When the Beaufort County Arts Council came up with the idea for the BoCo Music Festival — initially the Beaufort County Traditional Music Festival — it added another festival that’s joined the list of signature events in Washington.

The BoCo Music Festival, set for April 26 this year, joins events such as Smoke on the Water, the Summer Festival and the East Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival and North Carolina Decoy Carving Championships as events that attract many visitors to Washington. The BoCo Music Festival features many genres of music, including those that many folks in eastern North Carolina love and demand: beach music, bluegrass, country and jazz. Many of the performers hail from the region, but some leave their homes in the Piedmont or mountains to spend a little time entertaining folks on the north shore of the Pamlico River.

The BoCo Music Festival is centered at Festival Park, which is proving to be a popular venue for such events. Festival Park’s informal open-air, first-come, first-served seating works well for the BoCo Music Festival. It’s not unusual for people to get up and dance. They may shag to beach music. They may do a bit of clogging to bluegrass music. They may do the Twist, the Pony or the Mashed Potato to Motown tunes.

They’re having fun and enjoying themselves. That’s why the city invested in building Festival Park.

It’s that combination of the Beaufort County Arts Council’s mission to expose area residents to the arts and the city’s desire to provide venues for such festivals as the BoCo Music Festival that add to the quality of life in Washington and the Inner Banks.

The best way to show your appreciation for what the Beaufort County Arts Council does for Washington, Beaufort County and eastern North Carolina is to show up at its events, programs and activities. The folks associated with the Beaufort County Arts Council work hard so that we can play hard.