Dreamville Music Festival with J. Cole and the Future of Dix Park

Raleigh

J. Cole's Dreamville Festival, a hip-hop show that took a different turn, was a litmus test for the future Raleigh destination park.

Questions were raised about how the city and its partners could participate in its first private event at Dorothea Dix Park.

How could the park adjacent to downtown, designed to keep people out, accommodate thousands of people for its one-day festival?

How would a 308 acre campus without a bathroom or water fountain turn into a fun and safe celebration of art, food and music?

And bringing the capacity to 40,000 units last week seemed too ambitious.

But this has been the story of Dix Park.

Community leaders and thousands of residents have been trying to write and create through a long month – long planning process to dream about the park 's future. How does the Ten campus move from the psychiatric hospital to a world-class attraction? From an old plantation to its slogan of "park for everyone?"

An "intentional decision"

The music festival – organized by Cole and featuring SZA, 21 Savage, Big Sean and others – was originally planned for last fall, but was washed away by the passing of Hurricane Florence which was heading straight for Raleigh.

"It was a very intentional decision that the first large-scale festival we were organizing here be a hip-hop festival," said Kate Pearce, park planning officer. "Raleigh has bluegrass down. Hopscotch came down. And these all bring specific demographic data. I think (Dreamville) is really something that tells the story of the place and, hopefully, its future. "

The festival was born out of the desire of Cole, who grew up in Fayetteville and lives in Raleigh, who wanted to give something back to his homeland.

"It really took J. Cole and (the Mayor of Raleigh, Nancy McFarlane) to connect to really describe this vision of what this festival could be," said Joey Voska, who oversees the park's programs. "The mayor was very involved in setting up all this logistics, all these parts."

Complex describes this connection goes to the Raleigh Museum of Contemporary Art and talks about Cole's aspirations. He wanted the festival to take place in his homeland and he looked for places in Raleigh and Fayetteville. The Durham Bulls Athletic Park and the Raleigh NCP Arena have been reported in two locations: according to the complex.

When the festival was announced more than a year ago, McFarlane said, "Music events like Dreamville are just one example of the types of special events that can take place. to ten. Dreamville will be the first major private concert held in the park and its organizing process will help the city and Ten Conservancy look to the future. "

Festival Proceeds Will Benefit Hurricane Victims, Dorothea Dix Park Conservancy and Clean Up Dreamville Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit with a stated mission of "bridging the gap between the worlds of opportunity and the urban youth of Fayetteville".

"Good vibrations"

A native of Raleigh, Jamal Taylor has traveled from Baltimore to the festival. He had his ticket last year and was planning to go down in September and was devastated by his postponement. As of 6:00 pm no major incidents or arrests have been reported, according to a spokesman for the Raleigh Police Department.

"They brought me back," he said. "The team, the culture, the love. I am just in the moment happy, peaceful. "

Kimberly Kimbrough and Kariba Daye, both living in Raleigh, arrived at the festival with their friend Brooke Marron, a native of Philadelphia. They arrived at Dix's Big Field on a party bus and barely felt the traffic.

"I was surprised and I never went to Dix Park," Kimbrough said. "When I saw for the first time that he was going to be here, I was skeptical to see if he could really contain all those people and how that would be arranged."

The two stages, called Rise and Shine, are at opposite ends of the Big Field in the park with artists, merchandise tables, lockers and hammocks in the middle. Participants who found a spot near the front of the stands remained to claim their place for the next shows.

On the edges, food trucks, vendors, water tents, medical stations and bathrooms are spaced apart. Pat Culbreth, resident of Winston-Salem, of Some Art of Pat, sold his fans, painting.

"Can I sell my art and be in the same place as all Dreamville artists?" She said. "Sounds good to me."

Some parts of the field were wet and muddy because of this week's rain, but that did not stop some people from dozing on blankets to get ready for the coming night, while others danced in small circles. friends between stages.

Cole should be commended for drawing attention to Raleigh and helping to create this event for North Carolina and the community, Kimbrough said.

"It's time," Kimbrough said. "We have a lot of people coming from Raleigh, but we do not get the praise from other cities"

This is a sentiment shared by those working in the music and tourism industry in Raleigh.

"When you look at the three key components; Music, art and gastronomy make it so much part of Raleigh's landscape and what this city does best, "said Scott Peacock, Public Relations Manager of the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The "big incursion"

This festival is the first introduction for thousands of people to Dix Park in Raleigh and even North Carolina.

"It's our time to go out, if you will, to talk about the hip-hop scene in Raleigh, where we come from and where we can go," Peacock said.

More than 60,000 people contributed to the Park Master Plan, which serves as a guiding document and roadmap for future park development. Although not being fixed in space and decades of completion, the plan provides for the creation of an amphitheater and the fact that the park becomes a destination for music lovers.

"This is the big incursion into Dix Park, which, in my opinion, was inevitable," said William Lewis, executive director of Pinecone, who produced the World of Bluegrass festival in Raleigh.

"Let's continue on what we did for the city of Raleigh and organize another event," he said. "I think all of this is. It did not happen overnight. It did not happen by magic. It took a lot of work. It took a lot of bold vision and leadership. "

Infrastructure difficulties will arise when Dix Park starts testing its properties.

"You have to see what works and what does not work," he said. "What is possible and what is not possible. And I think that fits perfectly with the tradition that Raleigh has maintained for decades. "

The city does not take things that it can not handle, he added.

Partly for this reason, planning for this event took more than three years, said Derrick Remer, Director of Special Events and Emergency Management. The initial reaction of the city was "we are not ready," he said.

Neighbors

The residents of Boylan Heights, the historic Raleigh neighborhood that connects Raleigh town center and Dix Park, are in two camps.

Some escaped from home with the intention of spending the weekend to avoid chaos, while others gathered their supplies to listen to the show from their lanes.

"(I) went to the grocery store, I stocked up on supplies and I'm ready to piss off myself," said Travis Bailey, who lives near the park in the neighborhood.

"I'm excited," he said. "There are so many projects for really cool things going on there. Big changes. I think they have plans to handle a lot of the problems that will potentially arise. "

Most expected Western Boulevard to be a parking lot as festival goers attempted to park near Centennial Parkway or to go to the downtown parking garages. They are armed with the experience of previous traffic problems and understand that it will be much worse.

"Some are a bit more tense (than others), but everyone seems to understand that it's a lawsuit," Bailey said. "We'll see how things go and if we can fix something better for the next big event, all the better. And if not, there will be points to discuss and compromise, hopefully. "