Doughman, Taste of Durham, Central Market BBQ, ACC baseball highlight Bull City weekend

Many Durhamites will doubtlessly be traveling this weekend, hitting the beaches and the mountains to enjoy the kickoff of the summer season.

But if you're sticking around, there's plenty to do right here in town.

First up: the second-annual Doughman competition will be served up. The gastronomic race mixes quadrathlon activities with intensive food consumption at Blu Seafood, Four Square, Nosh, the Daisy Cakes cupcakes truck, and Dain's Place -- the latter of which will require one lucky competitor to devour "The Portable Defibrilator" burger before running to meet their teammates.

The Travel Channel's Adam Richman will be on hand, participating in the race and filming it for a future episode of his show Man v. Food. The race kicks off at 8am at Blu, with teams expected to wrap between 9am and 11am at the Farmer's Market Pavilion downtown. Proceeds from this year's race benefit SEEDS's Durham Inner-city Gardeners youth program.

A more distal food activity: Taste of Durham, the one-time Brightleaf Square event being held this year again at the Imperial Center off I-40 and Page Rd. Local and chain restaurants participating this year include Baba Ghannouj, Bocci, Cold Stone Creamery, the Joe Van Gogh coffeehouse, The Melting Pot, Nikos Taverna, and Vita, among others.

Three bands -- Locos Por Juana, John Brown and the Groove Shop Band, and Elmwood -- are listed as performing at the event as well. Admission is $6 day of festival; food samples require tokens, available separately. The festival runs 11am to 7pm.

Durham Central Market is hosting a free Memorial Day Picnic in the Park on Monday from 5pm to 8pm, downtown at the Farmer's Market Pavilion. Food vendors, live music and "a big grill" will highlight the festival; the free, open-to-the-public event will also allow interested folks to pick up shopping bags with the Market logo.

The for-profit co-op is continuing to work on their plan to open a new grocery and market in or near downtown, likely in the Durham Athletic Park district.

Also up: the Atlantic Coast Conference's baseball championship tournament, which was relocated to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park after the originally-planned destination of Fenway Park in Boston fell through. Hey, Green Monster, Blue Monster... it's still a big friggin' wall.

Florida State has already clinched a spot in Sunday's tournament championship game (1pm); three more tournament games on Saturday with start times of noon, 4pm and 8pm -- including Virginia v. Duke in the night game -- will help determine who else makes the feature.

Check out the DCVB's Event Calendar for more items happening this weekend in Durham.

Comments

[Michelle Brady]

The Doughman will also be hosting a banquet from 6-10pm at the Durham Farmers Market - a few tickets still remain. $20 covers your admission to try several local restaurants and brews. Entertainment is also included. To get tickets, go to the Doughman website at www.doughman.org and click on "The Banquet."

[Phil]

"Diss-tal", more like.

[Sherry]

I want to go to the Doughman banquet, but need tickets. Can I get them at the 'door'? (on-line sales are closed).
Thanks!

[Visconti]

How interesting, I would consider Doughman a novelty event and Taste of Durham worthy of more attention and not "diss-tal" like Phil says. I know the downtown Durham boosters hate the fact that it moved to another location (within Durham), but it's a great event and should be seen with an open mind. As in past years, I'm more attracted by the music than the food (even though the food is quite good too). The fact that one of the best Latin alt bands (Locos Por Juana) was in Durham performing at the festival was newsworthy in my opinion.

[Mike]

Photos from this years festival. It was very nice.

http://photos.gsophotography.com/gallery/8327109_haSGK#546804658_uqj32

[Paige Wrode]

Nice photos, Mike. Perhaps I missed the caption/ID info?

It looks like the 2009 TOD offered lots of seating and no oppressive crowding.

But I wonder why the organizers just don't change the name to Taste of the Triangle, with the heart of the Triangle location and with many non-Durham food vendors (Apex, Morrisville) and chain joints, out of town bands and artisans.

And, surely were this a true taste of Durham, the ice sculptures would feature anatomically correct bulls rather than a pegasus and unicorn?

So...really, why not Taste of the Triangle? Expanding it could be super-promoted with the best of the area and the name would offer a truer reflection of the tastes offered.

[Cosign]

I wish Taste of Durham would move back to downtown. It's just not the same having it all the way out in the Park.

For that matter, I also wish the Durham Arts Council would move CenterFest out of that parking lot and back into the downtown loop. I was under the impression the move to the lot was temporary until downtown could be finished. Earth Day was downtown, so I don't know what the issue / problem could be.

[Yoctomole]

The 'Man vs. Food' episode filmed in Durham is scheduled for airing on Sept 2 at 10pm on the Travel Channel.

http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Man_v_Food/Man_v._Food_Episode_Guide?idLink=452323f3a0b72210VgnVCM100000698b3a0a____

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But I wonder why the organizers just don't change the name to Taste of the Triangle, with the heart of the Triangle location and with many non-Durham food vendors (Apex, Morrisville) and chain joints, out of town bands and artisans.