Spotlight on Dogwood Festival: Director Kaylynn Suarez Discusses Growth and Community

Peter Pappas: Well, everyone, welcome back and welcome to the Carolina cabinet. I'm your host, Peter Pappas in studio with Mrs. Laura Mussler Hello. Hello. Always good to see you and joining us. You like being seen? That's better than not. Exactly. So, I want to welcome, uh, Ms. Caitlin, Caitlin Swartz. Sorry. I can read the screen and I'm still going to miss her name up, but Kaylin Suarez, thank you for joining us today. You are the director of the Fable Dogwood Festival. I am. Thanks for having me. That's a big deal. So when is the Dogwood Festival happening? April 24th through the 26th. ⁓ boy. So it's right upon us. How did you have time to come see us today? In between. between. Okay. All right. Well, it your full-time job? It is. ⁓ wow. And I do a lot of other things. So the Dogwood Festival is 40 years running, thousands of families, and one of those events that just feels like spring around here, which I still don't... The showers happened in March to bring my April flowers. anyway, know, science. So a lot of people don't see what it takes to make this thing happen. This festival draws huge crowds, ⁓ real dollars into our economy, restaurants, hotels, small businesses, although they don't buy many subs from me during that time, but we'll get that. But, know, like a lot of downtown, know, they're eating all that stuff, but there's a lot of large events, but you know, Dogwood festivals had its issues navigating rising costs, figure out how to keep growing while staying true. To what I love about it, what people love about it. So, ⁓ let's talk about what goes into making the secret sauce. mean, so, let me ask you this. So for people who've been going for years, ⁓ give us a quick snapshot of what the festival really is as far as how long it's been going and how many people it brings. Go too easy. So, ⁓ the dogwood festival, I had. opportunity and the blessing to come on as the director in December of 2024. So I had three and a half four-ish months to plan and fundraise for a whole festival. No pressure. But with the the Dogwood festival, historically pre-COVID numbers between 150 and 200,000 people come to downtown Fayetteville and the surrounding area state. You know got your heads in beds, eating at restaurants, shopping. ⁓ so it's not just them attending the festival. They're there for multiple days. ⁓ this year will be no different. Last year was no different. after COVID we did see, you know, ⁓ a dip in numbers, ⁓ Sarah grace's year, they had a great year after COVID, but then, you know, people got scared to go out again. ⁓ last year we had about 81,000 people in attendance and that was with us shutting down early, ⁓ one day. So that's pretty fantastic. I think that early was that because somebody wanted to play. cops and robbers behind the library yes so within you know not far from our footprint was and but it wasn't at the past correct correct okay ⁓ and so that misconception happens and unfortunately it's just people don't know what they don't know they just hear their headline chasers and they read the headline and that's where they stop ⁓ and that's very unfortunate but it had crime happens everywhere ⁓ it's not something that specific to fayetteville or fayetteville events ⁓ i've had the Opportunity live all over the world and all over the US and I'd like to say it's specific to one area But it's just not for sure. Well, let's talk about some economic stuff first I promise you no numbers numbers, but I think you can handle this So this is so we know that's one of the biggest economic weekends of the year. I we bring 80,000 people ⁓ How much what is the impact around here? That's a great question. So people don't realize that it's not just at the festival that gets impacted and it's not just downtown it's surrounding areas in Fayetteville where whether they're driving from a hotel driving in we bring in quite a bit of vendors from out of state but twenty percent of our vendors are from Fayetteville alone and considering that we have people from out of state as well as out of town twenty percent's a really good number for ⁓ the native ⁓ but we are between somewhere between eight and ⁓ 20 million, on whose numbers you look at. That's the economic impact when it comes to, are you a weatherman? Eight to 20 million. ⁓ That's a big jump. Everybody's doing their own economic impact. When you say economic study, where do those numbers specifically come from? Hotels, restaurants, because a lot of people spend their money downtown. They don't eat at the restaurants because there's not, I actually happen to have somebody that I know that is in the restaurant business and I used to be in the restaurant and he's in the restaurant business. What? Sobs? Well, sit down restaurants is what I'm talking about. They don't see a huge jump. Actually, they see business decline in the weekend at the Dog Food Festival. So where does this $8 million to $20 million come from? I know for a fact that Pierre has shared that that is one of their best weekends as well as Gaston's. Now, as far as other restaurants around the area, it's what you program into. So if you're advertising, hey, I'm X amount of minutes from the festival. come check me out, people are attending those. what we do is we've had studies done for us by outside sources. That's where we get our numbers from. Now where other people get their numbers from, I couldn't tell you. ⁓ So you guys have, you've done your own and how long where do you find that report? ⁓ We can share it. If anybody requested everything with the festivals as public knowledge. So that's an easy ask and question. I've sat down with people and looked at things with them. ⁓ And that's something that we would be glad to go over. Okay. So it's public knowledge, but you guys are a private organization, aren't you? No, we are a nonprofit. ⁓ a five ⁓ one C three that depends on the of directors. mean, you know, so you've just made the decision as an organization to be open to be trans because we're, believe in transparency within nonprofits, especially if sponsors and donors are going to donate to you. They need to know