‘A special night:’ Dreamville Fest ended in Raleigh on a high with surprise guests

Rapper J. Cole made his return to the big stage in Raleigh Sunday night to greet tens of thousands of fans at the Dreamville Festival he created and curated.

The loud cheers and screams from the crowd permeated the air, and Cole paused to shine stage lights on the sea of people. This year, Cole brought along some surprise guests.

“This is a special night,” Cole said after taking the stage and opening his set with one of his earliest hits, “Who Dat.” He shouted out his hometown of Fayetteville, nicknamed by some as the “2-6,” and those from “Carolina.”

Cole was of the most anticipated acts of the festival — now in its third year. He performed a span of hit singles, including “Villematic,” “95.south,” “a lot,” “G.O.M.D.,” and a fan favorite, “Love Yourz.”

His set capped off a weekend of high-energy acts as Dreamville Festival took over Dix Park for two days of performances. The grassy fields at the Raleigh were covered with people sitting on blankets, waiting in lines for food or merchandise, and posing next to giant art displays.

An estimated 50,000 people poured into the park for the first day of the music festival, and another 50,000 returned for the second day.

Economic impact data has yet to be released, but tourism officials expected it would generate more than $7.8 million in Raleigh and Wake County.

The event faced challenges Saturday, as the forecast for rain, wind and lightning pushed the start time to 3 p.m. Tickets for the shuttle and parking also sold out. Getting out of the park also presented a challenge due to the volume of people.

There also were some medical emergencies. Medical tents were set up around the park to assist festival-goes in need. Before Cole performed Sunday night, an announcer told the crowd to make way for medical personnel to escort a person out of the crowd. The announcer told the festival there was “no threat.”

However, on the edge of the crowd, there were some people who were injured when running from what they thought was gun fire. According to law enforcement at the park, the loud sounds that resembled shots were speakers malfunctioning at one of the stages. All attendees were subject to searches and magnetometer checks before entering the park.

On Twitter, Raven Baxter documented her injury when she and others ran and jumped a fence.

“Overall I’m ok but my whole leg and other parts got cut up jumping the fence I’m wrapped up in bandages,” she tweeted.

Dreamville Festival has not commented about the injuries and did not respond to inquiries from the News & Observer.

Sunday performances

There are few times when so many high-profile musical artists gather in Raleigh on the same night for an event.

Sunday began with performances by Charlotte native and rapper Reuben Vincent, followed by artists Jordan Ward, Cozz, Baby Tate and Arya Starr. R&B singer Mario serenaded the stage with his ballads like “Let Me Love You” and “Just a Friend.”

When rapper Waka Flocka Flame graced the stage, the crowd exploded. Known for his 2009 breakthrough hit “O Let’s Do It,” Flame took fans down memory lane with other songs that created a new shift for hip-hop music and its sound.

Back for his second year at Dreamville, Tristan Copeland of Charlotte waited for Cole and Drake to close out the night. His friend, Tyler Kech, was there for the first time.

“The whole experience is cool, everyone is having fun,” Kech said. “The energy is high and everyone is just enjoying themselves. Listening to music has been the best part.”

They bought tickets this year because of Drake and Cole headlining the final night together. Cole and Drake were praised on social media for bringing the spotlight to the City of Oaks.

“There’s way more people here than last year,” Copeland said. “I think that’s because of the Drake effect.”

After Cole’s performance Drake walked out on the stage to his song “SICKO MODE.”

“Out of respect for each and every one of y’all, and out of respect to (J. Cole) who I’ve been doing this with for a very long time, I’d like to take it all the way back to the beginning,” Drake told the crowd.

The music began playing his 2010 hit single “Over,” and went into other early hits “Started From the Bottom,” “Headlines,” “HYFR,” “Nonstop,” and “God’s Plan.”

The rapper’s set was far from over though when he brought out four surprise guests. GloRilla, a rapper from Memphis known for her Grammy-nominated single “F.N.F. (Let’s Go),” came on stage. She also performed earlier on Sunday in her own set.

