LENOIR, NC (July 10, 2024) ⇒ The 21st annual North Carolina Blackberry Festival is this Friday and Saturday, July 12 and 13, 2024, in Downtown Lenoir. Come get your fill of fresh blackberries, enjoy delicious festival food, shop hundreds of vendors, and have a berry good time!
Plus, everyone has a chance to win big money!
The Never B’s will kick off the festival at 5:00 pm Friday with live music on the Downtown Lenoir Stage. There will be vendors all along Main Street, West Avenue, and Harper Avenue and a Kid Foam Party from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. The Kings of Noise will rock Downtown from 7:00 pm to the festival close at 9:00 pm.
The “Let’s Glow Crazy” 5K Glow Run & Fun Run also happens Friday night. The run is organized by the Shelter Home of Caldwell County.
Runners can sign up online at:
https://runsignup.com/Race/NC/Lenoir/BlackberryGlow5kandFunRun
through Wednesday, July 10.
Runners can also sign up in person on Friday at the Shelter Home tent in the parking lot between Mulberry and Main streets. Look for “Glow Run Reg” on the map below. The Fun Run starts at 8:00 pm, and the 5K Run / Walk starts at 8:30 pm.
The festival opens at 9:00 am on Saturday with vendors, festival food, and fresh blackberries. There will be a Blackberry Eating Contest at noon, followed by the National Anthem at 12:30 pm and the Blackberry Cobbler Parade at 1:00 pm. The Blackberry Cobbler Parade ends with the assembly of the world’s biggest blackberry cobbler! Volunteers hand out more than 2,000 free servings of blackberry cobbler to visitors.
Seats in the Blackberry Eating Contest are limited. Visitors can sign up for the contest at the Blackberry Festival Information Tent starting Saturday morning. First come, first serve!
Live music will start at 1:30 pm with Darren Bryant followed by Blu Waters Trio at 4:00 pm and Chasing Phoenix at 7:00pm. The festival closes at 9:00 pm Saturday.
FIND DRUPLET FOR A CHANCE TO WIN BIG MONEY!
In addition to all of this very berry fun, there will be a new game where visitors can win more than one thousand dollars!
Download the WishTrip app to your mobile device. Once you’re in Downtown Lenoir, open the app and start exploring Downtown Lenoir. Click the purple “play game” button. Complete all the challenges to find Druplet and you’ll be entered into a drawing to win $1,500. (A druplet, or drupelet, is one of the individual parts of an aggregate fruit such as a raspberry or blackberry.)
The game opens at 5:00 pm Friday and closes at 9:00 pm Saturday. Players must complete all the challenges to be entered in to the drawing.
Click the following link to download the app, www.wishtrip.com.
FESTIVAL RULES
• No animals are allowed.
• No firearms are allowed in the festival footprint pursuant to NC General Statute 14-277.2.
BLACKBERRY FESTIVAL SCHEDULE AND MAP
Click the following link to download the schedule and festival map, NC Blackberry Festival 2024 Schedule and Map (PDF).
DOWNTOWN LENOIR DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE
The North Carolina Blackberry Festival is organized by the Downtown Lenoir Development Alliance (DLDA). The DLDA is a community development non-profit. The group also organizes the Wood, Fire, Smoke Festival in Downtown Lenoir. Click the following link for more information about the DLDA, www.downtownlenoir.com.
The DLDA would like to thank this year’s Blackberry Festival sponsors:
PHOTOS FROM THE 2023 NC BLACKBERRY FESTIVAL
Check out these photos from last year’s festival.
