A cheerful fantasy-film festival in a leafy downtown Raleigh park, with families on picnic blankets, food trucks, artisan tents, and a large outdoor movie screen.

Clear your Saturday schedule and gather your fellowship: **Hobbit Fest** is taking over Moore Square on **September 19**, from **10 a.m. to 8 p.m.** The day-long event is free and invites fans of all ages to settle in for an outdoor screening of the complete theatrical *Lord of the Rings* trilogy.

The movie marathon begins with *The Fellowship of the Ring* at 10 a.m., followed by *The Two Towers* at 1:30 p.m. and *The Return of the King* at 5 p.m. Between films, the festival experience runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with local vendors, artists, food trucks, and themed activities.

There will be plenty to do beyond watching the screen. Erim Akpan’s interactive “Jester-ful Storytelling” show is scheduled for 1 p.m., and costumes are encouraged—whether your crew leans toward cloaks, pointed ears, or something a little more mischievous.

It is a playful, low-cost way to spend a whole day downtown, especially for families, movie lovers, and anyone looking for an excuse to enjoy a few “hobbit meals” from the food trucks. Pack a blanket, plan your snack strategy, and make a day of it.

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A fresh plant-based BLT sandwich with crisp vegan bacon, tomato, lettuce, and toasted bread at a local farmers market, with a friendly family team serving samples in the background.

A homeschool kitchen experiment has grown into a local food business with a flavorful mission. **Geo D Foods**, created by George and Jill, makes shelf-stable, pre-cooked vegan bacon designed to bring crispness and big flavor to the plant-based pantry.

The company started when George set out to make a vegan bacon that could hold its own on a BLT. After plenty of recipe testing and seasoning experiments, the family found early fans by offering samples at a festival—where visitors quickly began asking how they could buy more.

Today, Geo D Foods sells three varieties: **Sweet Southern Bacon**, **Peppy Pepper Bacon**, and **Smoky Savory Bacon**. The business has found a welcoming audience at farmers markets and festivals, including customers who come back specifically looking for the product.

The story is a great reminder that Raleigh’s local food scene is full of inventive ideas that start close to home. If you are curious about plant-based eating—or just appreciate a good, crunchy sandwich—keep this family-run business on your radar.

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A calm public community meeting discussing data-center development, with Raleigh residents around a table and a low industrial data-center building visible through windows at dusk.

Raleigh is considering a temporary pause on new data-center applications while it updates the rules that guide this fast-changing kind of development. The City Council is expected to vote in October on a **six-month moratorium** proposed by Mayor Janet Cowell.

The possible pause would give City staff time to develop updated standards addressing issues such as water use, noise, vibration, and other effects that have become part of the data-center conversation statewide. Similar pauses have already been adopted in Durham and Charlotte.

The discussion gained urgency after an application for a **100,000-square-foot** data center drew public attention earlier this summer. Raleigh currently has eight data centers, though a city spokesperson told Axios that most are smaller facilities of fewer than 10,000 square feet.

This is still a proposal, not a final policy, but it is worth following. As Raleigh balances technology growth with neighborhood concerns and infrastructure needs, the October vote could shape how future projects are considered.

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