WILMINGTON — The area’s largest annual festival has new leadership after its former executive director of a decade quietly departed earlier this year.
The North Carolina Azalea Festival announced Melissa Lasarsky has taken over the reins and will bring with her 18 years in marketing, communications, and large scale signature event leadership.
READ MORE: Azalea Festival names ‘Dynasty,’ ‘Parent Trap’ actress 2026 queen
According to a release from the Azalea Festival, Lasarsky has overseen community events within large K–12 public charter organizations and nonprofit environments. She has experience in brand strategies,, fundraising, and stakeholder and audience engagement.
While she grew up visiting Wilmington, Lasarsky — a graduate of NC State, with a masters from UNCW in integrated marketing communication — relocated to the area in 2025. According to the festival, she has a “people first leadership style,” also focused on hospitality.
“The North Carolina Azalea Festival represents the very best of who we are as a community,” Lasarsky said in a press release. “It is an honor to build upon its remarkable legacy while thoughtfully stewarding what blooms next. Together, we will celebrate our history, engage our citizens, and cultivate experiences that allow Wilmington and our state to shine.”
Lasarsky is taking over from Alison Baringer, who served as the director for 11 years but was with the Azalea Festival overall for 20 years. In January, the Wilmington Business Journal first reported Baringer’s exit after a LinkedIn post denoted the hiring of a new director for the organization.
The Azalea Festival is the region’s largest cultural celebration of springtime traditions, featuring home and garden tours, a parade and street fair, concerts and events, including the Queen’s Inauguration, fireworks, dance parties and more.
This year’s event is slated to take place April 8-12 and will feature Elaine Hendrix as reigning 2026 Queen Azalea, while concerts include hip-hop artist Lil Jon and country artist Dustin Lynch. Celebrating 79 years, the festival will bring in roughly 250,000 people to the region and is estimated to have a $50 million impact on the economy, according to a former UNCW study.
The festival has been named one of 20 events to vote on in USAToday’s 10Best this year for “Best Flower Festival”; results of the poll have yet to be revealed as voting will close Tuesday, March 2.
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