Festival in the Park returns to Freedom Park this weekend for its 62nd year

Festival in the Park returns to Freedom Park this weekend, September 25 to 27, for its 62nd year. The festival fills the park between Dilworth and Myers Park with art, food and live entertainment over three days, and it is free to walk into.

It is the longest running arts festival in Charlotte and one of the city’s genuine fall traditions, the kind of event that people who grew up here remember attending as children and now bring their own children to.

Here is what to know before you go.

• It runs Friday, September 25, through Sunday, September 27, at Freedom Park off East Boulevard.
• Entry is free, and you pay only for food and anything you buy from the artists.
• The on site parking fills before midday, so plan to park in Dilworth and walk in.
• There is no light rail to the park, so the train is not a practical option.
• Friday is the quietest day to visit, and Saturday is the busiest.

What is there

The core of the festival is the artist market, with painters, potters, jewelers, woodworkers and photographers selling directly from booths spread across the park. The mix leans toward work you can actually take home instead of gallery pieces, which is a large part of why it draws the crowd it does.

Food vendors line the paths, and there is live music and entertainment through each day. Activities for children run alongside, which makes it one of the few big Charlotte events genuinely built for families instead of adapted for them.

The park itself

Freedom Park is 98 acres around a seven acre lake, with walking paths, a bandshell, sports fields and playgrounds. The Little Sugar Creek Greenway runs along one edge. On a normal weekend it is the city’s default park. On a festival weekend it becomes very busy, and the layout of the lake loop means the crowds concentrate on the main paths.

Parking is the thing to plan

Parking at Freedom Park fills early on an ordinary Saturday, and this is not an ordinary Saturday. The on site lots will be full well before midday. Arriving before eleven gives you a reasonable chance; arriving at one does not.

The better option for most people is to park in Dilworth and walk in along East Boulevard, which takes ten to fifteen minutes and avoids the crawl out of the lots at the end of the day. The residential streets closest to the park fill too and some are restricted, so read the signs.

There is no light rail to Freedom Park. The nearest Blue Line stations are a long walk away, so the train is not a practical answer here the way it is for South End or Uptown.

When to go

Friday is the quietest day and the best for anyone who wants to look at the art without a crowd around every booth. Saturday is the busiest, particularly in the middle of the day. Sunday afternoon tends to be calmer than Saturday and has the advantage that some artists are more open to a conversation about price toward the end of the weekend.

A few things are worth bringing.

• Bring cash as well as cards. Most vendors take cards now, but not all of them, and the line for an on site cash machine is not how you want to spend twenty minutes.
• Bring sunscreen, because shade is limited along parts of the festival route.
• Bring water, since late September afternoons in Charlotte are often still warm.

The same weekend

Several other large events overlap with the festival, which will affect traffic across the city.

• Breakaway Carolina runs at zMAX Dragway in Concord on September 25 and 26. It is a ticketed electronic music festival about forty minutes from Freedom Park without traffic, and there will be traffic.
• The Charlotte Film Festival runs through September 27 at the Independent Picture House north of NoDa.
• At Carowinds, Scarowinds continues through October 31.

Expect Uptown and the east side to be busier than usual across all three days.

Weather

Late September in Charlotte is usually warm and dry, with daytime highs typically in the upper seventies or low eighties. There is limited shade on parts of the festival route, so sunscreen and water matter more than people expect. If rain is forecast, check the festival’s own channels before driving out, since outdoor programming can shift.

Our read: go on Friday if you want to actually see the art, and on Saturday morning if you want the atmosphere. Park in Dilworth and walk in. Either way it is one of the best free days out the city offers all year.

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