Dix Park sunflowers returning to Raleigh in 2021. When you can see them.
Sunflowers are coming back to Dix Park.
The agricultural attraction draws thousands of people each year, but the large crowds were part of the reason why Raleigh canceled the sunflowers last year.
“They are such a love of the community,” said Joey Voska, programs and operations supervisor for Dix Park. “We heard a lot of feedback last year when we weren’t able to plant the sunflowers due to COVID.”
It was a priority for the city to make sure the flowers were planted in 2021, he said.
Raleigh still won’t hold SunFest, its large summer festival, to help manage crowds, and other COVID mitigation plans will be in place.
In 2019 different types of sunflowers were planted so they bloomed at different times. This year only one type of sunflower will be planted, meaning they will bloom all at once.
When will the sunflowers bloom? Sometime in July but it depends on the weather. The sunflowers will be planted in May.
Where to go? The five-acre sunflower field is near the soccer fields and cemetery off of Hunt Drive.
Where to park? State employees work at the park during the weekday so parking is only allowed in the gravel parking lot on Hunt Drive. People can use the parking lots on weeknights and weekends.
This story was originally published March 25, 2021 at 10:48 AM with the headline "Dix Park sunflowers returning to Raleigh in 2021. When you can see them.."
