More than 1,000 people attended a conservative rally in Raleigh today.

After taking free buses from as far as Wilmington and Asheville, attendees listened to beach music and ate barbecue and fried chicken this afternoon while waiting for former Sen. Bob Dole and Republican gubernatorial nominee Pat McCrory to speak.

Twenty tents shaded the crowd from 97-degree heat and showcased conservative and libertarian groups on the grassy Halifax Mall just north of the General Assembly.

Among those represented: The N.C. Republican Party, the N.C. Libertarian Party, Americans for Prosperity, the John Locke Foundation, the Civitas Institute, the Pope Center on Higher Education, Freedom Works, the Wake County Taxpayers Union, the National Taxpayers Union, the Republican Liberty Caucus, Americans for Tax Reform, the N.C. Property Rights Coalition, the Fair Annexation Coalition, Concerned Women for America, N.C. Fair Tax and WPTF radio.

Attendance was free, but donations of $5 to $10 were accepted.

"These are not wealthy people; these are grassroots people," said Americans for Prosperity state director Dallas Woodhouse.