Two months ago, the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival announced a new executive director. He resigned just days into his employment.
Now, the festival has hired another director who says she’s ready to usher it into a new era.
The organization announced on social media on Friday that Kaylynn Suarez will take the helm of the city’s major spring festival, which has drawn as many as 250,000 people downtown in recent years. The Fayetteville Dogwood Festival is an independent, nonprofit organization that has held the annual event since 1983.
The festival is set for April 25-27. Suarez told CityView on Friday that it’s “going to be a good one.”
“The 2025 festival is one that we’re all going to be proud of,” Suarez added.
Previously, Suarez worked in the marketing, event planning management and nonprofit spheres. For the last seven years, she worked in real estate marketing in Florida and North Carolina. Most recently, she was a part of the Patty Herrera Home Team of Litchfield Realty in Fayetteville, and worked as an event planner at Sol’s Arcade + Taproom.
She also previously worked for the U.S. Department of State in the grant division at the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait. The wife of an active-duty civil affairs Army officer and mother of two, Suarez has lived in Fayetteville periodically since 2017, and moved back for the second time last Christmas.
Suarez’s hiring comes after the two most recent directors resigned: Sarahgrace Mitchell in spring 2023 after two years in the position, and Jim Long Jr. in October, after 10 days. Long declined to say at the time exactly why he left, and board members were also reluctant to name a specific reason.
Meanwhile, two other former executive directors of the festival are in a lawsuit against each other.
The festival has struggled financially in recent years, and had to cut back on prominent musical acts during the 2024 festival. However, board members reported in the spring that the festival’s debts are paid off, and Suarez said she’s confident about securing sponsorships and working with local businesses ahead of the 2025 festival. She said there will be live entertainment akin to previous years.
With local businesses and vendors, Suarez said the festival is emphasizing “quality over quantity,” as part of its strategy to generate renewed excitement about the festival.
“I know things have shifted over the years, and I really want to get it back to the previous years where everybody was more excited about the event and felt more like a community block party than anything,” Suarez said. “But our goal is to raise those funds so we can make sure we get there. And this will definitely be a good year as far as I’m concerned. I’m confident that we are going to bring it back to glory days.”
Suarez also spoke to her excitement over the board of directors’ assistance in the festival planning process.
“This is the first nonprofit I’ve worked with where it’s like, ‘Nope, we all have a job. We’re all here,’ and that’s something I’m extremely excited about,” Suarez said. “And I don’t think they get enough credit.”
Andrew Porter, the board’s chair, declined to comment and forwarded CityView’s request to Suarez.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that a date had not yet been set for the 2025 Fayetteville Dogwood Festival. This article has been updated with the correct information. CityView apologizes for this error.
Contact Evey Weisblat at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608. This story was made possible by donations from readers like you to CityView News Fund, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to an informed democracy in Fayetteville and Cumberland County.
