Hope Mills, N.C. — Hope Mills is celebrating the return of its lake with a festival this weekend.
Country singer Jeff Bates will highlight the festival and fireworks will be set off over the lake.
The festival kicks off Friday night at 6 p.m. with an open house at the Hope Mills Area Chamber of Commerce. It will be followed by a street dance on Trade Street.
Torrential rains on Memorial Day 2003 washed away the lake's earthen dam, and the town spent years trying to finance a new dam. Construction of a $9.8 million concrete dam was completed earlier this year, and the town began refilling the lake in June.
The lake was filled up in August when the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay dumped rain in the area.
Related Items
Related Stories
- Hope Mills residents weigh in on new dam
- Watershed event: Hope Mills Lake full after five years
- Hope Mills Lake refilling behind new dam
- State Provides More Money For Hope Mills Lake
- Repairs To Hope Mills Dam Could Bring Hefty Price Tag
- Hope Mills Needs More Funding To Fix Dam
- Hope Mills Dam Construction To Take Longer Than Expected
- Flooding, Dam Burst Force Evacuations in Cumberland, Hoke Counties
![[search]](http://wwwcache.wral.com/presentation/v1/images/icons/16x12/search-form-icon.gif)
Site Search
Hope Mills celebrates lake at festival
Copyright 2009 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![[NewsGator]](http://wwwcache.wral.com/presentation/v1/images/icons/NewsGatorWidgetIcon.png){kind=icon}
![[e-mail]](http://wwwcache.wral.com/presentation/v1/images/icon_email-story.gif){kind=icon}
News Alerts to your Email & Cell Phone0 Comments
-
- 82nd Airborne paratroopers missing in Afghanistan
Updated Nov. 7 10:52 p.m. |
- N.C. Democrat says he'll vote against House health care bill
Updated Nov. 7 5:16 p.m. - North Carolinians await health care vote
Updated Nov. 7 10:50 p.m. | - N.C. honors veterans with parades
Updated Nov. 7 10:56 p.m. | Slideshow | - Basnight endorses Nesbitt for N.C. Senate post
Updated Nov. 7 8:43 a.m.
- 82nd Airborne paratroopers missing in Afghanistan
![[+]](http://wwwcache.wral.com/presentation/v1/images/more_icon.gif){kind=icon}
- Most Viewed Slideshows
- N.C. honors veterans with parades
Posted Nov. 7 6:42 p.m. - Photos of the week
Updated Nov. 7 2:39 p.m. - Tar Heels wear down the Blue Devils
Posted Nov. 7 8:37 p.m.
- N.C. honors veterans with parades
STORIES
VIDEOS
SLIDESHOWS
BLOG POSTStop-voted stories
(3 votes) house passes health care bill
| Send us your news photos, videos, tips and story ideas. | ||
 |
 |
 |
-
Photos: Your veteransWRAL viewers share pictures of their veterans in their lives.
-
The week in entertainmentA look at the top entertainment headlines this week through the lenses of Associated Press photographers.
-
Entertainment: Winners and losersA look at the winners and losers this week in the entertainment world.
-
Photos: Raleigh fall colorsWatch the leaves change colors throughout the fall at 10 iconic locations in Raleigh.
-
Photos: North Carolina mountainsTour through the North Carolina mountains, from Pilot Mountain west along the Blue Ridge Parkway to Blowing Rock and Grandfather Mountain.
Welcome to GOLO, where WRAL.com visitors can comment on stories and create profile pages, blogs and photo galleries.
You must be a registered WRAL.com user to use these tools. Click here to register or log in.