By Staff
You’ve been hearing it for years: Washington needs more events like the Pirates Beach Music Festival set for Sept. 13.
It’s a wonder that the festival, in its sixth year, wasn’t held here on the Washington waterfront instead of the Pitt County Fairgrounds to begin with.
Now that it’s finally here, the public should do everything in its power to make sure that it stays. After all, the festival will be a huge benefit for area nonprofits like the Turnage Theater, Washington-Beaufort County Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Washington on the Waterfront, the Beaufort County Arts Council and the Washington Area Historic Foundation.
These organizations will receive $5 for each $15 ticket they sell in advance of the festival.
In addition, festival founder Billy Dunn has been known to be generous in donating proceeds made at the festival to nonprofits, according to DWOW administrator Beth Byrd. Look for Dunn to give the aforementioned nonprofits money to go toward construction of a performance venue on the grassy area adjacent to the N.C. Estuarium.
Understandably, Byrd and DWOW hope that the festival stays in Washington for years to come. Any way to generate revenue for nonprofits, especially in a recession, is welcome. And in this case, everyone should have fun while doing it.
Area residents — and visitors — should discover it’s more than worth it to shell out $15 a person for a day of shaggin’ and having fun in the sun, especially knowing that some of the proceeds go to a good cause right in their backyards.
And who can resist the grooves of the Band of Oz, or the laid-back swing of Chairmen of the Board? With any luck at all, the weather will cooperate and it will be a Sunday “fun day” like no other on Sept. 13.
So, bring a chair, bring a cooler, bring a blanket and soak it all in.