By the late 1990’s, the number of festival-goers had grown to the point the density was a serious safety concern/issue. The removal of the old Neuse River Bridge provided the opportunity to request permission from NCDOT to close Broad and East Front Street during the festival week-end so we could move the festival to wider streets. The additional space, plus being able to link to Union Point Park, allowed us to increase the number of vendors and venues which attracted more festival-goers. With concerns for having adequate parking, we made the decision to contract with New Bern Tours to provide continuous trolley shuttle service and the owners of the Twin Rivers (now New Bern) Mall agreed to allow the use of the parking area behind Pennys as a pick-up/drop-off point. The service has become so popular, the City provided City buses in the past few years to accommodate the huge numbers that use this service.
We extend special thanks to the City and area businesses that sponsor the trolley’s. Little Caesar’s Pizza sponsored the service last year, were pleased with the response and are sponsoring a trolley again this year in addition to the little bank. We greatly appreciate their support and know those who use the service, do too.
Pick-up/drop-off locations will be published closer to the festival.
Susan Moffat Thomas
Executive Director
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