J. Cole’s Dreamville Festival Set For 2023

After a successful edition in April, J. Cole’s annual Dreamville Festival is set to return to Raleigh, North Carolina in 2023.

Dreamville has yet to announce its 2023 lineup, but the artist-led festival, curated by Cole, has featured up-and-coming musicians and artists from the multi-platinum hip-hop star’s label Dreamville Records.

The two-day event to be held at Dorothea Dix Park, the area’s largest city park, is scheduled for April 1-2, and fans who signed up for the official festival email and text newsletter can purchase the initial batch of tickets Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 10 a.m. EST Remaining early-bird priced two-day passes will be available for the general public Friday, Nov. 18, at 10 a.m. EST, and tickets can be purchased at DreamvilleFest.com.

Dreamville Festival has featured performances from some of the biggest names in the music industry. The star-studded event in April included Cole, Lil Wayne, Lil Baby, J.I.D, Kehlani, Morray and T-Pain. The festival’s first showing in 2019, then only a one-day event, featured 21 Savage, Big Sean, SZA and Nelly.

Cole, who grew up near Fayetteville, announced the first Dreamville Festival in 2018 but it was canceled due to Hurricane Florence. The inaugural festival was finally held in 2019 to great success with more than 40,000 attendees, and another show was planned for the following year. However, the coronavirus pandemic forced the organizers to postpone the event in 2020 and 2021 before making a comeback this year.

According to organizers, an estimated 80,000 attendees were treated to music, local vendors, food trucks and artisans from the area. Dreamville ‘22 generated more than $6.7 million for the local Raleigh and Wake County communities.

“Dreamville Festival wants to keep growing and building off the success of the expanded two-day event last year. Our team is excited to reunite with our Dreamville Family from around the world next spring,” Dreamville Festival President Adam Roy said in a press release. “Day ones, J.I.D fans, Ari fans, music fans, everyone is welcome. Consider this your personal invite. Come through, you won’t want to miss Dreamville 2023.”

Cole, one of the most popular acts in music, was one of the major artists at Lollapalooza last summer in Chicago and also performed at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival and Governors Ball Music Festival this year.

Following the release of his critically-acclaimed and Grammy-nominated sixth studio album The Off-Season, Cole hit the road with 21 Savage for a tour last fall. Box office highlights for him include a sold-out show at the Forum (now known as the Kia Forum) in Inglewood, California, on Oct. 21, 2021, that sold 13,641 tickets and grossed more than $1.9 million.

Cole’s “The Off-Season Tour,” which featured shows in 17 cities, earned the Best Hip-Hop Tour honor at the 2022 Pollstar Awards.