RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — The heavy lifting and preparation for the return of the Dreamville Festival was well underway Friday.
It’s an event that both Jonique, who’s from Raleigh, and Dyrek Miller were looking forward to.
“I’ve never been to a concert. Let alone a festival. So, I was very excited,” Jonique said.
As for her husband, Dyrek, he was hoping to relive the fun he had during the last one in 2019.
“I had been to the first Dreamville Fest, and I know how much fun I had and I wanted to pass that on to my wife,” he said.
For the couple, it was supposed to be a much-needed break after describing the past year during the COVID pandemic as a tough one.
“We worked in the pandemic. We did travel nursing. [We] worked in the ICUs, stepdown units. [We] both were COVID nurses. Then right around June, that’s when you caught COVID,” Jonique said as she turned to Dyrek.
“We were in the middle of buying a house in August right around my birthday, my mother caught COVID and she got really sick with it,” she later explained.
Fast forward to last week, Jonique’s grandmother sadly passed away. The couple rearranged their plans to go to Louisiana for the funeral this weekend.
The same weekend as the Dreamville Festival in Raleigh.
“I was just like, you know, I know how it feels to have a hard year so we both decided to give it away to someone,” said Jonique.
“Memories are something you don’t always get to make in this lifetime, and you shouldn’t have to put a price on a memory,” Dyrek said.
They said they paid $700 altogether for the two-day festival.
After posting their story on social media, they found someone. The couple, which now lives in Charlotte, gave away their tickets for free.
“I’m just doing this because it just makes my heart happy. I’ve watched so many people pass. Somebody who has had a hard year just deserves to just go out and just do something. Go out and take a break,” Jonique said smiling.
The Millers didn’t want to disclose who they gave the tickets to but told CBS 17’s Nick Sturdivant it was a woman who was down on her luck.
