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50,000 people attended Dreamville, representing 23 countries, 4 continents and all 50 states

Dreamville organizers announced Tuesday that 50,000 people per day attended the two-day festival, representing a record-breaking 23 countries, four continents and all 50 U.S. states.
Posted 2023-03-31T16:56:17+00:00 - Updated 2023-04-04T20:43:48+00:00
Dreamville cleans up and local businesses cash in from crowds

Dreamville organizers announced Tuesday that 50,000 people per day attended the two-day festival, representing a record-breaking 23 countries, four continents and all 50 U.S. states.

Big acts like Usher, Drake and Fayetteville native J. Cole, the festival's founder, brought crowds to Raleigh, and attendees were surprised with guests like Lil Wayne and 21 Savage. An estimated 50,000 people attended the festival each day.

Despite a three-hour delay on Saturday and a musical lineup change, thousands of music lovers kept these last-minute changes from impacting their experience at Dreamville Festival.

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

There were site-wide art installations, a sky-high Ferris wheel and dozens of local vendors to entertain guests.

Usher's performance included a first-ever live festival performance of his hit "Good Love" with rap duo City Girls along with plenty of hits from his 20+ year career.

Dreamville Festival is a hip-hop music festival created by Fayetteville native and rapper J. Cole. The festival is held at Dorothea Dix Park, Raleigh's largest city park with more than 300 acres of greenspace, located at 1030 Richardson Drive in Raleigh. The annual event attracts thousands of people each year. The festival is named after J. Cole's label, Dreamville Records.

Economic impact

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.

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