Dreamville Pageant 2022 Was a Household Reunion

In concept, fandoms are purported to really feel like households, even when every of the people don’t have anything in frequent apart from their shared love for a similar artists. And this weekend, J. Cole’s second annual Dreamville Pageant was a household reunion.

I’ve solely been to North Carolina one different time in my life, for an precise household reunion. My great-grandmother was turning 100 years previous, and to rejoice the event, all the household on my dad’s facet traveled to the state. I used to be younger on the time, however I distinctly bear in mind how heat it was—not simply in temperature, however in spirit. The environment at Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh for Dreamville Pageant was the identical, and even with 40,000 attendees occupying the large open area every day, there was nonetheless a familial spirit that’s uncommon at most main music festivals. 

As I walked by means of the enormous park to absorb the complete scope of the occasion, folks had been lounging on the bottom on picnic blankets, blowing bubbles into the sky close to a Ferris wheel within the middle of the sector, and swinging peacefully from hammocks positioned throughout the grounds. At one second throughout the two-day competition, my complete part joined in unison to sing comfortable birthday to a bartender. In one other, Kehlani invited a member of the occasion workers on stage to let him sing for the plenty, as a result of she heard him training his vocals backstage. Normally, the workers was very attentive to the gang’s wants, ensuring water bottles had been being handed round usually and checking that everybody was secure. It was scorching throughout the day and freezing throughout the night time on each Saturday and Sunday, however it didn’t mess with anybody’s temper.