Since 2018, Dreamville Fest in Raleigh, North Carolina, has been the go-to festival for music lovers from North Carolina and beyond, and with 2025 being the final one, nothing has changed.
The 2025 Dreamville Fest took over Dorothea Dix Park one last time on April 5-6 after founders Adam Roy, Ibrahim Hamad, and Dreamville Records head honcho J. Cole announced the festival was ending in late December 2024. Approximately 104,000+ festival attendees were welcomed with fantastic weather as over 75 food and beverage vendors, muralists, artisans, and nonprofit organizations set up shops. At the same time, some of music’s elite performed on the Rain or Shine stages.
The festival, which is made of dreams, brought out Dreamville’s roster of heavy hitters, including Earthgang, Ari Lennox, and Charlotte’s own, Lute, for one last time. While fans were saddened to hear about the event ending, it also took a toll on some artists. “I don’t feel about it yet. Every year after Cole’s set, it always sinks in of what this weekend was,” the “Gold Mouf” artist told BLACK ENTERPRISE. “How we were trying to build the culture, it’s really dope to see it grow and evolve into what it is now.”
Outside of heightened sing-alongs from the crowd, the Dreamville experience is open to fans who may not have been able to purchase tickets. In downtown Raleigh, fans could turn up with Dreamville Public Access, which is free to the public. The list of events included Omen’s Game Night, moderated panels with producers like BOI-1DA, and Lute’s annual Gold Mouf Garage Block Party, which exceeded expectations, “getting bigger and bigger every year.”
For those who have experienced the festivities year after year, they only get better, but for others, they are seen as a new opportunity.
Going on stage before legendary performers like headliners Erykah Badu, Lil’ Wayne, The Hot Boys, Big Tymers, and Cole gives up-and-coming artists time to shine. While other artists like Glorilla, Keyshia Cole, and BigXThaPlug are used to having large crowds sing along to their hits, newcomers like rapper Trap Dickey from South Carolina not only graced the Dreamville stage for the first time but succeeded in being on a festival stage for the first time. Born and raised in Hartsville, Dickey said he is grateful that Cole saw something in him. “It’s a wonderful feeling, and you know it’s in Carolina and Dreamville. It’s a great experience,” the “Blue Devils” rapper told BE shortly after coming off stage.
At the start of his career, the 22-year-old artist wanted to touch more people with his music. He highlighted the feeling of watching the crowd react to his performance on stage.
“It felt really good. Being from Carolina, seeing North Carolina fans show love, it felt great,” he said. “It felt great to see other fans sing along to my music…it was amazing.”
Fans can only hope that Dickey and other artists will be back to grace music lovers with their presence as the Dreamville team ended the weekend with a big surprise — that the festival isn’t going anywhere, returning with a new twist. Raleigh City Manager Marchell Adams-David and Roy and Hamad announced a new four-year deal with Dreamville Festival organizers to launch a new festival concept in 2026 at the same park.
As the festival provides an economic impact for millions year after year, Roy said working with the city has “been an absolute pleasure,” according to Raleigh.gov. City of Raleigh Parks Director Stephen Bentley noted that an event of such a large magnitude takes a dream team to pull off. “It really does take a village,” he said.
“It takes all of us working together to build something that’s unique.”
Cole touched on similar sentiments during his closing segment, reminiscing on what the festival has felt like to him over the years. “When you all out here, I don’t know if you all feel it, but to me, this feels like a cookout, a family reunion. There’s so much love with this…,“ he said.
“This festival will exist. It might not have a Dreamville Festival name on it, but we will be back with this feel.…I want to say thank you all for making Dreamville Festival a massive success every year…we will be back, just in a newer form.”
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