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WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – WECT previously reported that Wilmington Riverfest’s board voted to cancel the 2026 festival. Now, emails and records WECT obtained show what led to that decision: a months-long standoff with the City of Wilmington over where to hold the festival.
Riverfest dates to 1979 and has been held on Front Street for several years, after construction previously forced it off its original Water Street location. This year, construction on Front Street from Red Cross to Hanover Streets made the festival’s usual stretch unusable, setting off a months-long search for a new footprint that ultimately came down to safety concerns, a missed deadline, and a late approval that organizers say left them with no time to pull off the event.
City rejected original layout over safety concerns
Riverfest applied in April for an Oct. 3-4, 2026 festival, with setup on Oct. 2, according to the group’s special event permit application. The application estimated 40,000 attendees and requested closures of Front Street between Dock and Walnut streets. It also called for a band stage, a Kid Zone, roughly 18 food vendors and about 110 arts-and-crafts vendors, along with 40 regular portable restrooms, four ADA-compliant units, alcohol sales, live music and two dozen road barricades…