The 41st Fayetteville Dogwood Festival has officially come and gone. Over 100,000 people came out to enjoy the vendors, live performances, food and activities scattered throughout downtown Fayetteville. 

Executive Director of the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival Sarahgrace Mitchell spoke with Greater Fayetteville Business Journal to give a rundown of the event’s turnout.

The festival kicked off Thursday with Cork and Fork which entertained about 275 people. Mitchell shared that with this particular event being a newer addition to the festival schedule, these numbers show great growth from the attendance it received when first beginning in 2018.

Friday was the first day of vendors and live music. Mitchell shared that approximately 20,000-25,000 people showed up for the day’s festivities.

Saturday boasted the greatest attendance with about 100,000 coming through the festival that day. Mitchell said Festival Park was packed full of people with the festival’s beer team working nonstop. This was an even larger crowd than Saturday the previous year. 

Sunday’s turnout was similar to Friday’s and lower than expected with about 20,000-25,000 people. These numbers are largely due to storms early in the day. By night the weather had cleared up so that the good times could keep going. Though some attractions were canceled and acts were shortened due to the weather, these entertainers were still paid in full. 

“It’s a downer to see the weather fight against your events, but I think we came out on top and definitely came out better than the case of it raining all weekend,” remarked Mitchell. 

With rain making an appearance nearly every weekend of the new year, the odds were not in the festival’s favor. Luckily, the weekend was warm and sunny for the most part and the rain didn’t stop dedicated supporters from coming out to see the closing night’s performance, Who’s Bad: The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience. 

Knowing that the Dogwood Festival is one of Fayetteville’s most cherished events of the year, it’s natural to wonder what kind of economic impact pulling in such a crowd has. Mitchell said that details regarding money exchanged and earned at the festival will likely be known in June once the financials have been settled and the bookkeeper has had some time to get the information in order. 

The next program the Dogwood Festival team has coming up is the Fayetteville After Five concert series prepared for this summer. During the summer months, on every second Friday, Festival Park will be open for guests to attend Friday night concerts for free.

There will also be the Dogwood Fall Festival coming up once the summer has wound down and the air gets a bit cooler. The festival committee is set to meet soon to solidify details that will then be shared with the public. Mitchell shared it will follow the same model as years past, but there will be a few minor changes that have not yet been publicized. 

“I’m always grateful for the community support at the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival because without our community, we wouldn't be able to have a successful event,” shared Mitchell. 

On Wednesday, May 3 it was announced that Sarahgrace Mitchell will actually be leaving her position as Executive Director with the festival to pursue other endeavors. She has notified the Festival’s Board of Directors of her resignation and will remain available to the festival until the middle of June. The Board has accepted her resignation and will begin the process of recruiting a new director in the coming months.

“Sarahgrace has been a hard-working, highly organized force multiplier for the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival for two years. Her dedication to the many events, large and small, that take place each year shows the community that the team of director and board members care about the high-quality fun, food and festivity that Fayetteville residents and those from other communities have come to expect,” shared Board of Directors Chair Tara Long in a press release. 

As Executive Director, Mitchell has overseen 11 events – The Fayetteville Dogwood Festival (April), Fayetteville After Five, Miss Fayetteville Dogwood Festival Pageant and the Dogwood Fall Festival (October).  During this time, she has helped raise over $350,000 in sponsorship funds and the festival has been awarded nearly $100,000 in grant funds from the Tourism Development Authority of Cumberland County and the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County.

"The past few years at the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival have been incredible. While I am sad to see this chapter end, I am excited to begin a new chapter of life that allows me to continue to be part of the Fayetteville community. I have an immense amount of gratitude for the community that has welcomed me with open arms and Fayetteville is home," said Mitchell in a press release. It was shared with the Board that Mitchell has entered a business partnership with Bees & Board Charcuterie Company which is set to open a physical restaurant in Fayetteville during the summer months.