where their money is going. ⁓ because at the end of the day, that could stop. and we want people to know that their impact has a massive recoil whether they're or not. So yesterday I shared with city council, hey, I make 60,000 a year. By the way, my chief operating officer makes this much. This is how much how we get to the $147,000 in operational costs. So that way the numbers. You know match up and make sense we do the same thing with the festival That's something I'll continue to do as long as I'm in the seat So without pulling up city view, I know you did appear in front of a great picture by the way with down the street with all the flowers That's downtown. I know that look that I'm they got that picture Spot on a rainy day. She did a fantastic job. I I was pretty pretty landscape. So yeah, no homeless people were in the streets either You know, so I will tell you something about downtown because I may be allegedly been on some dates recently whatever I didn't know that they were here. Well, those were the interviews that didn't make it. ⁓ the thing is I've seen a very heavy police presence ever since the new chief took over. He's done a fantastic job. He's had people posted up and he's moving the folks along, but that that's just moving the problem. Another block. It's not really there. there. But at least I'm not getting harassed by the black Israelites that are yelling at my date. That was fun. And ⁓ What was it? ⁓ Just the regular homeless guys, you know, whatever. Can I have your leftovers? No. You did bring up an organization that has showed up at the festival. At least they did last year for me. And I will say I did have a pleasant experience when I said, Hey guys, I appreciate, you know, freedom to speech and everything, but I have paid for a permit here and we shook hands. We parted ways and left very nicely. They've been nicer lately. Yeah, that's fine. I mean, look, it is freedom of speech, but at a certain point, come on. ⁓ You paid for a permit. What does that mean? For any special event that happens downtown, we do pay for a permit to occur, whether it's our ABC permit, the use of the park, things of that nature. mm-hmm. So is that, you say that the streets though, you're paying for the permit on the streets? We're paying for the permit for the festival itself. So when you pay to have a road closed, you're paying for a permit and use of the traffic ⁓ control, police, things of that nature that come along with it. How much does that look like? It depends. So it all rolls in our budget. But that's something that depends. Now festival for the spring is an in-kind donation. So we don't see that cost, but for fall, it's something that's drastically So the city, city, the city taxpayers pay for it. Correct. Okay. Everything rolls down to property taxes. I I'm okay with that. All roads lead to Rome in my pocket. That's, know, or to the festival. Yes, yes, yes. So what's the value to the community? mean, who really benefits from this event? ⁓ I'm so glad you asked. So because we are a free to attend event, a lot of families come out there. That's their one big thing a year that they do locally because it doesn't cost them anything to pop up a chair and enjoy a free concert, no matter what the music is. And music transcends everybody. So there's something there for you. The kids zone, last year was free. This year it will be free as well. ⁓ business owners we've had. What's in the kids zone? I'm so glad you asked. I'll answer all of it. let's go. United Way is setting up their literacy program, so they'll be having active storytellers out there. Fascinate You will be out there doing their science fair projects, as well as we'll have Schoolie Express out there, which they'll be celebrating their one-year anniversary. What is that? They are a mobile art studio. if you haven't seen them at Fourth Fridays or around town, they go all over the place. But Stacey Anderson's former military, former police officer, and now she's living her dream. And so she opened her, did her grand opening at Dogwood last year. So she's getting to celebrate with us again for her one year. ⁓ That's the people that benefit, the people that want to start businesses, nonprofits that have a service and resources. They have that as an opportunity to reach the community as a whole and a mass. ⁓ It's more than just an economic impact. It's tradition. Who's in charge of sponsorships and stuff like that? That would be me. That would you. Yeah. So you're the one supposed to be knocking the doors. Yeah, exactly. So what's the difference between a sponsorship and a vendor? Yeah. So a vendor is typically setting up a 10 by 10 selling something, ⁓ a small business, art and craft, ⁓ or, know, a trinket, a sponsor puts in the big dollars. So when you're looking at somebody like PWC or peanut patch or, ⁓ black tires, there's different levels of sponsorship, what gets them different access, but those sponsors are what keep the festival going. Because without their dollars, it wouldn't go as far. And this year we're sitting at, as of yesterday, 110,000 in sponsorship for just this event. Up, down, low, high versus other years. How are you feeling so far? Other years in past pre-COVID, the sponsorships were much higher, but that's when everybody had dollars. And the vendors, how much money in vendors? So in vendors, it's, uh, believe 84,000 in vendors. so it cost me to set up a tent. Well, if you're a vendor, it could be, um, anywhere from, think it's 125 to 175. If you're a food truck, it is more. Um, and it depends on the type of food, size of the truck for the whole weekend. That's for whole weekend. That's not bad at all. know. So do you become a vendor? Um, so our cutoff was in February. We advertise on event me as well as social media and our website. Hey, come apply here. get your application in and of course we always have people that call after the fact and they're like, I missed the window and I'm like, I am so sorry for you, but we also have limited space. But this year between vendors and food trucks alone, have 160 that will be setting up. Okay. So do, um, can political parties? Yeah, we actually have some political parties that will be out