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Dare County Tourism Board on March 20 approved three Tourism Impact Grant extension requests, awarded four fireworks grants, and reviewed a record number of event grant requests.

The board’s first action item focused on three Tourism Impact Grant extension requests that due to construction delays have forced revised projected completion dates.

With minimal discussion a Town of Nags Head grant for a Whalebone Park restroom was given an additional six months to December 30, 2025, an Outer Banks Community Foundation Community Terrace grant is now to be completed prior to June 30, 2026, and a grant awarded to Outer Banks Forever to build an accessible restroom and shower facility at Old Lighthouse Beach in Buxton is to be completed no later than October 2025.

With summer a blink of the eye away, fireworks grant requests were next on the agenda with  $14,875 to Avon Property Owner’s Association for an Avon Pier display, $12,400 to Town of Kill Devil Hills for an Avalon Fishing Pier display, $19,500 to Town of Manteo for fireworks from a barge in Shallowbag Bay, and $15,000 to Town of Nags Head for its annual Nags Head Pier fireworks display.

Moving on to event grant recommendations, executive director Lee Nettles commented that $177,500 had been awarded in the first window of grant requests leaving $252,200 to apply toward the requests totaling $666,529.

Nettles went on to say there were 11 new requests among the 35 applications with considerable discussion on how to show support for programs without awarding a full requested amount.

Each application was based on the merits of the application, not the merits of an applicant. Some criteria to evaluate applications include reason for the trip, expected tourism impact event dates and time of year, potential visitation numbers, if a previous event are there changes to the event, marketing considerations, does the event help project the Outer Banks brand, and projections prior to an event and the actual numbers.

The grants approved include:

$5,000 to A Pathway Forward for Halloween International Film Festival October 2-4, 2025
$18,500 to A Pathway Forward for Live at the Pioneer October-May
$7,400 to Bluegrass Island Charitable Foundation for Bluegrass Island Nights Concerts December-April
$1,000 to Chicamacomico Historical Association for 2025 Thanksgiving Week November 28, 2025
$3,000 to Dare County Arts Council for 2025 Outer Banks Veterans Week November 7-13, 2025
$2,500 to Dare County Arts Council for 2025 Rock the Cape  September 18-19, 2025
$2,500 to Dare County Arts Council for 2025 Surfalorus Film Festival  September 15-17, 2025
$15,000 to Eastern Surfing Association OBNC District for 2025 Easterns Surfing Championship  September 14-20, 2025
$4,000 to The Elizabethan Gardens for Beer Garden  October 4, 2025
$1,000 to First Flight Rotary Foundation for 2025 Oink & Oyster Roast  October 11, 2025
$3,700 to First Flight Track Club for Duck Turkey Trot 5K  November 27, 2025
$2,000 to Garage Band Charities for OBX Rod & Custom Fall Toy Festival October 3-4, 2025
$2,000 to Hatteras Community Sailing for Lighthouse Maritime Regatta September 26-28, 2025
$3,700 for Hatteras Island Youth Education Fund 2025 Surfin’ Turkey 5K & Puppy Drum Fun Run November 27, 2025
$13,000 for The Halloween Island Fund/OBCF 2025 Halloween Island October 3-31, 2025
$1,500 for Nags Head Surf Fishing Club 2025 F. Boyden Youth Fishing Tournament June 11, 2025
$3,000  Nags Head Surf Fishing Club 2025 NH Surf Fishing Tournament October 15-17, 2025
$5,000 for North Carolina Beach Buggy Association 2025 Red Drum Tournament October 22-25, 2025
$3,700 for OBX Go Far OBX Go Far Turkey Trot November 27, 2025
$5,000 for OBX Pride 2025 OBX Pridefest September 9-14, 2025
$20,000 for OBX Room in the Inn The 12 Bars of Christmas Nov 28-Dec 31, 2025
$4,000 for Outer Banks Conservationists 2025 Island Farm Pumpkin Patch October 4, 11, 18, 25, 2025
$2,000 for Outer Banks Home Builders Association 2025 Parade of Homes October 9-11, 2025
$15,000 for Outer Banks Relief Foundation 2025 Misfits Christmas November 1, 2025-January 1, 2026
$3,700 for Outer Banks Relief Foundation The Gobbler 5K & Fun Run November 27, 2025
$1,000 for Outer Banks Relief Foundation The Holiday Hustle 5K December 6, 2025
$1,500 for Outer Banks Sailing Association 2025 OBX Multi-Hull Sailfest September 6-7. 2025
$30,000 for Outer Banks Seafood Festival 2025 OB Seafood Festival October 18, 2025
$4,000 for Outer Banks Sporting Events Another Round 25k October 18, 2025
$12,000 for Outer Banks Sporting Events 2025 Outer Banks Marathon November 7-9, 2025
$5,000 for Outer Banks Sporting Events 2025 Outer Banks Triathlon September 12-13, 2025
$8,500 for Town of Duck 2025 Duck Jazz Festival October 11-12, 2025
$13,000 for Dare Day 2025 June 7, 2025
$15,000 for 2025 Live from OBX Concert at RIFP June 2025
$15,000 for Vusic Heals 2025 Live from OBX Fall Concerts Sept-Dec 2025

Other business for the day included an update on possible efforts to incorporate vacation rental links into the Visitor Bureau website as a service to rental agencies and discussion on drafting a letter to be sent to national elected leaders expressing support for several federal agencies that play a vital role in supporting the local Outer Banks economy.

Nettles explained that the intent of the letter is to defend tourism and let elected officials know how important tourism is to the area with some basic information before any budget decisions are made.

After a lengthy discussion, the board asked Nettles to prepare an information non-political draft for review at the April 17 meeting.

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