Hospitality

PHOTOS PROVIDED BY FAYETTEVILLE DOGWOOD FESTIVAL Food, entertainment, and vendors draw in huge crowds; consequently, the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival sees out-of-town visitors every year, creating an economic impact through overnight stays in the area.

Fayetteville Dogwood Festival

THE EVENT IS BACK FOR ITS 40TH YEAR

The popular Fayetteville Dogwood Festival is back this year, returning on April 21-24.

The longstanding tradition of the festival marks its 40th year in 2022. The festival organization, a nonprofit, is “ committed to providing a variety of family centered activities held downtown and around the town. This is done to entertain, promote new business, enhance a positive community image, attract visitors, share the cultural and recreational opportunities of the community, encourage unity through celebration of diversity within Fayetteville, promote the rich history of Fayetteville, and to foster civic pride,” according to the entity’s IRS Form 990.

And the organization has found success, time and time again. The Fayetteville Dogwood Festival hosts a variety of community events, including the Miss Fayetteville Dogwood Festival Pageant, an event which is open to contestants from Bladen, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Moore, Robeson, and Sampson Counties, Fayetteville After Five, a free summer concert series offered every second Friday throughout the season, and the Dogwood Fall Festival, which offers food, music, and seasonal entertainment.

The Fayetteville Dogwood Festival is the organization’s star of the show. Over 100 independent businesses will participate in the event this year as vendors, and roughly 50 businesses are sponsors for the event. Snipes said that the record attendance numbers for the Dogwood Festival are in between 200,000 and 250,000 people over the course of the event.

The event will feature local businesses, small vendors, food, and both local and national acts.

The event begins on Thursday night with Cork & Fork: A Premier Food and Wine Event. “Cork & Fork is an opportunity for restaurants and local chefs to come out and showcase what their speciality items are,” said Sarahgrace Snipes, director of the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival. “It is our hope for Cork & Fork that as our ticket holders are attending the event, restaurants are also getting exposure as well.”

The vendors for Cork & Fork will be Gaston Brewing Company, Bees & Boards, Carrots, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Burney’s Sweets & More, Southern Coals, H8ters, Fabe’s Charcoal Roasting Co., and Pierro’s Italian Bistro. Ticket holders will enjoy unlimited taster’s samples from each of the chefs, unlimited wine samples provided by Healy Wholesale, and access to additional non-alcoholic drinks, like tea, water and soda.

Tickets are on a sale for $40 per person or for $75 per couple.

Cork & Fork will also hold a silent auction to benefit the United Way of Cumberland County.

The event is presented by Hawthorne Residential Partners. The company has “been a sponsor with the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival for years now,” she said.

Cork & Fork tickets are on sale now. The last day to purchase tickets is April 19. To get tickets, visit thedogwoodfestival.com.

The Dogwood Festival opens up to the public on April 22.

On April 22, national acts Marcy Playground and Hoobastank will perform. On April 23, attendees can look forward to an evening of country music from Dillon Carmichael, Kameron Marlowe and Tyler Farr. On April 24, The Purple Madness – A Tribute to Prince will be the headliner.

There are five categories of vendors at the event. Art and craft vendors are the main emphasis; there are also commercial vendors, nonprofit organizations, pre-packaged food vendors, vendors who prepare food on site, and downtown merchants.

Although the festival is downtown, Snipes said that merchants downtown like to take advantage of setting up at the Dogwood Festival because it encourages patrons to go into their store to see what else businesses have to offer. “It’s a pipeline to the actual store, which is a great opportunity,” she said. “They receive a significant amount of business at the time of the festival, but some of them actually receive business two weeks after the festival because [patrons] pass the merchant at the time of the festival and they say, ‘Oh, I’ll just come back.’ And they loop back around and make purchases.”

Dogwood Festival is also working on initiatives to measure the amount of out-of-town guests that are coming to the event as well.

“The cool thing about the Dogwood Festival is that it’s an inclusive opportunity to be able to be part of the community and support a community event. It’s not just about spending money. It’s about building relationships,” Snipes said. “It’s an opportunity to… come together as a community. Especially after COVID, it’s something we all need to focus on – the togetherness.”