Fayetteville Dogwood Festival: The first Fayetteville Dogwood Festival of 2023 prepares to kick off in April

By Kate Griffin, posted Apr 13, 2023 on BizFayetteville.com

Photo provided by Fayetteville Dogwood Festival

The Dogwood Festival will be
taking over downtown
Fayetteville with Hay
Street, Person Street
and Gillespie Street hosting a
number of events. Performances and
other attractions will also be held in
Festival Park - Map provided by Fayetteville Dogwood Festival

A classic Fayetteville tradition spanning back 41 years, the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival is right around the corner. The Fayetteville Dogwood Festival will take place on Friday April 28 through Sunday April 30, located in Festival Park and all throughout the Downtown Fayetteville footprint. So mark your calendars, because this year, the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival is really kicking the party up a notch! Between a starter food and wine event, headliner live music, and new attractions, the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival is like a fine wine: only getting better with age. “[The goal of the festival] It’s always to be bigger and better than last year,” said Executive Director Sarahgrace Mitchell. The festival has been a longtime key element to the soul of Fayetteville, the foundation forming decades ago on the premise of providing an actual, physical location and a source for celebration to the population of Fayetteville.

“There were several community members who valued holding entertainment in downtown Fayetteville and the festival actually used to be two weeks long back in the eighties and nineties,” said Mitchell, on the history of how the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival started. The roots continue to run deep, and to this day, people work hard and persevere to still provide the platform for those values. “We work year round to provide a free festival for the community and anyone can attend the concerts for free,” said Mitchell. “We strive to hold a free festival for the community to participate and enjoy and is truly a way to give back to the community.”

Kicking off the festivities right on Thursday evening with the Cork and Fork food and wine event, attendees can browse artisan crafted tapas and beer and wine locally provided by Healy Wholesale Co. Inc. Tap into your inner foodie and try something new to start your Fayetteville Dogwood Festival experience.

On Friday, the Midway and KidZone open up with attractions around every corner. The Midway is located at the corner of Mason Street and Ray Avenue, and in the Masonic Lodge parking lot, open from 5 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. The KidZone can be found at Festival Park for the little guys to enjoy, open from 5 p.m. - 9 p.m. Stick around at Festival Park on Friday night, as the opening ceremony starts at 6 p.m., followed by local acts. At 8 p.m., Ashland Craft hits the stage, and David Nail at 9:45 p.m. Wrapping up the day with a bang is the Boom and Bloom fireworks show at 11 p.m. Saturday night, Buckcherry and Lit will take on the stage at Festival Park to finish the night.

All throughout Saturday and Sunday, live entertainment pops up all over the festival footprint, in addition to the Street Fair. The Airborn Aerials, the BMX Show, Ring Wars Carolina, Downtown DJ, and performances all showcase a variety of local talent for festival goers. Be on the lookout for free attractions such as hatchet throwing provided by Axes and Armor Hatchet house and the climbing wall. Take a look at the Car, Motorcycle, and Truck Show presented by Flow Automotive on Sunday. Cap off your festival weekend at Festival Park with Who’s Bad-The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience.

Much like Fayetteville itself, the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival is multifaceted, unsuspecting, and full of surprises. “The Fayetteville Dogwood Festival is a staple,” said Mitchell. Fall time has the fairs, Halloween, and corn mazes, winter owes its popularity to the holidays, and summer holds its pride in its quintessential vacation time, but sometimes spring can seem a little lacking in the ‘event’ department. The Fayetteville Dogwood Festival stakes its claim as the hallmark event, setting the theme for the season. It’s almost like a good refresher period to place the tone for the rest of the year.

The Fayetteville Dogwood Festival has always been a preeminent occasion source of fun for virtually any audience, incorporating the components and feel of a local fairground in some areas. The rides, games, live entertainment and food are great for families and for the folks who just can’t wait for fall to come back around. For the shoppers and the inner artisans, the arts and crafts vendors that line the streets and event grounds have all manner of wares to peruse, all locally made and produced. “So this year, we have increased how many vendors we have accepted and this year we will have over a hundred between a hundred and fifty and two hundred,” said Mitchell. “We are very grateful to have so much interest in our festival.” The festival also has a live music scene with a vast range of genres, and local and big names alike. The concert folks are sure to enjoy tiding over their post-concert gloom, especially for free—a rare gift. For the foodies, food trucks and stalls line the streets with a plethora of refreshments, from fairground classics to more adventurous cuisine, if you’re in the mood for something new. Perfect for a family outing, a date night, or a gathering for friends, the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival tastefully synchronizes a myriad of aesthetics backed up with quality events and attractions to make this an unforgettable weekend for everyone.

The festival is one of the biggest events of the year for Fayetteville and with fun of all levels are around every corner, for all ages. Whether you’re a couple minutes down the street or a few hours down I-85, the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival is worth the drive.

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