there as well as, uh, I think it's best vote or something of that nature. can't remember, we have the GOP can go out there if they had it signed up. Okay. It's already passed the deadline. Well, can I don't know somebody? You know, it pays to know people, but I'm a rule follower. So what about businesses that own their businesses on the street? Can they put out tables in front of their business? We actually encourage it. So we're working with DTA and Spark and we told them, Hey guys, slow down, slow down. Who's DTA? Downtown Alliance. Yeah. And everybody has that analogy. They are a new, um, a branch off of DTA where they do events, special eventing. One of people that got pissed at the kind of somebody's job and open another organization. Like what are we splintering? There's so many shops down there. many, how many different organizations? a of different personalities. really are. Welcome to Fayetteville. They're doing their best and they've got a lot of programming and Spark will also be the ones that run Dickens, which is another local tradition. So all these to say, we're very blessed to be able to work with different organizations to be able to do more. And I'm very excited to see what other programming is, because we do have new programming. There's new festivals happening every day, new events coming down that present to our special events committee. Dogwood isn't the only one, we are the one that has the numbers in the following. the one that does Fourth Friday too, or is that something different? That is Cool Springs. Cool Springs. Okay. I could tell you all the different organizations that are planning downtown. There seems to be a lot. Yes. It was hard for me to keep track There's for everybody. Yeah. And I'm not quite properly in the downtown, so I don't really participate with those. That's who we to have on is the Cool Springs. Okay. We sure can. Ms. Ashanti Bennett is a wonderful person and I'm sure she would. Make time look the end of the day. Uh, I don't think any of us here want to see our community fail No, I want to see us prosperous. I'd like to have safe things to take families to amen. Uh, You know my my kids go to all of the events with me. Um, I have a uh, four now six-year-old soon to be you know, but I believe that the community deserves nice things family-friendly things things that we get excited about and I do think dog What is that? I just think that unfortunately, um, some people are quick to read headlines and not read the information behind them. Right. Well, and I, so I sit on the civic center commission and I will say that, uh, when there was a shooting at the cliffdale carnival, they capitalized on it quite a bit to say, we're not them. And, know, they did a lot of Facebook posts saying we offer, you know, safe space and they're, uh, they have a lot more security and stuff like that. But, um, what changes have you made for security? Yeah. So, um, the. City back last summer implemented a clear bag policy as well as if you are renting or using Festival Park that you have to use their security and their PD and Magtometers, things of that nature. As far as we go, we provide our emergency plan every time. When you have a green space event, there are certain things you can do, but there's a lot that ⁓ delusions of grandeur come into place of like, keep green space safe. And you're like, well, I'm outside. So what can we do? And especially when you're in a public place of downtown where everybody has the right to be. It's not a private venue or anything like that. That's why Festival Park, when you go to events, are the only ones that are able to be gated off for lack of better phrasing. if you go to the park, you have to go through the magnetometer. But if you're in the streets, because I know a lot of the vendors are all down by the library and things like that, there's nothing there. Correct. So what have you done to increase security there? Basically, we do have more police officers that are patrolling. Is this in kind or are you paying? This is an in kind donation. The city does provide in kind donation for first responder services, whether it's PD, fire department, EMT. ⁓ And that's something that we're very thankful for because that could easily add an additional $60,000. Yeah, I was going to say that's what I was looking because you asked the city for money. Yes, I sure did. And so I was looking for She's not shy. I'm not a shy person. Oh, I asked for money. I'm very good at asking for money. Yes. I'm going to be asking a lot of people for money coming up here because we're having an event too. How fun. It's fancy event. You're a mom. You should come. I am a mom. May 9th, May 9th. night before Mother's Day. It's fancy, fancy. Make it easy on your husband. There you go. See, yes. My daughter's birthday is the 10th. So I think we're going to the beach for her. We gave her an idea, party or the beach. And she says, I don't like people. And so she picked the beach. ⁓ my God. She's for going in. She could sit in right here. That's exactly right. Go ahead. I'm anti people too. That's perfect. ⁓ no, I was just wondering because you're ⁓ when you say your costs have expanded, exactly? if it's, it sounds like a lot of in-kind donations. So where is the money coming in that you're asking for? That's a fantastic question. So production can cost anywhere from 30 to 50,000, depending on, know, what you need, what the necessities are. ⁓ When you say production, what does that mean? That is the great question that is dealing with the lighting, the sound, all the fun stuff. the acts. Yes. Okay. So that would be, and they don't, so you pay for all of that. Okay. I sure do. ⁓ And We are very thankful to have Deep South Entertainment. They have been, they've worked with us when we've been, you know, a predicament to say the least. And they support a lot of events throughout the state, specifically from the Triangle area in here. And I'm thankful for that. But entertainment is also on the rise of how much things cost because for example, Drew Baldridge, when he came, that was $20,000. He's a country artist. Is he any good? He is very good and he's handsome. So that's a win. But I am, my husband