On the Agenda For a listing p m co lete s, see of Event 8 page 2
Highlights
TOP PICK FOR KIDS JULY 19–20
Pageland Watermelon Festival
Don’t be shy—plant your face right in a cool slice of watermelon, hands behind your back, and eat your way through as much as possible in 90 seconds. You may come up a winner! If seed spitting is more your style, there’s a contest for that, too, at this Chesterfield County festival that has been celebrating its favorite fruit since 1951. Magic, music, rodeos, carnival rides and a watermelon costume contest round out the fun in downtown Pageland. Lynches River Electric Cooperative is a sponsor. For details, visit pagelandwatermelonfestival.com or call (843) 672-6400.
JULY 19–28
JULY 20
Dragons are coming to Beaufort— more specifically, dragon boats. One of the fastest-growing water sports, dragon boat racing is the newest event to be added to this 58-year-old festival. Spectators can watch from Waterfront Park on July 20 as teams of 20 paddle their colorful 44-foot boats down the Beaufort River, raising funds for cancer survivors through DragonBoat Beaufort. The 10-day festival is packed with water and outdoor sports, plus a concert by country artist Chris Cagle on July 20 and the popular Lowcountry Supper in the park on July 25.
If you’ve tasted an heirloom or homegrown tomato, you already know what the fuss is all about. If not, find out why Sustainable Midlands says “’maters matter” at its celebration of those who grow, sell, serve and love locally grown tomatoes. New this year is the Tasty Tomato Feast— specialty dishes featuring local tomatoes at Columbia restaurants for 12 days leading up to festival day at Columbia’s City Roots urban farm. On site, dive into the signature tomato-tasting event, tomato bobbing, a tomato dunking booth, and foods as varied as tomato-flavored sorbet and the classic white bread, mayo and ’mater sandwich.
Beaufort Water Festival
For details, call (843) 524-0600 or visit bftwaterfestival.com.
Palmetto Tasty Tomato Festival
JULY 16
Purple Martin Sunset Cruise
No one knows why more than 700,000 purple martins return, summer after summer, to an island in Lake Murray—the world’s largest roosting area for these acrobatic birds. But the spectacle of clouds of purple martins returning to roost at sunset attracts boaters and birders alike. The S.C. Wildlife Federation will have professional ornithologists and naturalists on board the Southern Patriot to explain what they know about the phenomenon. The lake cruise includes a fried chicken picnic dinner. For details, call (803) 609-4778 or visit scwf.org.
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SOUTH CAROLINA LIVING | July 2013 | scliving.coop
For details, call (803) 381-8747 or visit tastytomatofestival.com.
THROUGH SEPT. 8
‘Between the Springmaid Sheets’
“Risque” is rarely a word applied to the textile industry. But when WWI flying ace Col. Elliott Springs took over the family’s struggling Springs Cotton Mills 80 years ago, his ideas for a racy and provocative ad campaign not only helped boost the company to prominence, they made advertising history. The controversial illustrations and daring puns from those ads, which captured the nation’s attention, are on display at the S.C. State Museum in Columbia, courtesy of Winthrop University Galleries. For details, call (803) 898-4921 or visit southcarolinastatemuseum.org.