Dreamville 'enormous success,' economic impact still being felt

Cole, who is a Fayetteville native, took the stage around 9:30 p.m. at Dorothea Dix Park. Billed as a co-headlining set with Drake, the performance also included visits from 21 Savage, Lil Wayne, Lil Uzi Vert and Glorilla, who had missed her earlier Dreamville set that evening.

The set marked the end of a successful Dreamville weekend that saw sold out crowds of 50,000 people daily watch performers including Usher, Ari Lennox and Baby Tate.

On Monday the Raleigh Police Department posted on Facebook, calling this year's Dreamville Festival an "enormous success."

Saturday's severe weather threat caused gates to open three hours later than originally planned, but record-breaking crowds came out to see Usher close out the first day.

On Sunday, video of Usher leaving Big Ed's restaurant in City Market was posted by nearby Reign Nail Bar.

He was here: Usher spotted at He's Not Here in Chapel Hill

Overall, the festival's economic impact impact was felt at businesses like Black Friday Market in downtown Raleigh, where Dreamville fans from Germany stopped to shop on Monday.

"Looking at the numbers already, man, double what we normally do on the weekend," Black Friday Market owner Johnny Hackett said. "It's the exposure piece, man. You’ve got so many people from out of state, out of city, out of town who are becoming aware of what we’re doing here in downtown Raleigh locally.

Hackett said business was busy all weekend, and the shop opened Monday, when they would normally have limited hours, so they could capitalize on the festival traffic.

"If it wasn’t for the festival, I don’t think we’d have made it here. But we’ve really, really liked the town," said Ben Vanlierop, who came from Germany to attend Dreamville. It was his first trip to the United States.

Downtown Raleigh Alliance President Bill King said Dreamville Festival helped show the city off to the rest of the world.

"It was great to have so many visitors learn about downtown and Raleigh, and there’s a lot of concerted effort to get people moving through local businesses," King said. "It’s also great to have a festival that celebrates the diversity of our culture and our city and our region, so we’re really proud to have Dreamville here."

King said his office heard from a lot of businesses that did really well over the weekend.

"Having hotels in downtown hosting a lot of visitors is really important, but you know, we’re still where a lot of restaurants, bars and stores are," King said. "So, there was plenty of time during the weekend when the festival hadn’t started yet and people were downtown or after the festival people were back downtown."

J. Cole and Usher both were supporting local businesses Sunday.

Usher stopped by Big Ed's Restaurant to grab some of the restaurant's signature dishes.

"To start out with, he got hotcakes for the table, because obviously we're known for big hotcakes," said Nick Culpepper, general manager of Big Ed's. "And he had to have his fried catfish and eggs."

Usher even took photos with the staff of the restaurant.

"You never think somebody on a busy day like that would pop in there," Culpepper said. "I think it's great he's supporting local business."

Part of J. Cole's outfit during his set Sunday was made possible by Brian Burnett, founder of Glenwood South Tailors.

It was the opportunity of a lifetime for Burnett, who said he got a call from J. Cole's stylist and security at the last minute.

"Small business is about making it happen," Burnett explained. "I was like 'stop everything, lets make this happen. It's now o'clock,' and in 20 minutes it was done."

Both business owners said they've worked with high profile local people from comedians to CEOs, but J. Cole and Usher top their lists as the most prominent, and hope the exposure will help their businesses grow even further.