Pender earns title of 'best events festival in the state,' and it goes beyond blueberries
Pender County tourism officials work throughout the year to promote fun things to do and big events in one of North Carolina's fastest-growing regions.
Popular gatherings bringing thousands of people to the area has now caught the attention of the North Carolina Association of Festivals and Events. For 2022, it awarded Ocean Fest and Burgaw's New Year's Eve Blueberry Drop awards in several categories during a recent conference in Charlotte.
Ocean Fest, a festival held in Surf City, was named the NC Event of the Year. Featuring surf, arts and music, Ocean Fest also received awards for best community outreach, best merchandise and award recognition of their supporting sponsor, New Belgium Brewing Company, with Mark Anders named director of the year.
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"To enter and to be recognized, you're competing against major events, and for Ocean Fest to take the awards they took, shows that they are the best of the best," said tourism director Tammy Proctor.
The Blueberry Drop brought in two awards for its print media and event sponsor T-shirt.
“We are pleased to work with these Pender County festivals and events to submit award entries,” stated Stephanie Key, Pender County Tourism Assistant. “We are proud that these popular events have received these recognitions.”
"It's a huge deal for us to be able to say that Pender County has the best events festival in the state."
Olivia Dawson, a tourism assistant and Burgaw mayor, stressed the importance of event organizers submitting entries and being able to have "award winning event" attached to something.
"These awards stick with them for years to come," Dawson said.
What else is popular?
These two events are among many others in Pender County.
Ghost Walk: Ghost of Pender's Past is a two-time nationally awarded event. In 2022, the event featuring ghost stories was held at the Burgaw Cemetery for two nights. It received awards from the National Association of Counties and the Southeast Festival and Events Association.
The summertime N.C. Blueberry Festival is known as Burgaw's biggest event. Since 2003, more than 40,000 people have attended the event.
In eastern Pender County, Autumn With Topsail is one of the largest festivals on the island. It was created in 1988 on the grounds of the Historical Society of Topsail Island and the Assembly Building, which houses the Missiles & More Museum.
It includes a juried art show, live music, food vendors, ride for children and more.
With North Carolina lawmakers proclaiming 2023 as Year of the Trail, organizations and local towns are hosting hikes that are a mile or less for families throughout the county. Every month a trail will spotlight Pender County.
Proctor also noted the upcoming annual observance of the Moores Creek battle of 1776, a critical Patriot victory in the Revolutionary War.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Pender County earns spotlight with numerous NC festival awards
