Meet Our Sponsors
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Tickets
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Pre-Festival Meet & Greet
April 24th | 7 pm – 10 pm
Ascension Art Gallery
What is the Adult Recess Festival?
The Adult Recess Festival is one of the most unique mental health and wellness festivals in the United States. As the first and only mental health and wellness festival in the country centered on adult play therapy and joy, it redefines both as essential to personal, civic, and communal care. Each year, public parks are transformed into adult-only playgrounds, reimagined as the backyard we once played in until the streetlights came on.
Each spring, thousands of adults from across the country gather in Raleigh to step away from the demands of daily life and into a space intentionally designed for restoration and presence, not productivity. Here, stress softens, expectations loosen, and adults are invited into a true mental and emotional reset, where joy is honored as an essential part of well-being.
At its core, this four-day wellness experience demonstrates how joy-centered, community-based experiences can function as preventative mental health care, strengthening individuals while revitalizing public spaces and the communities they serve.
A Celebration of Community (Ubuntu)
What began as a small meetup has grown into the nation’s largest adult recess experience, a three-day, high-energy celebration that brings together thousands from across the U.S. and the Caribbean.
It awakens the inner kid we’ve sacrificed to responsibility and transforms Raleigh into a vibrant wellness leader rooted in community, joy, play, and connection.
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Shop Local. Eat Local.
Our Commitment to Equity: LGSR is built on community, and we support it 24/7/365. Every sponsor, vendor, artist, and food partner featured at the Adult Recess Festival is an essential part of the local ecosystem that makes Raleigh vibrant, resilient, and culturally rich.
We proudly prioritize Black-owned, veteran-owned, and local businesses, recognizing that economic wellness is community wellness. By intentionally circulating dollars within our community, we contribute to sustainable growth, cultural preservation, and shared prosperity.
Who Should Attend?
Adult Recess Festival is for adults 21+ who:
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Feel burned out, isolated, or disconnected
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Miss play, movement, and being outdoors
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Want community without pressure or expectations
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Want to try something different
Do I need to be athletic? No. Can I come alone? Absolutely.
What should I wear? Comfortable clothes you can move in. Is this a party or a workout? Neitherand a little of both.
Our Festival Impact By The Numbers
Our Festival Is Bigger Than Play. It’s Cultural, Communal, & Economic.
$109,610+
Invested into local hotels, transportation, contractors, venues, and vendors
15%
Of attendees travelled from outside the host city—boosting local tourism and the regional economy
6,000+
Attendees at our 3rd Annual Adult Recess Festival
1M+
Monthly digital impressions via Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Eventbrite, and website
83.3%
Of vendors (majority Black-owned) reported selling out
20+ STATES
Attendees from 20+ U.S. states and The Bahamas
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Adult Recess Festival 2025
Games & Activities
Food Truck Rodeo & Food Court | Vendor Mall | Vibes By DJ Moeskieno
Team Sports
── Co-Ed Flag Football
── Co-Ed Beach Volleyball
── Co-Ed Frisbee
── Co-Ed Dodgeball
── Co-Ed Bucket Golf (9 Holes)
Creative Fun
── Raleigh's Lego-Like Land
── Arts & Crafts Tent
── Sidewalk Art
── Bubbles
── 50+ Card & Board Games
── Line Dancing
Playground Classics
── Parachute
── Double Dutch
── Shark Attack
── Freeze Tag
── Musical Chairs
── 1, 2, 3 Red Light
── Hopscotch
── Hamster Wheel
── Tug O War
Yard Games
── Tetherball
── Granny Pants
── Summon Wrestling
── Chess
── Connect Four
── Cornhole
── Ping Pong
── Football Toss
── Tetris XL
── Limbo
── Sack Race
── Axe Throwing
── 9 Hole Bucket Golf
2026's Picnic Area Theme
✨ The Chill Estate: A Curated Outdoor Oasis ✨
Global Culture
Universal Joy
Community Pride
✨ The Chill Estate ✨ A curated outdoor oasis.
This year, in YOUR tent city, you get to create the neighborhood you actually want to live in. You decorate your rest space with blankets, pillows, baskets, low tables, and thoughtful touches that reflect your style. Bold, playful, romantic, lavish, expressive, or chill.
Then you invite your neighbors over.
Share snacks, laughs, play games, and most importantly, start conversations with people you just met. As people move through The Chill Estate, every setup becomes a conversation starter, a reflection of the things that make you, you and the things that bring us together.
Maybe your space celebrates your military service, your college, the city you’re from, your heritage, or your favorite football team. Someone walks by, notices it, says “Wait… me too,” and just like that, a new connection is made.
Grab something from the food trucks, come back to your space, recharge, reconnect, and let the festival flow around you.
Because the Adult Recess Festival isn’t just about play… It’s about building the kind of community we all deserve to live in.
