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Meet Our Sponsors
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Tickets
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What is the Adult Recess Festival?
In an era defined by burnout, isolation, and relentless productivity, the Adult Recess Festival stands as one of the most original and culturally significant wellness experiences emerging in the United States today.
Created by the Let’s Get Social Raleigh Foundation, the festival is widely believed to be the nation’s first and only large-scale mental health and wellness festival centered on adult play, joy, and communal restoration as legitimate forms of preventative care.
Each spring, public parks in Raleigh, North Carolina are transformed into expansive adult playgrounds — nostalgic, joy-filled environments inspired by the neighborhoods and backyards where many once played freely until the streetlights came on.
But beneath the games, music, movement, and laughter lies something far more profound.
Thousands of adults travel from across the United States and abroad — including attendees from France, Belize, Mexico, Jamaica, and The Bahamas — to participate in what has become a four-day social wellness experience intentionally designed to interrupt isolation, relieve emotional exhaustion, and restore human connection in an increasingly disconnected society.
For many attendees, the festival represents something increasingly rare in modern adult life: the opportunity to experience joy without performance, belonging without pressure, and community without pretense.
Here, adults are temporarily released from the demands of productivity and survival. Joy is not treated as entertainment alone, but as a critical component of emotional well-being, collective care, and community health.
The festival ultimately reimagines public space itself — demonstrating how parks, play, and shared human experiences can strengthen not only individuals, but the social fabric of entire communities.
Rooted in the African philosophy of Ubuntu — I am because we are — the Adult Recess Festival operates from the belief that human well-being is deeply interconnected, and that healthier communities are built when people feel seen, valued, connected, and emotionally safe.
At its core, the Adult Recess Festival represents a cultural shift in how adults view wellness, rest, joy, and human connection — one where play and belonging are recognized not as luxuries, but as essential infrastructure for healthier people, stronger communities, and more connected cities.
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 intentionally prioritize Black-owned, veteran-owned, local businesses because we believe economic wellness is directly connected to community wellness.
By circulating resources back into the community, we help support sustainable economic growth, strengthen local entrepreneurship, preserve culture, and create shared prosperity.
Our commitment extends beyond representation. We believe equitable community investment creates stronger neighborhoods, healthier communities, and more connected cities.
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.
$550,000
Invested into local hotels, transportation, contractors, venues, and vendors
82%
Of attendees travelled from outside the host city—boosting local tourism and the regional economy
2,000+
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
31+ STATES
Attendees from 20+ U.S. states and France, Belize, Mexico, Jamaica
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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.
