Spring has sprung here in Wilmington, NC! Warm weather has descended upon us and with it, the first signs of the colorful azaleas that our area is famous for. Pink here, red there, a flash of white blooming all over town. And it’s not even April yet!
For those of you that visit our fair city each year for the North Carolina Azalea Festival, you might be a little disappointed that the flowering has come and gone already by April 11th. But even if the Azalea Festival is lacking in, well, azaleas...there will plenty of activities to entertain and amaze visitors and locals alike all over Wilmington. The show-stopping colors only come once a year, so that’s reason to celebrate. Started in 1948, the April weekend celebrating our gorgeous azalea flowers has made southeastern coastal North Carolina a springtime destination for over 60 years!
As I research the festival for this article, I find that there are so many activities and events that I never even knew about before! The official dates of the festival this year are April 11-15, but the festivities commence on March 25th with an Azalea Children’s Tea, 2-4 pm.
Next up on the agenda is the Azalea 5K/10K/Fun Run on April 7th starting at Mayfaire Town Center’s Try Sports Field. Proceeds from this event go to a great cause, Cape Fear Volunteer Center Big Buddy Program.
Then the festival kicks into high gear with some of the events it’s known for. The Queen’s Coronation is held at Riverfront Park on the 11th. A whirlwind of events follows: Kenny Logins and Scott McCreery will perform in concert at Trask Auditorium on the 12th and the 13th respectively. The big Azalea Festival parade is on Saturday. The Cole Bros. Circus is in town April 12-15.
A juried art show, the Azalea Garden Tour, the downtown street fair, visiting ships, boxing matches, historical home tours, a coin show and performances on the main stage all take place all weekend.
All in all, several hundred thousand visitors will enjoy all that this weekend has to offer.
If you have been thinking of coming to town to check out Wilmington’s real estate market, try to time your trip around Azalea Festival dates. Or, if you really love flowers, come on down immediately! Either way, you will love being in Wilmington, NC this spring.
For more information on the North Carolina Azalea Festival, go to http://ncazaleafestival.org/.
Written By: BlueCoast Agent Shannon Andrews