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Wilmington Riverfest is a long-running downtown festival, first held in 1979, traditionally staged during the first full weekend of October. Its footprint has shifted from Water Street to Front Street amid construction and changing space constraints. Negotiations over the 2026 footprint took place for months between Riverfest organizers and the City of Wilmington.
Wilmington International Airport (ILM) is carrying out a multiyear capital-improvement program to expand parking, rebuild roadway and curbside infrastructure, and accommodate sharp passenger growth. Airport Director Jeff Bourk has said the older curbfront and circulation system were designed for far fewer travelers than the roughly 1.8 million passengers ILM now serves annually. The current phase includes ILM’s first parking garage, a redesigned terminal approach and curbfront improvements; later projects are planned for the terminal and airfield.
Naegleria fowleri is a naturally occurring amoeba found in warm freshwater and can cause primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) when contaminated water enters the nose. North Carolina health officials reported a critically ill central North Carolina teen with the infection on Aug. 27 and said they were investigating the source. The infection is exceedingly rare in the United States and progresses rapidly once symptoms begin.
Hampstead in Pender County is a fast-growing community where U.S. 17 serves as a principal north-south route. NCDOT’s annual average daily traffic (AADT) system uses traffic-count stations and adjusts annual figures for factors including seasonal variation. NCDOT is building the Hampstead Bypass to improve flow on the U.S. 17 corridor, although its first segment is not expected to open until late 2027.
Cape Fear Community College’s Associate Degree Nursing program prepares students for registered-nurse employment after completion and passage of the NCLEX-RN; it also offers an accelerated LPN-to-RN option. The program is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. CFCC is also a participant in a regional nursing-workforce pipeline backed by a three-year, $22.3 million Endowment grant, including $10.1 million allocated to CFCC.
Wilmington police say a two-vehicle crash at Military Cutoff Road and Station Road on June 16 killed Marina Smyrnow after she was hospitalized with serious injuries. Investigators allege that the 15-year-old driver of the Chevrolet Colorado was unlicensed and traveling 79 mph in a 45-mph zone before striking Smyrnow’s turning Lexus. The juvenile and both parents were charged in connection with the crash; toxicology results for both drivers were still pending when the charges were reported.
The Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, a four-lane steel vertical-lift bridge built in 1969, links Wilmington and Brunswick County across the Cape Fear River. NCDOT and the Federal Highway Administration released an environmental assessment on August 14, 2026, for two replacement alternatives, beginning a formal public-comment process. Wilmington City Council acted on September 1 by approving comments on the assessment and pressing for an option with fewer effects on downtown streets, neighborhoods, businesses, and environmental resources.