Months after Dreamville’s farewell run, Raleigh is still waiting on a firm date for the rebranded music festival slated to take over J. Cole’s old slot at Dorothea Dix Park. City records and past reporting show Raleigh and promoter ScoreMore are already locked into a multi-year setup that lets them stage one or more live-music weekends each April through 2029, but 2026 plans are still a blank calendar square. For fans and local businesses that have come to count on a big spring payday, the déjà vu is setting in.
What the contract allows
According to The News & Observer, the city’s agreement with ScoreMore, Dreamville’s longtime partner, includes options to hold one or more festival-style events on back-to-back April weekends from 2026 through 2029. Documents reviewed by the paper say the deal even “allows a concert to be held regardless of whether a concert was held the year before or is planned the next year,” giving the promoter plenty of scheduling wiggle room.
The fine print does not lock Raleigh into a specific weekend this spring. Instead, it keeps ScoreMore’s exclusive window on the books for several Aprils to come, while leaving the actual dates – and even the decision to stage a festival in a given year – in the promoter’s hands.
Why dates are still up in the air
So far, organizers have not put any 2026 dates on the board, and they are not talking much about it. As Axios Raleigh reported in February, festival officials did not respond to repeated requests for comment, and a city spokesperson said staff are “discussing other dates” because the first weekend in April often overlaps with Easter.
That holiday clash, combined with the long lead time needed to secure artists, permits and production, helps explain why months can pass with nothing more than “TBA” on the festival front, even though the contract window is already in place.
Promoters and the city say they want continuity
Both City Hall and the Dreamville camp have said they want a successor festival that keeps the same community flavor and cultural footprint Raleigh has come to expect. In a press release and news conference, the City of Raleigh pitched the deal as a long-term partnership to “build on this incredible thing that we’ve done over the years,” according to the City of Raleigh…