri truck, Lutra has mini buns, The Parlour has hot chocolate, Cheeni has chai and Montwood has cider. 21C has cookies, Self-Help has popcorn, The City has s'mores, and Dosirak and Ashleigh Bakes are on the list too. Families will find Durham Parks and Recreation's letters to Santa, free children's books from Book Harvest, ornament making with Fate & Folklore, a Santa stage with elves, Mettlesome Theater and a German market.

The Art Walk Holiday Market is also downtown on Nov. 21, according to Discover Durham's holiday events guide.

The Rest of the Season Grows Out From Those Two Corners

Once the tree is lit, downtown stays decorated. Weird Windows by Weird Productions puts local artists' offbeat holiday displays, such as sci-fi robots, scrap-wood workshops and totem-like sculptures, in downtown storefronts from November's Third Friday until early January. For the Downtown Durham Holiday Crawl, more than 30 businesses deck themselves out, including Alley 26, Bull City Ciderworks, Dashi, Fonda Lupita, Kingfisher, Liberty and Plenty Distillery, Pie Pushers, Ramblers Beer and Wine and Velvet Hippo. You can pick up a map at the Downtown Durham Visitors Center.

FestiBull of Lights opens Thursday, Nov. 19, at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. It fills the ballpark with thousands of lights synchronized to music, along with Santa, seasonal crafts, s'mores and rides on the NC by Train Holiday Express. On Corcoran Street, a tree-lighting night can start or end at Blackbird, and the tower-lighting night at American Tobacco Campus can do the same at Fullsteam.

If a downtown holiday tradition is part of why you love where you live, or you're wondering how close you'd want to be to nights like these next season, Lisa Rivera and the team at Avalon Realty Group are happy to talk through the Triangle with you, and to Request Your Free Home Valuation whenever you're ready to see where your home stands.