CHARLOTTE – More than 3,000 people attended the Patriot Festival in Charlotte on Memorial Day that included a 5K run, live music, a parachute exhibition and barbecue rib cook-off at Symphony Park in Charlotte.

During the event, organizers gave Iraq war veterans John Gallina and Dale Beatty awards for their work with Purple Heart Homes, a Lake Norman area non-profit organization that builds handicap accessible homes for wounded war veterans. Gallina and Beatty were both injured while serving in Iraq.