Downtown Raleigh's monthly First Friday celebration is getting a professional sports makeover this week, as the NC Courage bring mascot Roary to the City of Raleigh Museum for mini soccer games, friendship bracelet making, giveaways and photo opportunities. The free event runs alongside drinks and other activities at the museum, located inside the historic Briggs Hardware Building at 220 Fayetteville Street.
The Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department announced the lineup in a Facebook post Thursday, framing the gathering as a chance to celebrate women's soccer during the neighborhood's regular First Friday festivities. The 1874 building that houses the museum is a preserved commercial structure in the heart of Raleigh's central business district, according to the City of Raleigh Museum. The museum itself has a municipal pedigree: it started in 1993 as a volunteer-run nonprofit called the Raleigh City Museum before the city took over full operational management in July 2012, placing it under Raleigh's Historic Resources and Museums Program.
A Citywide Tradition Hosts a Soccer Crossover
First Friday itself is a broader downtown Raleigh tradition, produced monthly by the Downtown Raleigh Alliance from 6 to 9 p.m. on the first Friday of every month to spotlight local art galleries, museums and retail businesses. Participating venues typically extend their hours and add special public activities for the evening. This month, that means soccer takes center stage alongside the usual gallery hopping, with the NC Courage using the museum's downtown perch to reach fans who might not make it out to the team's regular home turf.
The Courage actually play their regular-season matches well outside downtown, at First Horizon Stadium at WakeMed Soccer Park, a 10,000-seat venue in nearby Cary that first opened for professional soccer in 2002. Bringing Roary into the city center lets the club build its brand presence across the wider Triangle, a strategy that got a boost last year when the team made her the first full-time, dedicated mascot position in National Women's Soccer League history. That move, announced in June 2025, expanded Roary's role from matchday appearances to year-round community outreach, and it reportedly doubled her community event visits throughout the Raleigh-Durham area.
A Franchise With Championship Pedigree and Star Power
The NC Courage carry real hardware into these community appearances. Founded in 2017 after relocating from the Western New York Flash, the club has won two NWSL Championship titles, in 2018 and 2019, along with three consecutive NWSL Shields from 2017 through 2019 and back-to-back NWSL Challenge Cup titles in 2022 and 2023. The team's crest nods to its regional roots, featuring a five-pointed star inspired by the North Carolina state flag, with one point specifically shaped to represent the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill Triangle, while the lioness logo pays tribute to the former WUSA Carolina Courage.
The club's ownership group has also drawn national sports figures in recent years. Former U.S. Women's National Team World Cup champion Lauren Holiday and her husband, NBA champion Jrue Holiday, joined the NC Courage investor group in April 2025, according to The Charlotte Post. They joined a group that already included tennis star Naomi Osaka, and Lauren Holiday now also serves as a club advisor and ambassador.
More Downtown Options for the Evening
Fans looking for more than mini soccer and bracelet-making have other First Friday options nearby. The Raleigh Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department also runs a separate First Friday Market & Movie Night series at Moore Square from May through November, featuring food trucks, local vendors, live music and free film screenings. Downtown Raleigh additionally operates a designated Sip n' Stroll social district, which lets patrons carry alcoholic beverages purchased from permitted establishments in approved cups as they move between venues during downtown events.
Together, the offerings turn this week's First Friday into a broader showcase of what downtown Raleigh can pull off on a single evening, blending a 19th-century museum building, a city parks program and a professional women's soccer franchise with championship banners and celebrity investors. For families or soccer fans planning their Friday, the City of Raleigh Museum's mini soccer and photo sessions with Roary offer a specific draw layered on top of the neighborhood's usual gallery and shopping crawl.
