Welcome to Matthews Alive! Online. The Matthews Alive! Festival, founded in 1992, is one of the largest Labor Day festivals in North Carolina and regularly draws more than 100,000 visitors. The festival is a non-profit entity created to provide an avenue for other local non-profit agencies a venue for raising funds by volunteering their time and talents "working" the event.

A volunteer board of directors governs the festival. Each board member is expected to coordinate an area of the festival including Arts and Crafts, Entertainment, Family Fun Area, Parade, etc. The members of the board are drawn from the Matthews community and represent a wide variety of interests as well as a vast amount of professional talents and experience.

Planning and executing the festival requires approximately 2000 volunteers provided mostly from local non-profit organizations. Throughout its history, the Matthews Alive! Festival has enjoyed broad-based support from many local companies in our area. In addition, the Town of Matthews provides support and services critical to the festival. Having such strong community-wide support is one of the strengths of the festival and has allowed for the continued success.

Since inception, the board of directors has contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to various non-profit organizations in support of our mission.

Security and Medical

The Town of Matthews Police Department provides for the safety and security of all visitors. Police Officers are on duty around the clock to assist with all security needs. Likewise, a first-aid station is set-up at the festival to handle those minor emergencies that may arise. This station is staffed by EMT’s and other medical personnel provided by the Town of Matthews and Mecklenburg County.

There will also be a number of information stations set up throughout the festival for anyone needing assistance. Volunteers will be able to give directions, offer suggestions and welcome visitors to the Matthews Alive! Festival.