I'm very excited about David coming to Wilmington. The Azalea Festival is our town's biggest festivity of the year (lasting 4 days). For David to kick it off on Thursday night is phenomenal. I'm looking for other DC fans in the Wilmington area. It would be great to meet and possibly go to the concert together.

I want to go so bad. I went to UNCW but now live in Orlando. Is he playing on campus or downtown on the river?

As far as I know, he is playing at Trask on campus. I keep checking the official Azalea Festival webpage but nothing has been posted yet.

A friend of mine lives up in NC, (I'm from GA), So I figured this would be fun for me to go up there to visit her and maybe squeeze and little DC time in there! I heard about the Azalea Festival from her once, she says it's a lot of fun anyway, so thats cool! I hope this is one I will get to go to...Well, maybe they will have some info soon!

I live in GA, but I've always wanted to go to Wilmington (Mainly because I love Dawson's Creek and it was filmed there, One Tree Hill still is.) My mom isn't too keen on the GA concert cause it may be Spring Break. She want to see the flowers at the Biltmore House in Ashville, but I don't know if she would want to go that far, but I could see David and she could see the azalea's, lol. I don't know anyone in WIlmington though, so I'm not sure, plus it would cost more to go that far, but it would be cool. Maybe when I find out the ticket prices for both I'll talk to her about it.

I MIGHT BE GOING TO THIS!!!

I've been in desperate need of a vacation and after much thinking about how I could budget I've come up with a plan where I can kill three birds with one stone. (Yes, three!)

My best friend lives in Myrtle Beach, SC. I could fly down there on the 30th and then that Thursday she and I can drive up to Wilmington, NC. It's only about an hour and 40 minute drive give or take. So I can go on vacation, visit my best friend AND go to a David Cook concert!

PRAYING this will happen because there aren't any dates here in MI and I REALLY want to see his first solo tour!

I might be going, but I may be going to the other NC concert because it's closer. (I live in the middle of SC) It just depends on tickets and seats and stuff. Anyone hear anything about when the tickets are going to be on sale for either of the NC dates?

I wrote the Wilmington people last night asking if the concert was included in the price of the festival. Nothing back yet. If it is than it's only $25 to get into the festival!

I'm from NC but live in Arizona now...BUT I was considering visiting my best friend who lives in Chapel Hill. This would be a nice getaway for us to go to the Festival and to see David. I've never been to the Azalea Festival before but always wanted to go...hopefully we can find out soon how to get concert tickets because as far as I'm concerned it's not very clear right now how to purchase tickets...

Just keep checking here:
http://www.ncazaleafestival.org/Events/Con...61/Default.aspx

I'll make sure to keep checking back as well!

THANKS! I'm checking with bated breath...

You guys had to be the first ones I told when I got home from work...

I GET TO GO!

I asked my boss for the time off today and she didn't have a problem with it! I'm SO excited! I'm going to be using my tax return money to go! I get to go to fly for the first time ever, go to Myrtle Beach to visit my best friend, then drive with her to a David Cook concert! Seriously, best vacation of my life! Is it March 30th yet?

*breathes*
I did get a response from the Azalea Fest people today:

The Azalea Festival has not made any announcements concerning headlining
entertainment or celebrities. Please keep checking our website; information
will be posted as soon as announcements have been made.

Thank you!

Alison Baringer Office Manager
North Carolina Azalea Festival
5725 Oleander Drive. Ste. B-7
Wilmington, NC 28403
Phone. 910.794.4650
Fax. 910.794.4651
www.ncazaleafestival.org

So I guess we just have to keep checking!

This is going to be a long wait! lol.

I don't expect an official announcement from the local media here before next month at the earliest. I had even started checking the Azalea Festival site even before we saw the list of dates because I kept getting this feeling David would come here since it was going to be a college tour.

Another update from the Azalea Fest people:

You need to purchase a concert ticket separately for our headlining acts.
We don't have an "Azalea Festival Ticket" exactly, the events you need
tickets to you purchase separately.

Alison Baringer Office Manager
North Carolina Azalea Festival
5725 Oleander Drive. Ste. B-7
Wilmington, NC 28403
Phone. 910.794.4650
Fax. 910.794.4651
www.ncazaleafestival.org

She is correct. There will be separate tickets for every event listed on the schedule such as the concerts, circus, garden tours, etc. One ticket won't cover all of the events for the festival.

Thanks so much for this info. It is so hard waiting for tickets. My sister and I are definitely going. We live in Charleston, SC. The drive up to Wilmington will be nice. We have always wanted to visit up there.

Here is the official announcement peeps:

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/2009...Azalea_Festival

'American Idol' David Cook to play Azalea Festival

David Cook is set to play the Azalea Festival April 2.

By John Staton
Staff Writer

Published: Friday, January 30, 2009 at 9:45 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, January 30, 2009 at 11:59 a.m.

The N.C. Azalea Festival and "American Idol" are getting together again.

Organizers announced Friday that the singer David Cook, who won the seventh season of hit TV show "American Idol" in 2008, would be one of two concert headliners for the 62nd annual Azalea Festival, set to be held April 1-5.

Cook will perform April 2 in Trask Coliseum. Carrie Underwood, also an "Idol" winner, performed at the Azalea Festival in 2006.

“We were getting calls (from the public) weeks and months in advance wanting us to get David Cook,” said Sherman Criner, president of the 2009 festival.

The announcement of the Azalea Festival's other headliner is expected in the coming days.

“One thing we’ve run against this year is the (Academy of Country Music) awards are, I think, the same week as the festival,” Criner said, hinting that a country singer might fill out the festival bill.

Cook is a rocker who wowed "Idol" judges (and audiences) with hard-edged interpretations of such songs as Lionel Richie's "Hello." In a pairing dubbed "The Battle of the Davids," Cook defeated the favored David Archuleta on "Idol" in May. Just two weeks later, Cook had 11 songs from his independent album "Analog Heart" in the Billboard Hot 100, a record.

His self-titled major label debut for RCA, released late last year, peaked at No. 3. The album features collaborations with the likes of Chris Cornell, formerly of the band Soundgarden.

Staff writer Amy Hotz contributed to this report.

Who: David Cook in concert for the 62nd annual N.C. Azalea Festival
When: 8 p.m. April 2
Where: Trask Coliseum on the campus of UNCW
Tickets: $45
Details: 794-4650. Tickets can be purchased from the Azalea Festival offices at 5725 Oleander Drive, unit B7, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday. For information on how to pay for tickets via fax or mail, go to www.ncAzaleaFestival.org.

Holy CRAAAAP! I have to call first thing Monday morning! GAH! SO excited!

I'm gong to try this weekend to see if I can get someone to tag along with me. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I might not have ever again and I don't want to miss this one!