knows I think he's handsome. You can look in the window. just can't touch. Exactly. ⁓ But with Drew Baldridge, when he came, unfortunately he didn't get to play, but we still had to pay. Why didn't he get to play? Because of the situation that occurred. So we shut down the festival. Excellent. So a couple of idiots down there cost us 20 grand. For lack of better phrasing. There is no other way to say it. think that they should be held liable for that. think that when they go to court. Yeah, Blood out of a turnip. With the events, entertainment cost. for example, Parma Lee played for us back in the day, back before they made it big and that was affordable. Now if we were to bring them back, you're looking at anywhere from $75,000 to $100,000, if not more. So the more recent the music, the more recent the hits, the higher the cost. And then throw in travel expenses, throw in hotel, throw in... car pick up. Do you have insurance? do. Geniuses that cost you 20 grand? We do, but there are certain hoops you have to jump through with insurance. So the insurance covered the 20,000. No, we didn't. Was the deductible not met or something? It's just, there's different things. Sounds like the same insurance I have. We're not really in good hands anywhere. Just don't buy a house on Florida with insurance. Yeah, as far as hotels go, I would think that that would be a great opportunity to do an in-trade, in-kind donation also for the hotels for the big people. Unfortunately, I think everybody's in the same boat financially and everybody's like, I'd like to give you a 20, but I've got one. I will say as far as hotels go though, they do work deals as far as like we could take 25.50 off or anything of that nature. ⁓ And that's something that we're thankful for and will appreciate any kind of work that we get at a certain point and I I exclaimed this in my last ⁓ Commission meeting at the crown Guys, what are we doing? Are we running a hobby or a business? Right because there was all this discussion about doing community concert and Kim and it's like that song, you know I can't pay the bills with ⁓ recognition or exposure. It doesn't pay the bills in a certain point Why can't we try to engineer these things to be? Why is it so shameful to generate a profit? Well, we have my because if I advertise I want to see a return on that. is so what you're saying is the Dogwood Festival doesn't need to make any or I mean, it hasn't made any money in a couple of years has actually lost money. So do we need to continue on with it? And if we do need to continue on with it, then y'all need to get off your butt, go out there and start supporting it. How about that? Right. That's pretty much how I'll be honest with you how I feel. I'm like if you want the community continue to do events, whether it's Dogwood or one of our other, you know, other amazing events you have to attend and, or instead of, you know, complaining about it, come volunteer because a lot of people like to complain, but not put the actual. your organization survive if the city council and, or I think county commission, that was kind of a dead issue with you guys, but city council, if they don't participate and help you with some of the in kind, whatever, is there a way forward for the dog? And I'm going to say this. with full confidence that dogwood's not going anywhere. We're here to stay. It just might look a little different and sometimes change is okay. It's uncomfortable, but it's okay. Well, the county should have a say in it. There's county property down there too. The library's county property is not city property. Yeah, but I think they predicated their help on maybe you moving the location. There was something in the article about that. That is something I said. That is not something that they have said. Basically when you ask big dollars from people, be prepared for them to have big ask. And that might mean, you know, That would be well within their right ⁓ to say, Hey, well, we can do an in-kind donation, for example, at a county facility that covers X, Y, Z, but you would have to, you know, work with us. can send the sheriff's department instead of the favorable PD. That'd be great. I mean, because the festival park is still in the county. Yes. So it's, know, we're double layered there. So maybe the sheriff can chip in. Maybe we'll see. But I'm optimistic that Dogwood is not going anywhere. This is not the first ebb and flow that they've had or will have. It's just part of learning to adapt. And as far as festivals go, I could say with full confidence having attended conferences for festivals is that Dogwood is one of the few that operates independently without all the support that I had mentioned before. Would it be nice to have that support? Absolutely, because it makes a big difference in quality. And what kind of support? What does that mean? Like what do the other, what do the other communities get? So basically, ⁓ some other events are, they get more funding from their tourism bureaus. get funding from county, they get funding from cities to basically have this investment in this, ⁓ economic, ⁓ event that is multiple days. Cause when you have a multiple a day event, it will always surpass having a one day event because now you have people staying in hotels, eating at restaurants, getting gas that, know, do we have a tourism bureau? Yes, we do. ⁓ yeah, and so I've never seen them doing so peer communities like ours that have festivals Do they have a tourism bureau and something that that collects the tax from the hotel stays? And of course they do still have to pitch why you know, it's worth an investment ⁓ but at the end of the day when you know something is ⁓ Providing value to your community. It shouldn't always be a beggar ask. It should be something that's like hey we see this and it's not like Dogwood popped up yesterday. It's been around for 44 years with the same tourism bureau should be calling you saying, Hey, we want to continue this festival. You should not have to be calling them because it's a financially, feel like there should be a better partnership as far as that goes. And I am have sat down once with Michelle and to talk about different opportunities. ⁓ and that was, she is the director for the tourism bureau here, but she, and she's just got her in her position. She has new last couple of months. Brand spanking new. And I know, ⁓ She didn't get it while she's not jaded. She's been very She's been very busy and she's working, you know to get things in a line and I know they're in a rebranding and all that fun stuff but to me this shouldn't have been a Just now happening when I have here it started what 1982? I was born Well in some shape or form since 82 Was it always in downtown Fayetteville? Yes. Um, it's been around, it was Sunday on the square at one point. Um, it used to be a 10 day event. Um, 10 days, I don't know about y'all, but 10 days is very expensive to put on right now. Well, and see, I'm showing attendance 200 to 250,000. Is that for the whole weekend? Cause you said 80. That's the whole last year because they cut it short. Yes. Yeah. How many days short did they. So the festival has been three days for a while now, two and a half, three days. But I don't know when the 10 days stopped. ⁓ I do feel like that there's opportunity to do that. Now, ⁓ Sharon and I, Sharon Moyer, one of the previous directors, and I have talked about it. ⁓ There's a lot of events that pop up around the weekend of Dogwood because they know the attendance is going to be there. ⁓ And that's fantastic. And I think that's how it should be. So that way can jump from one event to the next ⁓ and see the different things that are happening in the community. and basically have fun right here at home. So what has, what's changed with the entertainment in the last, besides it just getting prohibitively expensive for you to get the entertainers, but I think there was a input from city council that the entertainment wasn't representative of our community. So what changes did you guys make to kind of. Because i mean they're writing checks so you got to kind of do they say and that's one those things that we can all agree to disagree on I do feel like music no matter who you are and everybody appreciates it on some level right? ⁓ but when I addressed that before Apparently, it's not the genre or the type so I don't I honestly don't know what they mean ⁓ if I was gonna ask that same question So but like in history in times past it's been rocking country, which is great, you know for crowds But last year we had a rapping violinist out of Atlanta and the most of the people that came to see Zach Clijon was from out of town ⁓ and he is phenomenal. So we've had ⁓ hybrid music, we've had rock, we've had ⁓ R &B. This year it's the Ying Ying Twins. They are performing on Friday night. Ying Twins? Yes. They were big one time. ⁓ Yes. Back in high school, school. Yeah. I love them. Your high school. Yeah That's fair ⁓ But I it's something I'm one generation. He's the next and you're the next hey there. Well, I would not have guessed that But we have so we have hip-hop and rap on Friday night then we have 90s tribute saved by the 90s on ⁓ Saturday night and then we have a DJ on Sunday along with some ⁓ different gyms and physical activity classes that will be free to attend on Sunday work off all those All the carbs. ⁓ my God. So you actually want us to go and work out? So you've at this job for over a year. Yep. Tell me your favorite part of your job right now. The job, the things that people don't talk about behind the scenes. So last year, ⁓ there was a situation where a mom had wanted to bring her kids out and she was, ⁓ she had a panic attack, large crowds, but she wanted to be a good mom and bring her kids to something that she was free. And, I told her, I was like, we will sit together. I'm going to watch your kids. You're going to calm down and we're going to talk about this because being a good mom and having that type of conversation about how all of that, that's my favorite moments, the behind the scenes that people don't get to see. So while they're chasing headlines and reading things, I'm more focused on the community ⁓ at large and the individuals that show up. that sounds like you discovered a new revenue streams to me. Like, you can't you just rope off a space and just corral all the kids in there and, know, I pay for that. I always I always drop in date drop in daycare is a let me tell you something I was it's funny because I am a fan of dropping your kids having a restaurant with no kids allowed dropping your kids at the door let them go on the other side of the building where I can enjoy without my kids were never I had a beef of course I've had I was a single mom for a period of time people would come up to me like I was so worried you have three kids but your kids are so well-behaved I'm like yeah I beat him before we came in but I always That's a joke. My kids are all in their 30s now, so there's no beaten complaint. See what other complaints we're gonna get after this. Anyway, but yes, the whole idea is to enjoy your peace and other people's children's are out of control. So, I will say though, a lot of people at the festival are very well at maintaining their kids. have you been the same festival I've been to? Yeah. I am, but I like to teach children. I don't curse, but this is a joke. If come over near me, I like to teach them bad words and then send them back to their parents well Peter and I talked about my daughter's ⁓ recent activities as a six-year-old and I'm like, you know, you sit there you're like, It's kind of like if those things that have never happened Did you really parent them? But I will say this parenting is hard and it takes a village. So and that's one thing I'm very thankful for I mean Peter were friends on Facebook. So you've seen some of my posts I would not be where I'm at today without my village and sometimes as a community, we need to remind each other that we're here to work together and how can I help you? I'm the village idiot. Just so you're aware. am part of the village. I'm she's been found. But making sure we offer opportunity to help and be supportive of one another. It's a lot easier to do that instead of just being pissed off at each other. You know, it's, know, although I don't mind being pissed at certain people. It's better to be. I try