Out and about at WRAL.com

By Matt Talhelm, WRAL . correspondent

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh is already looking forward to Dreamville’s return for its third year at Dix Park.

The music festival created by J. Cole of Fayetteville brought tens of thousands of people to the city over the weekend.

The first festival in 2019 brought in $3.8 million for businesses.

The city won’t have a two-week total this year, but they expect it to increase since Dreamville spanned two days.

On Monday, the crew packed their bags and drove off to finish off the two-day Dreamville hip-hop festival.

Until next year.

Mayor Mary Ann Baldwin told WRAL News that an estimated 30,000 people fill the large field in Dix Park each day.

“We’re on the map now,” Baldwin said. “We put J Cole and Dreamville there.”

The first festival in 2019 drew a crowd of 40,000 for one day only.

“I feel like we’ve been a great partner to Dreamville,” Baldwin said. “They have been a fantastic partner for us, and we look forward to their continuing to pave the way for what can be done at Dix Park.”

Sales were still increasing at Monday’s Black Friday market from customers wearing their Dreamville outfits, carried over from the weekend fest.

Store manager Sean Smith shares a little Raleigh with every out-of-town shopper.

“We were able to get people into the store, introduce them to the things we offer, and then also tell them things about the city,” Smith said.

The two-day music festival a mile and a half away in Dix Park brought a boost to the downtown store business.

“It was about twice as much as we usually see,” Smith said.

He was also a big supporter of James Shuford’s work.

“There were oceans of people. Friendly people. Everyone was willing to spend, and the money was flowing,” Shuford said.

Shufford said it would take some time to count the receipts from serving Jolly’s Catering specials to party crowds, especially since he took his food truck to the road within hours of the festival closing.

“There are no days off for us,” Shuford said. “We stay alert.” “I’m from here, and I have something like this – just look at it, it looks like it’s not even Raleigh anymore.”

Shufford says exposure to visitors from all over the world is invaluable.

Jada Paul and Jake Gillen return to the Gulf of California with a lasting impression on Raleigh.

“There is a lot of innovative, conscious work that is focused on kindness,” Paul said. “It’s unbelievable to me.”

Dreamville will be back next year.

J. Cole finished his set saying so, and festival organizers tweeted, “See you next year.”

It will take several days to clean up at Dix Park.

They have until Friday when their permit expires.