CityView Magazine

48 | April 2016 feature BY MIRIAM LANDRU A true Fayettevillian knows that spring is officially here when the dogwoods are in bloom and the sights, sounds and smells of the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival per- meate through the warm April air. e Dogwood Festival is always held during the last weekend of April and is heralded as the grand finale of the month and the biggest annual event in Cumberland County. Festival goers from all over the Sandhills and North Carolina come to enjoy the atmosphere. e festival began in 1982 when former Fayetteville mayor Bill Hurley coined Fayetteville "e City of Dogwoods." roughout the 1980s and 1990s, it was a 10-day extravaganza, but in 2000, it became the three-day main event of downtown Fayetteville. ere will be many fun activities for the whole family. On the radar is the Partnership for Children's KidStuff area filled with games and other activities. When parents have had enough of that, Cypress Bend Vineyards will be a special vendor with their unique and tasty muscadine wine blends. But what most everyone is looking forward to are the national musical acts which will perform on the Festival Park stage on Friday and Saturday nights. is year we have up and coming country artists on Friday night and frontmen from two legendary rock bands. More music, more fun at the year's main event Fayetteville Dogwood Festival: 2016 Chris Janson is currently up for the award of "New Male Vocalist of the Year" and "Single Record of the Year" by the Academy of Country Music On Sunday, Fayetteville Urban Ministry's annual Duck Derby will wrap up the fun at the Dogwood Festival. Thousands of ducks will be floating in Cross Creek all vying for the prize of a camper from Camping World. For more information about the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival and performance times, visit www.faydog- woodfestival.com.

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