J. Cole's Dreamville returns to Raleigh in early April 2023

Dreamville, the music festival organized by rapper and North Carolina native J. Cole, will be back in Raleigh next spring, organizers announced Wednesday.

Driving the news: The popular weekend-long festival will return on April 1-2, 2023.

Why it matters: Raleigh has long sought out major events, and Dreamville's a homegrown music festival that's attracted some of the biggest artists in the country — and a yearly economic boost — since its founding in 2019.

Flashback: Dreamville's lineups have included major rap acts from Wiz Khalifa to Lil Baby.

• The 2022 fest generated $6.7 million in Wake County, the Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau said earlier this year.
• The two-day April event reported 80,000 visitors, with tickets being sold in all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C. and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as 20 countries.
• Wake County hotels saw occupancy rates of 92% on the Saturday night of the festival, the visitors bureau said.

The intrigue: The festival also highlights how Raleigh's Dorothea Dix Park could be used in the future. Wake County voters have a proposal to invest millions of dollars into making it Dorthea Dix a world-class park on the ballot this year.

What they're saying: “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,” said Dreamville Festival President Adam Roy.