From concerts to parties, what to know about the 2024 NC Azalea Festival in Wilmington

If you've been around Wilmington long enough, you either dread the coming of each year's Azalea Festival or the festival just can't get here soon enough.

But whether you leave town for the festival each year or are there for as many events as you can get to, one thing we can all agree on is that the Azalea Festival, which started in 1948 and is now in its 77th year, is not only Wilmington's biggest annual festival but also an important part of Wilmington's cultural history.

This year's festival features most of the tradtional events that folks have come to expect, along with a few new twists. Here's what you need to know about Azalea Festival 2024.

The concerts

The festival has two concert headliners this year: Grammy-award-winning hip-hop artist T-Pain will perform 7 p.m. Thursday, April 4, and platinum-selling country singer Chase Rice will perform 7 p.m. Friday, April 5.

Both concerts at at Live Oak Bank Pavilion, and tickets are $55 to each.

There's also the free Tunes & Blooms concert Saturday, April 5, at Greenfield Lake Amphitheater featuring a half-dozen top Wilmington bands, including indie rockers The Great Indoors and Narah, pop-rock act Kicking Bird, folk singer Delia Stanley and more.

The queen

The 77th queen of the Azalea Festival is Sharon Lawrence, a longtime actress who's been in everything from "NYPD Blue" to the Wilmington-shot drama "One Tree Hill."

The queen's coronation, which is free to attend, is 3 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, at the Battleship North Carolina.

The queen's duties include riding in the Azalea Festival parade, attending most festival functions and making other festival-related appearances.

There will also be a "Queen's Dance Party" event 6 p.m. Friday, April 5, at the Wilmington Convention Center. Tickets are $55 and include food, music, dancing and a chance to meet Queen Azalea LXXVII Sharon Lawrence.

The parade

A festival staple since day one back in 1948, the parade starts 9:30 a.m. Saturday, April 6. Marching bands, area dignitaries and pageant queens, along with Queen Azalea herself, will be featured.

The parade proceeds down Third Street from Bladen to Market and is free to view, although bleacher tickets are available for a small fee.

The street fair

With more than 250 food and arts crafts vendors, a children's play area and a performing arts stage, the Azalea Festival Street Fair in downtown Wilmington is a festival centerpiece that attracts tens of thousands of people each year.

The street fair is back on Front Street this year, and hours are 6-10 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday.

The fireworks

Will there be fireworks this year? Yes, Azalea, there will be.

The display starts at 9 p.m. Saturday downtown, and a good spot is pretty much anywhere along the Cape Fear River, although the Battleship North Carolina will be ground zero.

The garden tour

Technically it's the Cape Fear Garden Club Azalea Garden Tour and it's been organized for the festival by the Cape Fear Garden Club since 1953.

The self-guided tour of some of the most fabulous area gardens starts 10 a.m. Friday-Sunday, although Airlie Gardens is only on the tour Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are $50 each and are good for all three days.

The home tour

Last year, the Azalea Festival Home Tour organized by the Historic Wilmington Foundation highlighted the Sunset Park neighborhood for the first time.

This year, the tour heads to the Westbrook-Ardmore National Register Historic District, which includes two 100-year-old Wilmington neighborhoods you might never have heard of: Manhattan and the Bronx.

According to research done by Historic Wilmington Foundation Director Travis Gilbert, the neighborhoods, which are off South 17th Street between Castle Street and Wrightsville Avenue, were named by real estate companies of the day trying to drum up sales in what was then the outskirts of the city.

Tours run 1-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, with a ribbon-cutting 1 p.m. Saturday at Historic Fire Station No. 5, 1702 Wrightsville Ave. Home tour tickets are $40 each.

The garden party

Officially known as the Airlie Luncheon Garden Party, it hosts hundreds of festival sponsors and supporters for a day of fancy outfits, Southern food and a little bit of day drinking at Airlie Gardens. Over 2,000 people are expected.

And the rest ...

In addition to everything else, the Azalea Festival also features a juried art show, a coin show, a boxing tournament, a volleyball and cornhole tournament and, new this year, a mini golf party at Jungle Rapids with NFL star and Wilmington native Alex Highsmith.

For details on these and other festival events, check the festival website at NCAzaleaFestival.org.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: What to know about the 2024 NC Azalea Festival in Wilmington