North Carolina Azalea Festival brings color and celebration to Wilmington

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY)– From Azaleas to Queens, everything you can think of showed up at the North Carolina Azalea Festival.

From Friday to Sunday, Front Street was packed out as thousands of people walked the all day to participate in activities, eat food, listen to music and shop at local vendors.

It didn’t stop there, as on Saturday and Sunday, “Warbirds over Wilmington” brought historic WWII planes to the cape fear. Attendees could head to Wilmington International Airport; Next to National Guard Hangars, and see planes like the Stearman Bi-Plane, and the Japanese Fuji. With a purchased tickets, participants could even take a flight on the Stearman and see the beautiful sights.

As for the main event of the Festival, thousands crowded 3rd street to see the North Carolina Azalea Festival Parade.

On Saturday morning, locals and tourists alike, crowded the streets on Third Street to see the vibrant azaleas featured on a variety of floats with different themes, including pirate, clown and princess designs.

Emily Quinn attended the parade for the first time and said she was amazed by the different floats.

“It was incredible to see all the different colors and themes,” Quinn said. “I think my favorite one would have to be the one with all the Azalea Princesses.”

And after the parade, someone had to clean up the trash.

Garec Knott works for the City of Wilmington and explained how the operation goes.

“We are pretty efficient, the minute we shut this down, we usually get everything done within the hour, we have so many guys that group up together, and then we hit them together, but usually its two people for each street and we check along all the trash and make sure everything is clean.”

The festival was emceed by WWAY’s Jessica Keisling and Matt Bennett. The parade also featured special appearances by Lee Haywood, Jason Korver, Jeff Rivenbark, Kamy Smelser and Bryan Alonso.