March Director’s Message
Dear Friends,
On July 6th, 2025, literally the day after the conclusion of the 46th annual Festival for the Eno, tropical depression Chantal passed through the Triangle, leaving record flooding in its wake. While the impacts to ERA’s preserves were relatively minor, the flooding displaced many of our neighbors, closed local businesses, and forced the closure of significant portions of both Eno River State Park and West Point on the Eno. These impacts continue to be felt today.
In the grand scheme of things, a Festival isn’t all that important when people’s lives and livelihoods are at stake. But for ERA, the Festival is our signature event and in that regard, Chantal was a real wakeup call. If the storm had hit 24-36 hours earlier, the Festival would have lost six figures and our “fundraiser” would have blown a huge hole in our budget. That would be an issue for any business or nonprofit, but for a land trust that has promised to conserve and protect the lands along the Eno for eternity, the Festival carries real financial risk. And to be clear, this risk is not hypothetical — ERA has had more years than we care to remember when the Festival actually lost money.
There is another significant risk for a Festival held on the 4th of July in the South: Health risks from dangerous heat. While some are deliberately turning a blind eye to the topic, climate change is real and its impacts need to be acknowledged. The Festival uses over 600 volunteers each year (from the bottom of my heart — THANK YOU to this group!) and two-thirds of them are seniors. While hosting a two-day Festival for 20,000 of your closest friends invariably creates some anxieties internal to ERA, my biggest concern was that we could have a weather-related fatality due to the heat.
We are asking our volunteers, sponsors, artists, crafts vendors, nonprofit partners, and staff to brave temperatures that can often feel like 100 degrees or more. That scares the bejesus out of me and we know that the situation is not going to get better any time soon. As I’ve been out in the community over the last year, the most frequent (unsolicited) advice that I’ve received is along the lines of, “the 4th of July is too darn hot — please change the date of the Festival!” My somewhat embarrassing confession is that I agree!
What I didn’t know as I struggled with how to share my reservations with the Board, was that ERA has been debating the cost, scope, and risks associated with the Festival for decades. I felt strongly that I needed to share my concerns and make a recommendation for how to proceed, but I also had the distinct thought that doing so would likely end my “honeymoon” period as the new executive director. At our July Board meeting, we had a spirited discussion about the Festival that resulted in a unanimous vote to move away from the “status quo” model for the event and for an ad hoc committee to meet to discuss recommendations for how to proceed.
I did not expect any decision by the Board on this topic to be unanimous, and I am so thankful to our Board volunteers for their thoughtful questions and feedback. Our Festival 2.0 Committee met frequently in August and September to compile those recommendations, which were approved by the Board in late September. A huge consideration in these discussions is that West Point on the Eno will be closed from June 1st of this year, likely through the spring of 2027 or longer, for a project that will improve accessibility for seniors and people with disabling conditions. ERA fully supports this project but it also creates a host of issues given West Point’s starring role in the Festival.
2026 marks ERA’s 60th anniversary, and our Festival 2.0 Committee felt strongly that the Association needed to keep the tradition of the Festival alive while recognizing this important milestone. So this year, we are changing things up for the 47th iteration of the Festival for the Eno with a benefit concert at the Carolina Theatre on September 12th.
While the final name is TBD, I am excited to share that our own Heather McEntire is leading the planning for the event and is hard at work on assembling a bill of performers that will keep the spirit of the Festival alive and well. Heather is a talented performer, a thoughtful artist, and a lover of all things Eno. I think that she’s the perfect person to help us navigate the Festival’s evolution.
I also want to acknowledge that September 12th falls on Rosh Hashanah. We know members of our Jewish community observe this holiday, and it’s important to me that we are thoughtful about that. In respect for those who are observing, the concert will begin after sundown so that more of our supporters are able to participate in the evening.
We are planning to take over the Plaza space in front of the Carolina Theatre for a free outdoor event on the afternoon of September 12th that will include music, activities, and a small group of our closest nonprofit partners. Our vision is to bring the spirit of the Festival downtown and to focus on opportunities for education and engagement with the larger community. Since we’ll be at the Carolina Theatre, we intend to partner with local restaurants and businesses to make the event a vehicle for celebrating and supporting our friends and partners close to downtown.
While this year will be different, I am excited about the concert and everything that we have in store to celebrate ERA’s 60 years. Our intent is to evaluate the success of the concert this year and to relaunch the Festival in 2027, likely in the spring but unfortunately not at West Point on the Eno given the expected closure of the park. The Festival will look different moving forward, but I am convinced that these changes are in the best interest of ERA and will be supported by a strong majority of our supporters based on the early feedback.
I look forward to celebrating ERA’s 60-year history on September 12th and hope to see you at the concert! Thank you for all that you do to support our work.
In Community,