to say my good stuff special people. I don't just do it. So indiscriminately I say you know what no matter what Sharon told you about me, you know We had that conversation about him being angry and me being angry. They're two different things when I'm angry I've got a voice it I have to talk about it whatever and then I'm with it. Yes. He he kind of scared me He said I can feel his energy and he's like there might be the same spirit You know, I told you so so I have to let it out. Otherwise, I'd yeah Sometimes I close my office door and I just look at the computer screen like a serial killer like like you're gonna like blow it up It's just it's it's just processing. That's it. I'm past the age where I want to blow up at anything You vent cuz well, you're female that's what girls do you vent I might be a dude A massage is supposed to but yeah, you're a cisgender female, you know, but I do I have to get it out because otherwise it carries over Yes, when I don't when I don't get it out like a couple days later. I ask you today. Are you okay? Yeah, see I'm trying you're rubbing off on me. Yes, the emotional IQ over here, you know, the intelligence I don't ⁓ But yeah, maybe you are slightly The right team don't know one of those pick me women are you I don't have the energy also Don't have the time or care. Okay. I Just learned that pick me. What does that mean? So that that's a light ranger That's like a girl that is like what's this pop thing? I've never heard that one either so pick me person. Okay? Yeah, it's a girl who's on Facebook that post all the great life photos No, it's a girl. That's like I don't have very many female friends I have all guy friends cuz you know, I'm special and they always want the guy attention So they're like pick me pick me pick me as opposed to just being yeah And so they want the attention from the guy pick me You're married you shouldn't be it's a person that like her personality will change when a boy walks in the room a guy man Whatever I call boys boys and girls girls, but some people get offended because I'm a man. That's like, okay Whatever. I actually misgendered somebody on the phone at the restaurant the other day They called about an application and I said well listen, you know, well sir. I'll get back with you. I'm a man. Have another cigarette Yeah. Pretty much. look, I'm sorry. That was not nice. Holy smoke. You know, if, if, if I hear a gravelly voice, I'm just going to see him, sir. But anyway, it's it's a weird time we're living in. what, so all the stuff you've been through and I say that, but your job, your job entails going through stuff. So what for this year's festival, what are you most excited about? I personally am most excited in our new footprint. ⁓ We are not on Street this year and so we've been encouraging businesses to close the gap a bit. it's not changed. We still have technically the same amount of space. It's just moving it over a block, ⁓ making it more ADA friendly so it's easier to walk. You're not battling with all the trees, the fences, the patio furniture, vendors, all that setup. And it's ⁓ more open. and it also has a lot. you going to have Hay Street open or closed? It's closed. I mean, open, sorry, open. It's drivable. Okay. So I can drive down there, but then you got like the, the green mile that, that festival park that behind the festival park building that you don't have vendors and stuff back there. where the food court is. That's where the food trucks are in the park this year. ⁓ and as well as so as the midway it's in the park this year. the adult beverages are in the park this year. So all the high value items as far as like if you want to you know have an adult drink or you want a food truck purchase or anything like that it's in the park. you have go through the metrometer to do that okay so I guess I'm not eating at the festival. Clear clear bag policy all that fun stuff but to be honest with you clear bag policy is everywhere. So whether you're going to the crown, whether you're going to Segra Stadium, I'm not worried about I don't even carry a purse, but I'm packing. Yeah, I especially when I'm faved. Well, technically you can't carry in festival part. Well, that's a city. It's a city. What I'm saying is I don't usually go down that far anyway, but in this and on that midway I usually we usually get a one of those steaks peppers and steaks. I don't eat them pepper steaks. This is something like that. Yeah, I don't eat them, but I'm on a funnel cake, but I guess I won't be eating I'll get it for you. Don't worry. I'm gonna send somebody in to get it cuz I'm not going anywhere in Fayetteville, North Carolina without packing. Well, that's my one issue with the clear back policy in an outdoor venue Yeah is you know, look who knows what can happen? I'm gonna put somebody on a t-shirt before I don't go back to my family, right? That's just how I feel. I understand that we need to you know, make everybody feel safe. It's not me that you need to worry about. Yeah, I well anyway, did you ever find anybody that created that problem down there because it was not within our footprint that's not information I was getting so you just don't we just don't know okay all so where do you see this festival what what do you what transition this year over next year what do you want to see happen and what is your five-year plan for do you plan on being here for five years with my husband's active duty military so whatever the armor yes isn't that a bummer how you have to pick up and move your entire no I love it so I've lived ⁓ in a lot of cool places he's had a very blessed career we were what went from Texas to here to Miami to Kuwait, back from Kuwait to here and I've lived, grew up in it, so I've lived in a lot of places. Okay, so what would you like to see if, pretend that you're for sure going to be here for five years, would you like to see the Dogwood Festival grow into? And how are you facilitating that change? All great questions. So ⁓ one of things I want to see the festival grow into is that Back in 2023, a House bill was passed for the Fayetteville Dogwood Festival to be the state dogwood festival. So we are reintroducing that with representative