By Logan Harle
Intern
A popular regional musical act is creating brisk ticket sales and boosting the anticipation for the 2016 North Carolina Azalea Festival, as organizers anticipate the Carolina folk band The Avett Brothers to again attract a big audience to the festival.
“We chose The Avett Brothers mostly because they are a local regional favorite. When The Avett Brothers come to town, people come out to see them,” said Robby Collins, president of the North Carolina Azalea Festival. “They are a wonderful blend of music that people in our region tend to enjoy and when we try to choose a band for the Azalea Festival, we try to choose a band that’s popular, that people will enjoy and go out and see, and also a band that will sell tickets.”
The Avett Brothers, the festival’s headline act, will perform on Thursday, April 7, the second night of the festival that runs from April 6-10.
Tickets went on sale on Dec. 7 and can be purchased at the North Carolina Azalea Festival Ticket Office for $55. Collins anticipates the tickets will sell out before the show.
“The last time they were here it did sell out; we expect it to sell out again. The numbers that we’re seeing in sales are that the tickets are selling faster and earlier than they’ve sold in the previous times they were in town,” Collins said.
With The Avett Brothers’ rise in popularity over the years, Collins feels fortunate to have them back for a third time. “We are excited to have them, and we are always excited to have them. And the fact is that over those six years that they have played three times, each time they have gotten to be bigger and more popular, that we felt lucky to get them each time we’ve had them,” Collins said.
The performance will be held at an outdoor venue at Cape Fear Community College that allows space for a large crowd, keeping ticket prices low. Ticket prices for the Avett Brothers are similar to previous years.
“The ticket prices are relatively the same,” Collins said. “It is really exciting that they are so much more popular than they were before but we’re able to keep the ticket price the same,” Collins said.
The Azalea Festival also includes about 25 other events that will take place Wednesday, April 6 through Saturday, April 9. Collins says that the two biggest events include the street fair that is held on Friday evening, all day Saturday and all day Sunday, and the parade on Saturday morning.
“The parade and the street fair will bring the biggest number of people to the Azalea Festival. There is no charge to go to the street fair and there is no charge for the parade, so those are really community activities,” Collins said.
There are many other events that will take place all weekend long that can be found on www.ncazalefestival.org. Collins says these events will showcase the art and beauty around Wilmington that the whole family can enjoy.
“We do have so many opportunities for families. We try and have diverse activities and something for everybody to do, who wants to come out,” Collins said.
