RALEIGH, N.C. — For the first time since 2019, the Dreamville Music Festival is coming back to Raleigh.
The concert taking place April 2 and 3 is expected to bring in 40,000 people and a big economic boost to the Triangle.
What You Need To Know
- Dreamville Music Festival is April 2 and 3 at Dorothea Dix Park
- North Carolina native J. Cole is headlining the concert
- More than 25 artists and 40 vendors will be on site
- The concert brought in $3.8 million in visitor spending in 2019
In addition to many major musical guests is a long list of local vendors who will be cooking up food for ticket holders. One of the vendors is Oak City Fish and Chips.
“We are going to have 12, 80 pound fryers and a staff of 20 people,” said Oak City Fish and City managing partner, Isaac B. Horton IV. “Our plan is to serve 500 customers an hour. The festival will be lasting for 20 hours … allowing us to serve 10,000 customers.”
Horton was also a vendor the last time Dreamville was in Raleigh in 2019. Their food is not only a fan favorite, but a favorite of headlining artist and North Carolina native J. Cole.
“In 2018, when J. Cole’s wife was pregnant, she was sending him to the food truck to get her favorite meal, which is our large fish and shrimp,” Horton said.
Isaac B. Horton IV, managing partner of Oak City Fish and Chips, with J. Cole.
Horton is just one of more than 40 vendors that will be on site this weekend. Crews have been busy all week setting up the concert perimeter and stage at Dorothea Dix Park.
Organizers say one of the biggest tasks they will have for the weekend is monitoring and minimizing traffic for the two-day event.
There is no onsite parking at Dorothea Dix Park, but guests can be dropped off by friends, family or ride share services at different locations. There will be off site parking on Centennial Campus at N.C. State University, and there will also be a shuttle service at Moore Square Park to get guests to and from the concert.
For more information on road closures, click here.
“If you live in the area, I will say, expect delays and know some alternate routes,” said Raleigh Police Captain Dedric Bond. “We have Wake County Sheriff’s Department that is helping out, we have State Capitol Police Department helping us out and of course the Raleigh Police Department.”
The one day event in 2019 brought in $3.8 million to the Raleigh area. Staff are excited to see how that number changes this year since the event is all weekend long.
“It’s more opportunities that there are heads in beds in hotels and people going downtown and eating and drinking and all of those great things as well,” said Joseph Voska, the program and operations supervisor for the park. “It also allows more artists to play and people to experience more of the artists that they want to see.”
Raleigh police say with an event this size, they have a contingency plan in place in case of emergencies, but would not go into exact details about the number of officers that will be here.
This weekend, visitors can text “DREAMVILLE” to 888-777 to receive emergency alerts about the festival, weather and other updates.
There’s also a community hotline set up for people who live and work near Dix Park. They can call (919) 295-6275 once the festival starts if they have any questions, comments or concerns.
The festival will end by 11 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday in accordance with the noise ordinance deadline.