Smith, myself and my chief operating officer, Simone Johnson. That is a project we will be working on in 2027. Unfortunately, the bill had died. So we start back over and that is one thing. it didn't pass. It passed for the House bill passed. It didn't make the transition. To the Senate. And so past, think it was 114 or 116 to zero. So no questions. So if we become the state's dogwood festival, that's kind of cool. does that mean? Sponsorship dollars, more donations from out of town too. Yeah. Nationally. ⁓ So those are things that we look at to make it ⁓ more beneficial for us. So it's not just about, we've got a cool new title. It's about, these are the things we need to do moving forward. Recently, ⁓ one of the big projects we had was we wanted to go from a 501C4 to a 501C3 ⁓ that Simone had worked on that and escalated it from a faster pace. What's a four versus a three? I'm so glad you asked. So a four, there are no significant tax breaks. You have to find a way business wise to make sure you put it in your marketing budget or something of that nature to get it to be written off. 501 c3 anybody that comes in and makes a $20 donation or $25,000 notion pick your mouth it now is a officially a tax write-off because I can provide that paperwork to you as a 501 c3 I thought see if Wasn't see for political thing though. If we are you can do political campaigning. Okay, so that is okay That's why I was like why would you guys really no need for us to do political campaigning when we're for everybody in the yeah, right? no, no, that's why So do you have a legislative branch of your Dogwood Festival ⁓ that somebody that's focused on the legislative part of that? So there's just two of us that work in the office. Miss Johnson and myself are working on all the fun stuff behind the scenes. You have a board? I do have How many people on your board? We have 13 people on our board. ⁓ And it's a fantastic board. I will say that. And we've had a recent changeover. People come off and go on. We've had ⁓ a very ⁓ blessed board is what I'll say because when the ones that recently have left ⁓ it all tears because they're good people and they but there's a lot of continuity with your board or have you turned them quite a bit in last few years? No we've had pretty it's been pretty consistent since I've been here I can't speak to anything. Yeah so I am very thankful for it ⁓ and we are getting ready to do our change of color of the guard I guess you could say so we'll be putting in our ⁓ putting out our new chair and executive committee soon. That typically happens every June. ⁓ that'll be fun. because they usually switch in March, don't they? March and April? No. That would be crazy. This isn't a city council board. This is like a... Yeah. This is our nonprofit. Yeah. But you had asked about our six-year plan. We are working on that. So next year, we're hoping for a ⁓ bigger festival. We'll see how it goes. It depends on the economy as a whole. and how that's affected with our sponsors. I know we are working on doing more fundraising. We have had fundraising in the past, but- What do you do for fundraisers? We, so like for this year, for example, we did a silent disco, a secret garden silent disco at Villa Marabello, the old Fox Hollow downtown. If you haven't been out there- heard of it. You should check it out. So Fox Hollow, back in the day, Kathy Fitch and her husband owned it. She used to be a real estate agent here in town. Right. ⁓ It is now Villa Marabella ⁓ and Marabella owns it. It's the same venue, but it's two old English style homes on this beautiful acreage. ⁓ And it is stunning. It's a wedding venue. Do you know where Sunnyside Schoolhouse or whatever the name is? down there it's about two minutes from Ken Laws. Oh, way out there. You said downtown, I'm Hay Street. like, what the hell? That's I was thinking. I'm like, there's nowhere downtown. That's not downtown. Well, it's about like eight minutes from downtown. yeah, it's downtown for us. Yeah. It's Donaldson Street and all that. like, where are you talking about? It's hidden in gym. So we did that as a fundraiser and we had a good turnout for a first time event. We also recently did, what was the other one? ⁓ Uncle Carl's barbecue showdown which took place at souls arcade in taproom, which is downtown on Hayes on Maiden Lane Hay Street depending on what side you're looking at, right? And that was a success We did that one partnership with the VFW ⁓ and for as far as we're concerned. We can't wait for next year's ⁓ Then ⁓ we also have dodgeball and donuts, which is happening this Saturday ⁓ See we did dodgeball and beer beer, but I don't drink but I would my water but with a We were just like it's a different type of D &D dodgeball endurance But it's going to be out at DeVille athletics, which is off of mark us in so you could do kickball, Well, you know, that'd be a lot of fun. I'm not fast though. I don't know if you've seen you know, got short legs But I've got a mean arm throw But we have teams that have signed up for that ⁓ and we've got this football don't they have like a runner like you Like you hit or something like that. ⁓ Yeah. That's what want. I'll take kickball if somebody can run for me. Not to restart the entire conversation, but Woodpecker, sacred stadium, is there any opportunity or has there been as far as discussions with the dogwood festival people using it in the off season or so I know the city has some days that they're allowed to use with the venue and I know, ⁓ coming the September, there will be an event out there and that's to What my understanding is. do like Oktoberfest, they do the Christmas lights, I don't really know. ⁓ You know, what else is there opportunity there? I mean, we have this great facility. Why are we not using it more? That's something I can't speak to. I do know Michelle's been very great at communicating. Any questions that I've asked her or anything like that? Even during the drug festival, it would be great to go in there and like sit up at the bar or. You can. They have games this year. Okay. During the festival? Yes. ⁓ great. More not parking. Yeah, there's actually 14 different parking opportunities, garages and parking lots. I like how she said that opportunities. So when you think about this, when you, doesn't have to be a Fayetteville business, but typically if you like, you're in Raleigh and you park somewhere, you're walking more than what you would walk to our festival. I don't live in a small town so that I can walk. Well, no, just joking. saying steps are good for you. I have to say, and that's, that's one thing about the downtown event center that got canceled and all that. There's a study that says we have enough spaces. It's just your big, big backs got to walk. And that's what we hear in Fayetteville don't like to hear, but how many steps do you think I take in a day at the festival? Just how many miles? I'm pretty sure you meet your quota pretty early. 