Raleigh reschedules festivals, finds new ways to help Florence victims

By Emmy Victor, WRAL reporter

Late summer is a busy time for festivals in the Triangle, but the City of Raleigh recently canceled or postponed all weekend events during Hurricane Florence.

Now, organizers of these music and art festivals are scheduling new dates and finding ways to help Florence victims.

In the lobby of the PNC tower, a banjo is counting down the days until this weekend’s Wide Open Bluegrass festival in downtown Raleigh. Organizers of the festival are used to keeping a close eye on the weather. Tropical Storm Joaquin altered the festival’s schedule in 2015, so Florence wasn’t anything new.

While Wide Open Bluegrass doesn’t fall on the weekend of a predicted storm this year, Hurricane Florence interrupted several other city events this month.

Dreamville and SparkCon were canceled due to the hurricane, and staff with Visit Raleigh said they had expected to have the highest attendance ever this year, bringing in about $2 million each.

Organizers say SparkCon has found a new date — the four-day arts festival is now Oct. 18-21.

Dreamville recently announced the one-day music festival will be held in April of next year, and organizers plan to donate some of the proceeds to victims of Hurricane Florence.

Lynnwood Brewing Concern also helped Florence victims by donating $1 from every pint sold Tuesday to hurricane relief.

WRAL is a proud sponsor of Wide Open Bluegrass, which features music from more than 100 artists on eight stages. The festival is free, but attendees have to buy tickets for the main stage at Red Hat Amphitheater.