Aug. 30, 4 p.m.: Sweet Honey in the Rock, free concert at Duke Gardens

In celebration of Sarah P. Duke Gardens' 75th anniversary, and as a gift to the Duke and Durham communities and all supporters that have embraced Duke Gardens and helped it thrive, the Gardens and co-producers Duke Performances present the Grammy-winning a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Beloved for its anthems of social justice, personal empowerment, love, hope, peace and ecological responsibility, Sweet Honey in the Rock's music is derived from blues, spirituals, gospel and African chants.

The concert will be on the South Lawn at 4 p.m. Aug. 30, and it will feature American Sign Language interpretation. The Bailey Elites (Indy Weekly article here) will open the show at 3:30 p.m. The public is invited. No tickets are necessary. If the weather is iffy, please see our Twitter page for updates.

You can read more about the group here and listen to several NPR features on them here. Click here to read an interview Duke Gardens did with Sweet Honey's sign language interpreter. And scroll down for another video to enjoy.

DIRECTIONS, PARKING & OTHER INFORMATION

Duke Gardens opens at 8 a.m. Parking shuttles and concert amenities will begin at 2 p.m. The concert will begin at 4 p.m.

Parking:
Parking is free on 8/30.

Please park in one of the following lots:
The H Lot (Main) (H) on the corner of Anderson Street and Yearby Avenue.
The Graduate Center lot (GC) on the corner of Flowers Drive and Erwin Rd.
The Campus Drive lot on the corner of Anderson Street and Campus Drive.
There will be parking shuttle buses transporting people from these lots to the Gardens entrance starting at 2 p.m. The shuttle buses will take people from the Gardens entrance back to the parking lots (excluding the Campus Drive lot adjacent to the Gardens lots) for as long as they're needed.

Bike Parking:
There will be bike parking by the first Flowers Drive entrance to Duke Gardens (closest to Yearby Avenue). There is also limited bicycle parking in the Duke Gardens lot. Please do not bring bicycles down to the South Lawn.

You may bring:
Food
Beer/Wine
Drinks (Please bring lots of water, as it will be hot)
Chairs
Blankets
Rain umbrellas

Please do not bring:
Beach umbrellas or tents
Dogs (only seeing eye dogs are permitted at this event)

Access Points to the South Lawn:
Main Duke Gardens entrance by the Doris Duke Center off of Anderson Rd.
Entrance off of Yearby Avenue (near Flowers Drive)
Entrance off of Flowers Drive (closer to Yearby Avenue)
Second entrance off of Flowers Drive (closer to Chapel Road)

Duke Campus Buses:
The C-2W bus will drop you off by the Yearby Avenue entrance to the Gardens and runs until 9 p.m. on Sunday, 8/30.

Durham City Buses:
DATA buses Route 6 (for Duke University/VA Hospital) will take you to the traffic circle on Flowers Drive. Get off at stop B for Flowers Drive and enter Duke Gardens to your right. The last bus leaves from this stop at 7:10 p.m. on Sunday, 8/30.

Amenities:
Water and food will be sold starting at 2 p.m. Please still bring your own water, as the afternoon will be hot.
There will be portable bathrooms available starting at noon. Bathrooms are also available in the Doris Duke Center starting at noon and bathrooms in the Terrace Gardens starting at 8 a.m.

Rain:
The concert will take place rain or shine. In the case of hazardous weather, we will let the audience know by 3 p.m. whether the concert will proceed.

Wheelchair Accessibility:
Please park in the lots on Yearby Avenue or Flowers Drive (described in the Parking section above) and use the shuttle buses to get to the first Flowers Drive entrance (the shuttle buses are wheelchair accessible). We will have a wheelchair accessible section of the South Lawn reserved that you may use if you’d like. Wheelchair storage will be available.

Deaf and Hearing Impaired:
The Sweet Honey in the Rock concert will be sign language interpreted. There will be a reserved section close to the stage for deaf and hearing-impaired people.

Click here for directions to the Gardens