North Carolina Azalea Festival organizers tout the popular event in Wilmington as having something for just about everyone—from popular musical acts to a parade to a street fair.

However, one of the most popular segments of the event is directly tied to its name. The festival’s Garden Tour allows a dozen of the most devoted horticulture enthusiasts in the area to show off their plants and flowers they’ve worked so hard to cultivate.

“They’re all lovely gardens that people would like to see,” says Gloria Degnan, the festival’s garden tour committee chair. “They have just about every kind of plant material that you could imagine in these gardens. Many will be putting in new things this year.”

This year, 12 homes are included in the tour, dotted along a stretch from downtown Wilmington through Wrightsville Beach. One home marks its return for the first time in five years, another has a well-known reputation with the Cape Fear Garden Club for its creativity connected to each season, and yet another garden has been restored to its former glory, Degnan says.

“One gentleman bought a home downtown just to be on the tour,” Degnan says. “That was his impetus to get everything done by a certain time. That’s a pretty good impetus if you ask me.”
The overall theme for this year’s Azalea Festival Garden Tour is “Gardens for an Afternoon Tea.” Besides the festival hallmark azalea, Degnan expects the gardens to include plenty of hydrangeas, roses and other colorful blooms that enhance the theme.

The Garden Tour runs the duration of this year’s festival, which starts on April 7. During the four-day span, other events that have been connected with the festival for decades will bring more than 200,000 attendees to Wilmington.

“I’m very big on tradition,” says festival president Erica Mearns, who hasn’t missed a festival in more than 30 years.

New twists are being included in this year’s festival, which will be the 63rd. Mearns explained that special tributes to all branches of the nation’s military will be done during all festival events. She’s encouraging current and retired military service members and their families to wear patriotic attire when attending so they can be recognized.

“It’s meant to thank the military and their families for the sacrifice,” Mearns says. “If it wasn’t for them, we recognize that there wouldn’t be an Azalea Festival. We wouldn’t have the freedoms that we do today.”

Another festival addition that will debut this year is the Azalea Cake Challenge, which Mearns indicated was based on some of the culinary shows on cable television. Professional caterers and bakers have been tasked with creating cakes that incorporate the festival’s hallmark flower. Amateur bakers also have been invited to participate.
Mearns is eager for the festival and all it offers to begin.

“It’s Wilmington’s rite of passage into spring,” she says. “It’s a chance for Wilmington to show how it’s a unique community, our beautiful gardens and to really show what Southern hospitality is all about.

63rd Annual
North Carolina Azalea Festival
Wilmington, NC
April 7-11, 2010

How to Buy Festival Tickets

In-Person
Stop by the ticket office located at
5725 Oleander Drive in Wilmington
with cash, check, Visa, Mastercard,
Discover, or AMEX.

Call
(910)794-4650 and order with Visa,
Mastercard, Discover, or AMEX. You can then
pick up your tickets in 24 hours or have
them mailed for an additional $5.

Log On
Purchase Online through E-tix
Visit www.ncazaleafestival.org and click on
Tickets near the top right of your screen.
Tickets can be printed at home.
Tickets not available for all events.