By Staff
Saturday’s inaugural Beaufort County Traditional Music Festival began our area’s spring/summmer event season with a bang.
Throughout the day, festival-goers experienced the best Washington has to offer — a combination of fine entertainment, cordial merchants and an enticing greenway. Festivities included the scheduled live music, of course, but also music-related workshops, spontaneous music jam sessions, arts and crafts, storytelling and vendors.
The day ended with a concert at the Turnage Theater featuring a trio of excellent musical groups.
The music festival precedes a host of upcoming good times for residents and visitors.
Several events will take place the weekend of April 17-19: Nearly 1,000 bicyclists are expected to make Washington their temporary home as they participate in the Spring Weekend Ride to the Heart of the Inner Banks. The annual event, sponsored by Cycle North Carolina, has attracted a record-number of riders from the United States and abroad.
The bicyclists will use Washington as a base as they select from several routes to ride.
April 17 also kicks off the season’s first Music in the Streets, which has become a Washington seasonal staple over the past six years. A variety of venues will highlight musicians of all genres — some acoustic, others amplified.
The third annual Kayakalon follows on the heels of these events. This fundraising event for the Pamlico-Tar River Foundation will begin and end at the Boy Scouts of America’s Bonner Scout Reservation on the south bank of the Pamlico River near Blounts Creek.
Other upcoming festivities include the annual Aurora Fossil Festival in May, the Washington Summer Festival in June, July Fourth activities throughout Beaufort County and a continuing variety of outdoor cultural events, art exhibits and plays in Washington and elsewhere.
It’s rare that a city the size of Washington and its surrounding communities have such an array of fun, educational and unusual events. Not only do the events promote social interaction, but they also help local merchants bolster their businesses.
To help them be as successful as possible, our festivals and other events need people like us to get out there and experience them. For the next few months, we’ll have those opportunities to meet new people, support our communities, bond with our families and have lots of fun.
See you there.