Azalea festival goers may have seen a little bit of everything along Water Street this weekend, but some area leaders say that one element wasn’t widely visible-minority participation in the event.

For four days, people from across the nation join local residents to celebrate the region’s cultural history. But, some say that the festival organizers don’t try hard enough to appeal to the minority community in promoting and coordinating the event. Among those is Rev. John Fredlaw, president of the New Hanover County chapter of the NAACP. Fredlaw said the lack of minority presence has caused him to try even harder to encourage underrepresented community members to participate in the festival.

“I felt as president and as a leader, trying to eliminate the gap between the races and the mental gap, and healing the wounds amongst the races, that we should participate in the festival,” Fredlaw said. “It’s a part of Wilmington and a large part of our history.” The North Carolina Azalea Festival began in 1948, and its organizers have always strived to accentuate southern heritage. However, this celebration, with its hoop skirts and southern belle images, does not seem to reach out to the area’s minority population.

A few years ago, local African Americans had talked about boycotting the Azalea Festival for many reasons, one of them being the lack of events that encourage minority participation. For example, over the festival’s 55-year history, only a small number of African American women have been crowned Azalea queen.

However, no actions were ever officially taken against the event or its’ organizers.

The festival’s organizers say they have tried to encourage minority involvement by having performances by guests such as Bill Cosby, Dionne Warwick and, this year, Natalie Cole.

“(The festival) doesn’t exactly promote minority participation, but we must promote ourselves,” Fredlaw said. “You cannot go to the table and sit down unless you’re there.”

Fredlaw has been encouraging the local NAACP, including the UNCW chapter, to get more involved in the event. Representatives from the UNCW chapter set up a table at the parade, where they sold raffle tickets to raise money for their organization.

“I would like to think that we will be able to participate a little more next year, maybe we could get enough people to march in the parade instead of just having a table,” said Tammy Massey, president of the UNCW chapter of the NAACP.

Fredlaw said he feels that visible in the festival as a minority community member was vital to improving the diversity of the event.

“I felt that this year we should participate in it, and we did,” Fredlaw said. “We became a unit in the Azalea Festival.”