Selma tourism board approves 50th Railroad Days plan and asks council for $200,000

The Selma Tourism Advisory Board on Jan. 8 approved an overall plan for a seven-day, 50th-anniversary Railroad Days celebration set for Sept. 29–Oct. 5 and moved to ask Selma Town Council for $200,000 to support the event.

The board approved a framework that breaks the week into themed days and delegates detailed work to subcommittees for vendors/food trucks/parade; amusement/kids zone/antique show/farmers market; and entertainment/local performances/contests/shuttle/pickleball. Members said subcommittees will meet in the coming weeks and return recommended layouts, contracts and budgets for the February meeting.

Board members emphasized logistics and public-safety limits as they discussed possible headline performers. Several members expressed concern that the Depot site — where many activities and amusement rides are planned — may not safely accommodate a large concert audience or prevent conflicts with scheduled train movements. The board directed staff and subcommittee leads to evaluate alternate stage locations, parking and shuttle options, and to get space-sizing details from the amusement-ride contractor and sound vendors before finalizing contracts.

On programming, the board approved a multi-day lineup approach intended to spread crowd draws across town. Members suggested themed parade-style events each day (examples discussed included “Main Street Monday,” a past-queens procession, church choirs for a “Worship Wednesday,” a family flash-mob Thursday and a traditional Saturday parade) and a large Sunday finale concept (a community “love train” walk). Several members noted these parade concepts would require routing that minimizes impact on state-controlled roadways and coordination with police and NCDOT requirements.

Sponsorship strategy was also discussed. Town staff proposed tiered annual-sponsorship levels that would give sponsors benefits across multiple Selma events (Railroad Days, All-American Festival, holiday events). Board members asked staff to prepare a press kit and a targeted outreach list so committee members can approach potential sponsors before fiscal-year budget cycles begin.

The board recorded two formal approvals related to the plan during the meeting: approval of the overall Railroad Days plan and a motion to forward a requested budget amount of $200,000 to town council for consideration. The board voted to send the plan and budget recommendation to town staff for logistical review and possible council presentation in February.

The board also agreed to a meeting-frequency change: moving toward regularly scheduled meetings every other month with additional special meetings and subcommittee work sessions as needed, to ensure timely planning and accountability.

The board said subcommittees will bring layout, stage-siting and safety plans back to the full board for final approvals and that any large-headliner contracts will be evaluated alongside staging and crowd-control assessments before staff signs agreements.

Ending: The board scheduled subcommittee meetings over the next weeks and will revisit location, vendor and stage layouts at the February meeting before sending a final budget request and logistics packet to town council.