North Carolina Blueberry Festival’s impact on Burgaw
The event started 20 years ago and celebrates how important the crop is to the local economy.
BURGAW, NC (WWAY) — Around 100 vendors are set up around the courthouse square in Burgaw, showcasing all sorts of items, including homemade food items, crafts, and of course, blueberries.
The event started 20 years ago and celebrates how important the crop is to the local economy.
Each year, attendance for the festival grows, attracting visitors and vendors from all along the East Coast, like Karen Hurst and her husband.
They drove over 8 hours from their home in Live Oak, Florida to sell their blueberry pound cakes at the festival for the first time.
“We just love the atmosphere, we love the people,” Hurst said. “The people are very nice, very friendly, welcoming. we love the music and it just seems like it’s a great community event.”
Local business owners like Emmaline Kozak at Burgaw Brewing, are also looking forward to having new visitors check out what the small town has to offer.
“I think the festival is really important for Burgaw because a lot of people don’t know what Burgaw has to offer,” Kozak said. “I think that our town is slowly growing in the right ways and the more people we can get in here to enjoy what we have, the better and they’ll come back on a day when maybe it’s not so busy and so hot and enjoy all of our shops and everything that we have here and we love that.”
The festival continues on Saturday, June 17th, so make sure to get there early as organizers are expecting tens of thousands of people to attend the event.
