20,000 Attendees Enjoy Cherryville’s Cherry Blossom Festival
By: Grace Smith – Wise News Network
CHERRYVILLE, NC (WNN) – It has been a week since the City of Cherryville hosted the annual Cherry Blossom Festival and the community is still abuzz with sentiments of joy. The festival is one of the city’s biggest events. For those who missed it, no worries. Here is a recap of the festival’s events.ย
The two-day festival commenced on Friday, April 19, 2024 and ended on Saturday, April 20, 2024. It occurred within Cherryville’s downtown area, which is converted into a festival ground each year for this occasion.ย
A stage was erected in the Gazebo Park, vendors lined the streets and festival-goers roamed around the area freely. Many local businesses remained open during the festival, allowing visitors the opportunity to check out the store fronts.
People travel from around the region to attend the Cherry Blossom Festival. Mary Beth Tackett, the city event coordinator and director of the Cherryville Chamber of Commerce, stated that around 20,000 people attended the two-day event, more than three times the population of Cherryville.
A family that recently relocated to Gastonia from South Florida discovered the festival online while searching for weekend plans. Courtney, the mother of the family, said the festival seemed fun. Her husband, Mark, works in the event-planning industry and wanted to support the venture.
“Cherryville is a beautiful little town,” said Mark.ย
Although the festival is fun for all attendees, Cherryville locals particularly enjoy the event. Many festival-goers include people who moved out of Cherryville. They come home for the weekend to visit old friends and stomping grounds.
Piper attended the Cherry Blossom Festival with her mother, Trinity. Although Piper no longer lives in the area, she returned for the occasion.
“[We’re] here just to enjoy the town’s festival and to support our local businesses,” said Trinity.
A major attraction for the festival was the three hour concert from the Dirty Grass Soul band. The concert occurred Friday night. According to the Cherryville Police Department, between 9,000 and 10,000 people attended the concert.
The band played a variety of tunes, including some covers and original music. Although the band is known for its skills with southern rock and bluegrass, many genres were represented in the concert.
For more information about the Dirty Grass Soul performance, check out this article and video by WNN founder, Rusty Wise: https://wisenewsnetwork.com/news-articles/f/dirty-grass-soul-band-blossoms-in-cherryville
Saturday’s events started off with the Cherry Blossom 5K race beginning and ending at the First Presbyterian Church. Also on Saturday, performances included shows from the Cherryville High School pep band and the OnStage Productions dance group.
Another popular event was the Vintage Car Show that took place at the Beam Truck Museum. This showcase was in memory of Cam Beam. He drove a red and white 1955 Chevrolet that was featured in the show.
The vehicles in the competition were parked in the parking lot across from the truck museum with their hoods popped, anticipating the judge’s ratings. After the show, Mayor H.L. Beam presented the award to the winner, Don Long.
For an in-depth article and video about the car show from WNN founder, Rusty Wise check out this article: https://wisenewsnetwork.com/news-articles/f/23rd-annual-beam-truck-museum-car-show-honors-cam-beam
In between the performances and the car show, festival-goers perused the vendors on the street. Some of the booths sold snacks and beverages while others sold crafts. Tackett said they had around 160 vendors in attendance.
“I think it’s the most we’ve had in recent years. I have never turned away food vendors, but I was turning them away left and right this year,” said Tackett.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival experienced a decline in attendance. Nevertheless, Tackett mentioned that both vendor participation and attendance figures now resemble pre-pandemic levels.
The vendors shared in the success of the festival as attendees flocked to the various booths.
“I talked to a lot of the vendors thanking them for being a part of our festival and all of them said they were doing great. So it’s good that everybody’s making some money and getting to enjoy the festival,” said Mayor Beam.
Tackett elaborated on her decision-making process regarding the selection of vendors. The Chamber of Commerce emphasizes the importance of offering a diverse range of products. Both local and national vendors participated, providing a wide array of goods.
Additionally, it is important to find a balance between food and craft vendors because it ensures that festival-goers have many options to choose from, catering to different tastes and preferences.
Offering an array of sellers benefits both festival-goers and the vendors because it provides attendees with a wide selection of products while giving vendors the opportunity to showcase their unique goods.
“There’s not too much competition, but there’s enough variety to bring more people to see them. So even if they don’t shop with that food vendor today, maybe they’ll check them out next time,” said Tackett.
Regarding food, many out-of-town visitors made sure to grab a Cherryville lotta burger before leaving the city. This unique sandwich consists of two burger patties on a hoagie roll, tomatoes, cheese, pickles and a healthy portion of Carolina white coleslaw.
There are eight restaurants in Cherryville that offer this regional delicacy. The restaurants include: Black’s Grill, Heafner’s Superette, Home Folks Cafe, Mac’s Grill, Medical Center Pharmacy, Ronald’s Express Grill, the Shake Shop and Vickie’s Grill.
Cherryville residents are passionate about lotta burgers, with many declaring loyalties to their specific favorite restaurants. However, in the words of Mayor Beam: “You cannot get a bad lotta burger in Cherryville.”ย
He said he does not have a favorite lotta burger restaurant, but if you do, you can vote for your favorite in WNN’s lotta burger contest by visiting our contest page (https://wisenewsnetwork.com/contests). The last day to participate is May 15, 2024.
As attendees enjoyed the weekend’s events, a recent addition to the city’s resources made its debut. The Cherryville Police Department flew its new surveillance drone around the festival.ย
Although the drone’s appearance at the festival was not prompted by any specific incident, it has already been used to track down a suspect the day before. The suspect had run into the woods, allegedly attempting to escape apprehension.
“When they got the drone out and were going over the woods [the suspect] came out with his hands up. He said, when I heard the drone, I knew the dogs were next,” said Mayor Beam.ย
The Cherryville Police Department runs the security for the festival and the drone ensured an additional level of safety.
A lot of moving parts went into guaranteeing the festival ran smoothly. Between the hard working Chamber of Commerce, the dedicated police presence and the unique vendors, the Cherry Blossom Festival was an experience catered to the attendees.
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