Confederate flags not welcome at Craven Country Jamboree

From now on, flying the Confederate flag will be discouraged at the Craven Country Jamboree, a spokesperson with the music festival says.

"I really don't anticipate a huge problem with them but if we do see them on the site we will go and talk to them. We will encourage them to take them down," Jamboree director of marketing Kim Blevins said.

Traditionally, thousands of people camp on the grounds for the event, and in the past many have used flags — including the occasional Confederate flag — at their campsites.

Recently, a man accused of killing nine black church members in South Carolina used the flag as a symbol of his white supremacist views. There's now a push to remove the flag from the state capitol, and stores in Canada and the U.S. are taking them off their shelves.

Blevins says she believes people who have flown the Confederate flag at Craven over the years don't view it as a symbol of black oppression, but it's inappropriate, so the festival will take action.

Although it's not an outright ban, staff will talk to campers if they see it flying, she said. The jamboree runs July 9-12, but the campground opens July 7.

"I would hope that our fans would be sensitive enough that if we asked them to do something they would do it," Blevins said.

"We have asked people to remove things from campsites before and we've never had an issue so I don't anticipate any issues."
 
The Jamboree will put a notice on its website telling fans to leave the Confederate flag at home, she said.