Business owners see record weekend during Azalea Festival

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - The 75th annual Azalea Festival kicked off in Wilmington this weekend, drawing thousands of people to the area to join in on the festivities.

From the parade, the concerts, and the street fair, there was a little something for everyone.

Business owners say, it didn’t disappoint for them.

“We were slammed, busy, nonstop lines,” said D&J Concessions Worker Miranda Savage.

From food to homemade gift items, most businesses say they had record weekends.

“We couldn’t even see across our row, it was just awesome.” said Kool Fun Concessions Owner Seth Towle. “People came out and they were just sharing the love.”

Seth Towle has been a vendor at the Azalea Festival for years, but the pandemic severely hurt his business, like most others.

“With the pandemic being the way it was, and us not being able to get out there and sell our wares,” said Towle. “It’s great when the public comes out like they did this weekend and support us.”

The festival was back at normal capacity for the first time since the pandemic.

Vendors say, they’re glad to see some normalcy back in the festival, since this is how most make their living.

“It’s good to see everybody out and about again,” said Savage. “Not masked up, and having to stay away from each other. Just seeing everyone back to some kind of normalcy and being able to see everyone enjoy the festivities.”

As the festival wrapped up on Sunday, vendors are hoping that their livelihood only keeps going up.

“We like to have fun at festivals,” said Towle. “And the more we get out of the pandemic and start living our lives again, the better off we’ll be.”

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