Festivals and events in Durham serve residents and visitors alike, putting the community's culture on display and increasing dollars spent at surrounding, locally owned businesses. Festivals may be driven by individual producers, community groups, nonprofit or for-profit organizations, and often celebrate the arts, sports, food and beverages, local cultures and more. 

In 2025, the Durham Next project team, supported by industry consultants, completed research to assess the strengths and opportunities in the local festival ecosystem and to identify best practices in similar destinations that can be implemented in Durham. 

From this assessment, the project team learned that Durham is uniquely positioned to: 

• Amplify existing festivals and develop signature festivals for Durham. 

• Create flexible funding tools. 

• Leverage public-private partnerships. 

• Reimagine underused community spaces for activation. 

• Strengthen communication and data-driven planning across the various agencies.

• Grow economic impact and community participation locally. 

Using these findings, the project team worked to develop a framework to address the challenges identified and create pathways to more opportunity for local festival producers — Accelerate: A Durham Festival Collective, a multi-year, capacity-building program designed to strengthen Durham's festival ecosystem. 

Housed under Durham Next's Community Investment Program, Accelerate allows Durham Next to invest in existing events led by festival producers to attract visitors to Durham to increase the overall economic impact of festivals in Durham, build the individual and collective capacity of the local festival community to grow and further Durham's identity as a vibrant and entrepreneur destination.  

In addition to the financial investment, participating festivals receive tailored, wraparound support that may include: 

• Business and growth planning support. 

• Marketing and attendance building strategy. 

• Financial management and budgeting assistance. 

• Sponsorship and partnership development support. 

• Access to a dedicated festival or business coach. 

• Support navigating City and County processes, including permitting, public safety, transportation and venue coordination. 

Learn more about program structure, the resources available, the status of the latest application cycle on the Accelerate Hub Page. 

• Homegrown Investments: Catalyzing Opportunity and Community Benefit Through Durham Next's Community Investment Program, Durham Next News & Updates  
• Durham Next Launches Community Investment Program, Durham Next News & Updates
• More Than Just a Good Time: How Festivals & Events Spark Opportunity and Connection in Your Community, Durham Next News & Updates