tr?id=&ev=PageView&noscript=

3 things happening in North Carolina this week: Fire trucks, red wolves, ‘No Kings’

By Billy Ball

June 9, 2025

This is Cardinal & Pine’s curated, weekly guide to the festivals, exhibits, protests, and community gatherings in North Carolina in the week ahead. This week, June 9-15.

One of the reasons we launched Cardinal & Pine was to help North Carolinians stay connected. 

Starting this Monday, I’ll be writing a weekly guide here and in Cardinal & Pine’s free newsletter, with three picks for the week ahead. I’ll cast a wide net. Festivals, exhibits, protests, big meetings — they all qualify. 

To have your upcoming events featured here and in our newsletter (which has 150,000+ readers across North Carolina), write me at [email protected]

Let’s get going: 

3 things happening in North Carolina this week: Fire trucks, red wolves, 'No Kings'

The NC Transportation Museum hosts an annual fire truck festival in Spencer, with food, games, and a parade of new and vintage fire engines. (Photo via NC Transportation Museum)

Fire Truck Festival

Spencer, NC

Saturday, June 14, 9 am – 3 pm

Website

Anyone with children knows this simple fact: Kids—and anyone young at heart—love big trucks, especially fire trucks. 

They’re loud. Red. You have to climb in them. There’s a ladder and a hose. That’s all you need to know.

Which makes this annual fire truck festival in Spencer, featuring a parade of new and vintage fire trucks, a fun and educational event. It’s put on by the NC Transportation Museum. Expect food, train rides, cool fire engines, and more. 

Tickets start at $8-11. 

Red Wolf Pups in North Carolina

The red wolves at the NC Museum of Life & Science in Durham are finally ready for public viewing. (Photo via NC Museum of Life & Science)

Come See the Red Wolf Pups

NC Museum of Life & Science, Durham

Mid-June

Website

You will not find a more critically endangered animal than the red wolf. A scant few of these remain in the wild in eastern North Carolina.

But as part of the effort to preserve this once ubiquitous but vanishing animal, Durham’s Museum of Life & Science has been part of an ongoing effort to breed new red wolf pups. 

Three red wolf pups were born in May at the museum. Fortunately, they’re in good health and the public is now able to start visiting these very important little wolves. The museum has memberships and day passes, and residents of Durham get in free on certain “community days,” so check it out.   

3 things happening in North Carolina this week: Fire trucks, red wolves, 'No Kings'

Demonstrators rally during the “No Kings Day” protest on Presidents Day in Washington. Another round of “No Kings” protests against the Trump administration is expected Saturday, June 14 across the nation and here in North Carolina. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

‘No Kings’ Protests

Saturday, July 14

Statewide

Website

Ask the last dude who tried to be king in America. We’re an unruly lot. 

We’ll throw your tea overboard, lug cannons across frozen lakes to fight you. We’re dirty and stinky. We’ll even throw a funeral for you while you’re alive and kicking, which is just rude. 

It’s just not worth it to be king of our huddled but fiercely independent masses. 

Add this to the list on American unruliness: Dozens of protests are scheduled across North Carolina Saturday, June 14 as part of the “No Kings” day of protests. Check out this interactive map of local demonstrations here

Timed to coincide with the military parade President Trump is planning for his birthday, the “No Kings” protests are expected to be a large-scale demonstration against the president’s policies.  

Author

  • Billy Ball

    Billy Ball is Cardinal & Pine's senior community editor. He’s covered local, state and national politics, government, education, criminal justice, the environment and immigration in North Carolina for almost two decades, winning state, regional and national awards for his reporting and commentary. He's also the founder of The Living South, a journalism project about the most interesting people in the American South. Send all story tips to [email protected] and sign up for his newsletter here.

CATEGORIES: THINGS TO DO

Support Our Cause

Thank you for taking the time to read our work. Before you go, we hope you'll consider supporting our values-driven journalism, which has always strived to make clear what's really at stake for North Carolinians and our future.

Since day one, our goal here at Cardinal & Pine has always been to empower people across the state with fact-based news and information. We believe that when people are armed with knowledge about what's happening in their local, state, and federal governments—including who is working on their behalf and who is actively trying to block efforts aimed at improving the daily lives of North Carolina families—they will be inspired to become civically engaged.

Billy Ball
Billy Ball, Senior Community Editor
Your support keeps us going
Help us continue delivering fact-based news to North Carolinians
Related Stories
Opinion: Mark Robinson wants to take away our rights and freedoms

Opinion: Mark Robinson wants to take away our rights and freedoms

A North Carolina woman says Mark Robinson's latest ad is trying to soften his stance on abortion rights, but she says he's an extremist who would support a total abortion ban. When I saw Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson’s new ad earlier this month, I had to do a...

Jeff Jackson on what he’d do as NC attorney general

Jeff Jackson on what he’d do as NC attorney general

The next attorney general will play a huge role in shaping the direction of North Carolina. In an interview, Democrat Jeff Jackson explains how his vision for the state differs from that of his opponent, Dan Bishop. Jeff Jackson’s done a lot of things in his life. He...

Share This
BLOCKED
BLOCKED