Raleigh Wide Open (RWO) has quickly earned its reputation as Downtown’s most all-out party. RWO5 will continue that newly minted tradition July 31. In addition to all the features that have made past RWOs fabulous, 2010’s celebration adds offerings from some of Raleigh’s premier performing groups.

The City of Raleigh is proud to be able to encourage the performing arts with support of more than $2 million annually to more than 30 groups that promote the arts. Some of these groups receive as little as $2,000 in annual support, while others receive a quarter million dollars or more.

In planning RWO5, the City wanted to enrich the event by including the performances of these groups. An invitation to perform at RWO5 was issued to all performing arts groups that receive City funding. The following are the groups that will be returning the favor for City support by performing for free on July 31:

• 1 p.m. – Raleigh Boychoir – Under the direction of Robert Unger, these silvery young voices will be lifted in a bold mixture of the sacred and the secular, including works from musical theater and a blazing tapestry of American patriotic and folk tunes. While many, many hours of training in the boy choir tradition are required of each of the lads, the Raleigh Boychoir experience invariably proves to be a treasured part of each participant’s adolescence.

• 2 p.m. -- The New North Carolina Opera -- Four of the area’s most talented trained voices will lift in beloved arias and ensembles from Rigoletto, Carmen, Madame Butterfly and La Traviata when the New North Carolina Opera takes the Convention Center lobby stage. Opera About Town showcases talented young singers who perform throughout the Triangle at major arts events, schools, public libraries and senior living communities.

The performers will be: Stephanie Lowd, soprano; Jennifer Seiger, mezzo soprano; John Cashwell, tenor; John Brandon, baritone; and Kate Lewis, accompanist.

• 3 p.m. -- Raleigh Chamber Music Guild – For the past 69 years, the Raleigh Chamber Music Guild has enriched Raleigh by offering concerts featuring the very best in music. Each year they offer a dozen concerts by regional, national and international chamber ensembles at Fletcher Opera Theater and the North Carolina Museum of Art.

The musicians will be Saira Butt and Margaret Harnish on violins, Kathryn Henry on viola, and Amanda Dalton on cello. They will play Boccherini’s Quartet No. 1 in D – Presto; Mozart’s Quartet in B-flat, K. 245 (The Hunt) – Allegro vivace assai; and Borodin’s Quartet No. 2 in D -– Allegro moderato.

• 4 p.m. – Raleigh Little Theatre – Under the direction of Staci Sabarsky and Mary Kathryn Walston Raleigh Little Theatre’s KIDS ON STAGE will offer musical numbers from Edwina Spoonapple’s “Advice-A-Palooza” extravaganza, selected from Dear Edwin,

Junior.

• 5 p.m. – PineCone – Piedmont Council of Traditional Music

Winding up the performing arts feast will be the Triangle Bluegrass Jam, led by Doug Pratt and David Hedrick. Musicians who attend the twice-a-month bluegrass jam will perform tunes that are regularly played at the jam. Members of the audience who know the tunes being played are invited to join in the jammers on stage.

RWO5 will kick off July 31 with an 11 a.m. parade down Fayetteville Street from the Capitol through City Plaza. Immediately following the conclusion of the parade the street party starts with 21 bands giving up 20 hours of rock solid music from three stages. Adding to the mix on the street are:

• The flying saucer beer and wine festival;

• More than 100 vendors offering street treats;

• “Wheels Gone Wild” with professional skateboarders and BMXers taking flight at 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.;

• Championship wrestling at 5:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.;

• a kids zone with slides, inflatables and games to tickle the fancy at any age;

• Hurricanes Alley with Stormy and the Storms Squad;

• The City Plaza Farmers Market featuring the area’s premiere produce and artisan food;

• The Free Spirit Stage putting the spotlight on the spoken word, Hip Hop, break dancing and two eating contest – ice cream and doughnuts;

• ArtRaleigh, located on the Salisbury Street side of the Raleigh Convention Center, will offer the work of 25 of North Carolina’s finest artists;

• Six of Raleigh’s premiere fine art galleries will showcase mini exhibitions from their collections inside the front lobby of the Raleigh Convention Center;

• Red Bull Motocross Mayhem in the form of stunts and speed happen at 2:45 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7:15 p.m.;

• Maximus Circus – Raleigh’s home-grown “greatest show” will transport those in the City Plaza to the golden days of the Roman Empire at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.; and,

• Fireworks at 10:30 p.m. will conclude Raleigh’s fifth annual celebration of all things Downtown.

For more information on RWO5, please visit the City’s website at

www.raleighnc.gov.