Drake then introduced Philadelphia native rapper Lil Uzi Vert, who performed “XO Tour Llif3” and “Just Wanna Rock.” New Orleans rapper Lil Wayne performed “The Motto” with Drake. Wayne went on to perform one of his singles, “A Milli” with the help of thousands of voices.

Though fans got more than they signed up for during his performance, 21 Savage also graced the stage to rap the song “Knife Talk,” which featured Drake.

Drake announced his “It’s All a Blur Tour” a few weeks ago and 21 Savage will join him. The two have an album together. North Carolina is not one of the states on the tour.

Just after 11 p.m., Cole came back on stage and closed out the festival with a performance of his hit “No Role Modelz” from his album “2014 Forest Hills Drive.”

Summer Walker, Burna Boy ignite the stage

The slow jams began Sunday afternoon with Summer Walker as the smoke seeped through the crowd of people in front of the Shine stage.

Despite some technical difficulties at the beginning of her set, Walker, an Atlanta native, started her set with her hits “Body” and “Playing Games,” sending the crowd into a calm trance.

She is most known for bringing a new sound to the R&B genre and has songs with other R&B artists like SZA, Usher, Ciara and Drake.

Halfway through Walker’s show, singer and rapper 6lack walked out on the stage as the crowed cheered. 6lack, also an Atlanta native, is known for his melodic heartbreak songs like “Prblms,” “Waves,” and “Calling My Phone.”

Later that evening on the Rise stage, the lights lit up red and white as Nigerian-born singer Burna Boy took the stage. His Afro-beat pop songs traveled through the park.

Burna Boy rose to stardom in 2012 with hits from his first album “L.I.F.E.” He performed popular singles “Last Last” and “Ye.”

In the backdrop was William Carlisle, who drove from McDonough, Ga., to stay with friends and attend the festival. He said he loved the performances by Ari Lennox and Usher on Saturday, even though he felt exhausted at the end of the first day.

“I went home and went to sleep,” Carlisle said. “It’s been pretty good. When we had to wait (in lines) it wasn’t too bad, they seemed to move fast.”

More accessibility needed

While fans described a generally positive experience at Dreamville Festival, Zaneece Ortega of Virginia Beach said Dix Park wasn’t the most accommodating venue for those needing better accessibility. Ortega uses a wheelchair and said she bought her ticket with the understanding that Dreamville was prepared to accommodate people with disabilities.

The accommodations were there, she said, but weren’t as as visible as they could have been. Ortega said she didn’t learn until she was on her way into the park that she could have used ADA services to get a shuttle escort.

“It was upsetting, because we were asking around everyone in the green shirts that worked here and they were like, ‘Oh, I don’t think we offer that,’” Ortega said. “It’s kind of frustrating.”

Photos: Dreamville Festival 2023 comes to Raleigh, NC’s Dix Park

She thinks Dreamville organizers should have better signs and markers for ADA accommodations because, “we’re trying to come prepared just like everyone else is.”

“The accessibility, it’s not really all that great and a part of me kinda feels like left out,” she said. “Originally, when we saw it on Instagram, they had the map and it showed where people that are disabled or handicapped can sit in a certain area to be able to view the show on a platform or something.”

The platform was just a few feet away from where Ortega was sitting with her friend Khairi Behiy on the lawn in front of the Shine stage. Still, she had a fun experience and was among those waiting for Memphis rapper GloRilla to perform.

“This is my last festival,” Ortega said. “It’s not as organized as we thought. It’s a fun experience though, first time for everything.”

Tavis Colson, a New London resident, was at Dreamville for the first time this year and agreed with Ortega.

He sat in his wheelchair waiting for his brothers to meet him on front of the Shine stage. Between both days, he said he enjoyed himself, but as far as accessibility, he thought there should have been more access to the platforms for people to see the stages.