Ahh, 4th Friday. A chance to enjoy some art, some entertainment, great shopping and dining, too. With the joyful sounds, colors and fl avors of the International Folk Festival still echoing in our ears, it’s time for downtown to roll out the welcome mat and wow the community with local talent and festivities once again, and like always the events that are planned for the evening are both impressive and entertaining. Come on downtown on Oct. 22 and enjoy the sights and sounds of the evening.

The Arts Council Fayetteville/Cumberland County’s Cultural Expressions Invitational Exhibit is still hanging if you missed the opening last 4th Friday. In addition to the lovely exhibit, the Arts Council will also host a writer’s round table that evening.

“It is going to be really great — we have a wide variety of writers planning to attend and share their thoughts and experiences on a variety of issues with the written word,” said Mary Kinney the organization’s marketing manager.

There are six featured writers and each has an individual table. They will set up around the grand hall with a podium placed at one end.

“At the start of the program, each of the writers will go to the podium and speak briefl y on their work — and they can speak on whatever is important to them or whatever they think would be important to the audience,” she continued.

In the past, authors have talked about the writing process, inspiration, subject matter and have also read a passage or taken questions. Each writer will have roughly 10 minutes to speak and then they will be at their table. After the first hour or so writers will be available for book signings and one-on-one interaction with members of the audience. Authors will have their published works availabel for sale throughout the evening. The round table runs from 7-9 p.m.

The Cumberland County Public Library & Information Center will host the 2nd Annual Storytelling Festival this 4th Friday, too. There is so much fun and entertainment planned that the library is dedicating Friday evening and all day Saturday to the event — and it’s free.

Friday night’s event will feature Susana and Timmy Abell. Abell is a recipient of the North Carolina Arts Council’s Fellowship for Musical Composition and Songwriting. Lynne Heffl ey of the Los Angeles Times says “with folk-style wit and charm recalling the classic Pete Seeger, singer-musician Timmy Abell offers listeners a break from the everyday rush with tender, funny and celebratory songs that resonate no matter what your age.”

The fun starts at 7 p.m. with a pre-show puppet play in the Pate Room at 300 Maiden Ln. Call 483-7727. Come back on Saturday at 10 a.m. and enjoy a full day of stories and entertainment.

Going right along with the puppet theme, Fascinate-U Children’s Museum has hand puppets on the agenda for the evening. Admission is free, refreshments will be served and your little ones can make their own puppet to take home.

Later in the evening, an interesting group of people will gather in front of the library for Fayetteville’s newest event — the Jazz Funeral and Zombie Walk.

Wilmington-based artist Christine Cole and her husband Sameul Guin are teaming up with the Feral Art Collective to put on an event that will entertain the grown ups and have them dancing in the streets — literally. Come as a Zombie, or wait until you get downtown and let the Feral Art Collective help you get into character for the evening.

Zombie dancers will perform to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” performed by Voice.Zombies will congregate at the library at 9 p.m. and make their way to Maxwell Street where they will join the Jazz Funeral that will feature a live brass band and a hand-carried zombie procession. The walk ends at The Climbing Place with a performance by the Air Born Aerial Art’s Aerial Zombies.

To fi nd out more about the Jazz Funeral and Zombie Walk visit www.facebook. com/pages/Fayetteville-Jazz-Funeral-and-Zombie-Walk.

All in all there is an evening of great fun lined up. It officially starts at 6 p.m. with Arts Alive!, then 4th Friday activities start at 7 p.m. and run well into the evening.