Wilmington Riverfest postponed
The annual fall festival, Wilmington's biggest, has been rescheduled for November
The Wilmington Riverfest, the Port City's biggest annual fall festival, has been postponed because of after-effects from Hurricane Florence.
The 40th annual Riverfest was scheduled for Oct. 5-7 downtown. The new dates are Nov. 17-18, said Laurence Nadeau, festival chairman.
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"It was mostly logistical," Nadeau said.
With so many moving parts for such a big festival, valuable prep time was lost with the area under hurricane watches, warnings and then the actual storm. With many portable toilets now being used for hurricane relief in shelters, among other issues, it made sense to postpone, Nadeau said.
It's the third time in four years that Riverfest has had to be rescheduled. Rains washed out the festival in 2015, and Hurricane Matthew blew Riverfest back to November in 2016.
Nadeau pointed out that 2015 was the first time that Riverfest didn't go on as planned since it was founded in 1979.
Those wanting to get out and about downtown during the first weekend of October, when Riverfest is traditionally held, will have another option. American Craft Walk Wilmington, originally scheduled for Sept. 22, has been moved to Saturday, Oct. 6, with artists and craft vendors set up along Front Street.
Contact John Staton at John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com.