24 to 28 miles per day. So when people complain, I'm like, it's really not that far. Um, now, so now all the local businesses that charge for their parking during this festival, like the medical arts building is down there and they charge, do you get a kickback from that? Nope. You should. Well, I think that's something that it's private property. That's county property. I think, but I'm not sure that is something that, you know, hate to each their own. Um, if If somebody can find a way to make money off the dogwood festival to help their business I highly encourage them to do so because at the end of the day we're all hurting just a little bit So this speaks to a topic electric bike just right down the hill and I don't even have to park last night's ⁓ Federal Republican women's club meeting. Yeah ⁓ Community watch people Talking about scams and stuff. Have you seen anything? Every year what kind of stuff should people look out for? If it is not coming from a at the Dogwood Festival email, it is not us. so art council sees it. know Cool Spring sees it. We see it. Every festival sees it. What kind of stuff is happening? They'll say, Oh, you've been chosen for a vendor spot. And we're like, uh, first of all, that's not how that works. Um, you apply, goes to a committee. They vote on, know, which to bring in. So you're not really reaching out to people. So do you have more people asking for vendor spots than you have people applying? Every day. So we probably get about another 15 to 20 people per day ⁓ after we close applications. No, I'm saying prior to, so you get to select who's there and you turn some away. Absolutely. Okay. Yep. And what we try to do is make sure we don't have, we'll have anywhere from two to three of the same type of vendor, since I've been on, we space them out so that way they are not facing each other. ⁓ And that way maybe you don't like this type of candle, but you like her candle or his candle ⁓ and you have that opportunity to go check that out or art. So a little attention paid to not putting dueling pianos next to each other. Well, then it wouldn't be candles. Okay. Dueling candles. You if you put a dueling piano over here and a dueling piano down there, how are they dueling? Well, so independent. We got a serious question. Ask. Okay. I'm pretty open. You can ask. No, go ahead. Okay. All right. So don't buy it. Look, people care about this. You know, when you walk into a festival like this, What's your strategy? Do you hit all the food trucks first? Do you hit the retailers? What do you do? for me personally, I eat one time a day and I pick by what you're voluntarily intermittent fasting. that what you're doing? I pick by what has the shortest line. But when I suggest everybody come in off Ray Avenue to up by Hay and Ray to start and walk down that way because you get to hit all the, you know, vendors as well as on Saturday, this year you get to see the car show literally to the right of Ray. And Basically just start what makes your heart happy. Um, so if you have a mission and you know, vendors are your thing and you've got birthday list to shop for, do you want to be on, uh, made in lane and the promenade and ray avenue? If you want to hit food trucks, you better come off rowan and get, get ready to go through and, uh, best place to park down there. Or I mean, cause you said there's what 14 or 17 places. The city has, um, all the the parking spots on their website on I highly encourage checking it out as well as local businesses do charge a little bit more but it's a five dollar event parking fee but of the 14 parking places that you can go to 13 of them will be available because I did steal one for the car show. Sorry. So you lied to us. I know. It's already starting off in a bad foot. I know. I like this. It's not a way to a relationship. Okay, so what do want us to think about when we say we're going to the Dogwood Festival? What's the best time of day or night to go? It all depends on what adventure you're choosing. Whether if you're coming from the concert, ⁓ I would say be there around four o'clock, go through security, your spot, grab your drink, get your food. Do we need to bring our own chairs? Are chairs allowed in or do we have to bring blanket? You can bring a folding chair if you should choose. Just make sure you take it out of the bag and you know bring it through. But we do sell best seat tickets to get you right in front of the stage or VIP tickets as well. Okay. Hey, well, let's do a quick recap. The Dogwood Festival is going to be held the weekend of April 24th. And it's free to attend. It is. But you got to pay for the food. Yeah, I don't have that big of a budget. I don't know if you've heard. All right. Well, Ms. Suarez, thank you for being here this afternoon on short notice with everything else you have going on. We really appreciate it. And you need to let contact us and let us know when you're going to have these fundraising events so that we can get you some marketing that way. ⁓ absolutely. We will have you back. I hope you had a nice time. want to go to the silent disco. It was a lot of fun. want to check out the car show personally. Okay. I want the silent disco. Well, all right. Well, to everybody watching, thank you for joining us this afternoon. ⁓ Check out our website, the Carolina cabinet.com for all of our videos and links. And until next time, we will see you Monday at 6pm. Bye bye. Have a good day.