The Fayetteville Dogwood Festival—a 44‑year downtown tradition and one of the city’s largest annual events—is warning that without financial help from the city, the festival may not return in 2027.
Executive Director Kaylynn Suarez told the Fayetteville City Council on Monday that the nonprofit is facing rising production costs that it can no longer absorb. She said the organization has reached a point where it cannot guarantee the festival’s long‑term viability without new support.
“The sponsor dollars are there, the community support is there, but the bills are going higher,” Suarez said. “Things are costing more.”
The festival, founded in 1982, fills Festival Park and much of downtown with vendors, rides, concerts, and activities. Organizers have said it draws roughly 250,000 people each spring and generates between $10 million and $20 million in economic impact, based on an outside analysis.
“Lets be honest, downtown needs the Dogwood Festival,” Suarez told council members.
But behind the scenes, the organization has struggled for years. IRS filings show the festival spent more than it earned in 2020, 2021, and 2022.
In 2023, the organization reported $15,000 in net income; in 2024, $53,000—when the festival was drowning in debt and could not afford to pay music acts.
Suarez, who was named executive director in December 2024, said sponsorships and vendor fees have remained steady, but the cost of putting on the event has not.
The festival’s operational costs total about $147,000 a year, and this year’s spring festival alone is budgeted at $146,000, Suarez said.
As of April 2, the organization had $21,722 in its bank account and about $89,000 in bills due for the upcoming festival, not including remaining operational costs.
Suarez said that if the festival cannot close that gap, it will affect whether the event can return in 2027.
“We are a tradition. We’re not just a festival,” she said. “This is 44 years of something that’s taken place downtown, because this is where home is.”
What Dogwood Wants from City Council
Suarez presented three proposals to the city and said the festival needs help by May, though she acknowledged that timeline is “unrealistic.”
The proposals include:
- A $100,000 annual investment with a three‑ to five‑year contract.
- In‑kind support such as tents, covered infrastructure, generators, a scissor lift, a mobile stage, bleachers, and a golf cart.
- $30,000 to support a new downtown street dance monthly summer micro‑event series called Fayetteville Fridays, along with a stage, generator, and in‑kind police coverage.
For years, the city has supported Dogwood through in‑kind services, such as police, waste management, parks staff, and groundskeeping. Suarez valued the contributions between $39,000 and $60,000.
Between 2017 and 2022, the city also contributed $12,000 to $15,000 in cash annually. Since 2022, the city has not provided cash support.
“Fifteen thousand only goes so far,” Suarez said. “That doesn’t even pay for a headline act.”
City policy changes have also affected the costs of the festival. After two shootings near the spring festival in 2025, the city implemented new safety requirements for events in Festival Park. Suarez said the Dogwood Fall Festival’s police and security costs jumped from about $7,000 in previous years to $39,000 last October.
“That has never cost us that much for any festival that we’ve had,” she said.
Council Reaction: ‘Help a Little More’
Council members were generally supportive of increasing support for the festival but cautious about the amount, timing, and how responsibility should be shared with other partners.
“I guess we do know around this dais that we’re probably going to have to help a little more,” Council member D.J. Haire said.
Several members thanked Suarez and praised the festival’s importance and long‑standing success.
Much of the discussion focused on who else should be contributing. Council members asked about the Cumberland County Tourism Development Authority—which benefits from hotel occupancy taxes—and the county, which receives a larger share of sales and alcohol taxes.
Suarez initially said the city was “first on the list,” but later added that she had spoken with county officials. County support might require moving the festival to a county‑owned location, she said.
Several council members audibly sighed at the suggestion.
City Manager Doug Hewett said the city did not budget for festival funding this year but could “find some funds” if the council wishes. “I don’t know about that 100,000, but any amount would help,” he said.
Hewett is expected to present his proposed 2027 budget before May 1.
Some questions weren’t directly about money but about how the festival is run. Colvin raised past concerns that the festival’s music offerings had been too narrow.
In 2016, Colvin—then mayor pro tem—and other council members criticized the festival’s entertainment lineup for a lack of racial or ethnic diversity and booking mostly country and rock acts. Council members asked organizers to diversify if they wanted to continue receiving more than $100,000 in in‑kind services.
The issue resurfaced again in 2022, when the festival asked the city for $15,000. Council members asked then–Executive Director Sarahgrace Snipes to return with a plan to address their concerns about diversity in the festival’s entertainment lineup.
The lineup this year will feature hip hop, rap, and ’90s throwbacks, Suarez said. The spring festival runs April 24–26.
“That’s good, and every year doesn’t have to be that,” Colvin said. “That was certainly not the implication.”
In 2025, the spring festival headliners were country singers Josh Ross and Drew Baldridge.
There was also a brief discussion about balancing Dogwood against other city‑supported events such as Juneteenth, New Year’s Eve, and 910 Fest.
“The government can’t solve all of our problems,” Council member Deno Hondros said. “It must be a collaboration and partnership.”
After the discussion, Hewett said he plans to follow up with council members and “work something out” with the festival.
Cuts, Changes Ahead For Dogwood Festival
Suarez emphasized that she has already made major budget cuts. This year and last, the festival’s budget is $146,000—a steep reduction from the $200,000 to $350,000 it historically cost to run.
“Things add up real fast,” she said. “Even getting to that 146,000, that’s already cut a bunch into our budget. So that means less headliners, less performances, less anchored activities.”
Suarez followed Snipes as executive director after she departed in June 2023.
The organization went 18 months without a permanent executive director—including a brief hire in October 2024 who resigned after 10 days—before Suarez joined in December 2024.
In November 2023, the City Council voted to have the Fayetteville‑Cumberland County Economic Development Corp. hire a consultant to conduct a feasibility study on the festival.
The resulting 2024 report recommended sweeping changes: charging admission for most events, ending the fall festival and summer concerts, reconsidering Festival Park as the venue, and rebranding to attract younger audiences.
Suarez assured council members that the event will remain free.
“We market it as a free event for the community. It will stay a free event for the community,” she said. “That is our whole mission statement. That is what we are built on.”
In 2024, the festival cut down the number of music acts. Concerts were traditionally held all three evenings of the spring event, but that year only soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division All-American Band and Chorus performed—and they were not paid. The festival had been carrying about $40,000 in debt.
Prior to 2024, Dogwood regularly featured nationally known performers at no cost to attendees.
Suarez said Dogwood will discontinue its Fayetteville After Five summer concert series and replace it with a downtown street dance. The organization is also considering discounts for local vendors.
Government reporter Rachel Heimann Mercader can be reached at rheimann@cityviewnc.com or 910-988-8045.
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