2023 Dreamville Fest Guide: Pre-Parties, Pop-Ups, Parking, and more

By CLTure

March 27, 2023 (updated)

Photo: Greg Noire / Dreamville Fest 

It’s finally that time again. Dreamville Fest returns to Raleigh’s historic Dorothea Dix Park April 1-2. The third-year festival has grown into a city-wide affair growing from 40,000 attendees in its inaugural year in 2019, now expanded to two full days and 100,000 attendees. Last year’s festival generated a $6.7 million economic impact within Wake County attracting attendees from all 50 states and 20 countries.

In addition to the weekend festival filled with music, art, and food trucks at Dorothea Dix Park’s 308-acre festival site, Dreamville continues to expand their footprint in Raleigh with parties, panels, activations, and pop-up shops. 

There will be a lot of information unveiled leading up to the festival, so we’ll be sure to keep this guide updated to help make your 2023 Dreamville Fest experience your most memorable one. 

Pre-Parties and Events

Dreamville Public Access 

Friday, March 31 from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Cam Raleigh
409 W Martin St.
Raleigh, NC 27603

Dreamville Fest will celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop with an all-day event at Cam Raleigh featuring creative panels, conversations, and demos culminating with the Gene Brown Beatdown with producers Nottz, Bink and Khrysis. The Dreamville Public Access event will also feature appearances by Timbaland, 9th Wonder, Ari Lennox, Jetson Made, Dreamville President Ibrahim Hamad, and many more. 

 

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Schedule: 

12 p.m. – DJ 101 with DJ Paradime 

1 p.m. – Carolina Creative Panel featuring Ace Henderson, Sonny Miles, Reuben Vincent, Cedric Brown, moderated by Yoh Phillips 

2 p.m. – Beat Breakdown with Deputy and Omen 

3 p.m. – Beat Club Sound Bar with OG Parker, Jetson Made, Timbaland, hosted by Jordan Rose

4 p.m. – Samples The Taught Me Something with DJ Svpply 

5 p.m.. – 9th Wonder in conversation with Brian “B.Dot” Miller 

6 p.m. – Soundtrack Stories: Creed III with Joseph Shirley, Blckbrry, Bas, and Derek “Mixed by Ali” Ali, hosted by Yoh Phillips 

7 p.m. – BeatClub Honors Elite with Ari Lennox, Juro “Mez” Davis, Ibrahim Hamad, moderated by Jordan Rose

8 p.m. – The Gene Brown Beatdown featuring Khrysis vs. D.R.U.G.S. and Bink vs. Nottz

Lute’s Gold Mouf Garage 

Friday, March 31 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.

510 W. Martin St.
Raleigh, NC 27601

Kick off your Dreamville Fest weekend with some daytime party vibes with Charlotte’s Lute featuring performances by Shame Gang, Sonny Miles, and Jewels with DJs Skillz, Paradime, and Lil Vegas. The event will also showcase old school whips and classic European automobiles with food vendors and a full bar.

Dreamville Pop-Up Shop 

March 29-31 from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.

207 S. West Street
Raleigh, NC 27603

Dreamville will be releasing a new apparel collection ahead of the festival through a pop-up shop at 207 S. West Street beginning Wednesday, March 29 through Friday, March 31 with hours of operation running from 12 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. daily.

 

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Up With Olu & ZiZi

Friday, March 31 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.

Dose Yoga Studio & Smoothie Bar
415 North Harrington Street
Raleigh, NC 27603

A “mindfulness session” to ground you pre-festival with music by DJ Dark Knight.

Free with RSVP

Parking

Official parking for the event is at NC State’s Centennial Campus (883-881 Main Campus Dr. Raleigh, NC 27606), located across the street from Dix Park on a first come, first served basis. Cost is $50 daily and you can reserve in advance here. Overnight parking is not permitted.

Entrances 

There will be two entrances into Dreamville Festival, a West Entrance (off Barbour Dr./Blair Dr.) and an East Entrance (off Umstead Dr./Hunt Dr.). Gates will open at 12 p.m. on both Saturday, April 1 and Sunday, April 2.

Festival Site Map

Re-entry 

Transportation

Dreamville offers plenty of shuttle options, ride-share pick-up locations, and bike parking areas.

The downtown shuttle costs $20 for a two-day pass, and will pick up from Moore Square in downtown Raleigh and drop you off right next to the West Entrance at Dreamville Fest. Shuttles run continuously from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. 

If ride-sharing is more your speed, Uber, Lyft and Taxis all have designated drop off/pickup zones on either side of Dorothea Dix Park. For more information on public bus fares and schedules, you can check out GoRaleigh. 

For attendees biking, the festival has two locations for bike parking near the entrances. One at the corner of Centennial Pkwy and Blair Dr., another on the corner of Western Blvd and Hunt Dr. 

Coming from out of town via train? Travelers coming to and from Dreamville Fest can save 25% via NC By Train tickets. You’ll arrive at Union Station, two miles from Dorothea Dix Park, and can book tickets with the discount code V681. 

Lockers 

There will be lockers available on site to safely store belongings. Each locker includes one 3-in-1 USB charging cable (type C, lightning Apple, and micro USB connectors). With your multi-day locker rental, you may leave your items in your locker overnight. You will have unlimited access to your locker during festival hours and can come and go as you wish. You can purchase your locker here, and you will receive an email 24 hours before the fest containing your locker location, locker number, and lock combination.

Bag Policy 

All festival attendees will be subject to a search of their person and any bags or belongings being carried into the festival grounds. 

Small clutch purses and fanny packs that are 6″ x 9″ or smaller do not need to be clear, but can have no more than one pocket. Check out the full list of items allowed or prohibited at Dreamville Fest 2023. 

All other bags must be no larger than 12″ x 12″ x 6″ and be fully clear. Bags will be restricted to small purses, totes and drawstring bags only. Backpacks and bags with multiple pockets are prohibited. 

Hydration packs are allowed and do not need to be clear, but must be emptied of all liquid and have no more than two pockets in addition to the one holding the water reservoir.

Merch 

In addition to the pop-up shop in downtown Raleigh at 207 S West Street, Dreamville Fest has opened their official online festival merchandise shop early in an effort to reduce lines at the event. 

Dreamville Fest Limited-Edition Beer

Dreamville Fest has collaborated with Raleigh’s R&D Brewing to create the “Dreamsicle Festival Brew,” a limited-edition beer created specifically for the event. A light, crisp and flavorful cream ale with a hint of vanilla and mango, the beer has a 4.5% ABV and will be available exclusively at Dreamville Fest.

Tickets 

Need to swap or buy a Dreamville Fest ticket? Visit the verified ticketing exchange, a platform to safely exchange or purchase resale tickets to Dreamville Fest 2023.

2023 Music Schedule

Livestream 

Starting at 2 p.m. EST each day, fans will be able to tune in to the Amazon Music channel on Twitch and Prime Video to watch their favorite artists perform throughout the day, for free. 

For more information about the festival, download the Dreamville Fest app or check out the official website.

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