How did it go?: The 75th North Carolina Azalea Festival wraps up for the year

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The 75th Azalea Festival has wrapped up. So how did it go this year?

While some of the popular events looked a little different, many consider this year’s festival the closes one to normal since the pandemic began in 2020.

“And it was just great to have everybody come back, having a great time and just enjoying Wilmington,” said the city’s mayor, Bill Saffo. “And I’m just proud of this community and how we’ve come back to a more normal way of life.”

Live Oak Bank Pavillion hosted this year’s concerts, and a bigger budget allowed the festival to land bigger headliners.

Instead of the DGX Street Fair being held in the heart of downtown Wilmington, it was on Cape Fear Community College’s parking lot. Azalea Festival President John Russ said that decision was made due to construction.

“Mainly it was construction that was supposed to happen downtown,” Russ explained. “For the past several years construction on all the streets, due to hurricane Florence damage there was stuff they were having to get done. It got to a point with some of the regulations and rules we had, it was almost impossible to have a regular street fair down there on the street because of the limited space we have.”

While the festival is over, there are still a few events to look forward to. The Azalea Suite Symphony will premiere May 7, at the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra.