By Ellen Lane/ Heather Cannon
The Fountain Inn event season kicks off March 13th and 20th with the Spring Market. This market will host over 50 vendors each day at Commerce Park. The event runs from 10-3 each day and the Easter Bunny is expected to make an appearance on 20th. Many vendor events have been cancelled this year due to COVID-19. We are excited to be able to give these crafters and bakers a chance to show off their products.
We follow this up in April with the 15th annual Mac Arnold Cornbread and Collard Greens Blues Festival. This music festival brings plenty of blues, BBQ and collards to Main Street. A portion of the proceeds from this event go to Mac’s “I Can Do Anything” Foundation. Shortly after this the Farmers Market opens for the season. There are over 30 vendors each week offering homegrown and handmade products. The market takes place on Depot Street from May- August. We also offer a Fall market in October for those late crops and holiday items. The Farmers Market draws people from all over the upstate to shop and hang out on Saturday mornings.
Once summer comes, we roll out the Sounds of Summer music series. This event has evolved from a small number of people hanging out on City Hall grounds to large crowds enjoying a night out at Commerce Park. We are proud of the growth and diversity of music that we have been able to bring to this series. Bands from all over the Southeast come to perform. This year we have added a Fall music series to run in October. Bring the kids, your lawn chairs and enjoy. The 4th of July brings our Independence Day celebration with live music and fireworks.
One of our newer events is the Jeff Lynch Bike Night held in September. This night is a time to show off your bike while enjoying live music and great food from a variety of food trucks. We also take time at this event to honor and give thanks to all our First Responders.
After Halloween and Trick or Treating on Main Street our events team starts preparing for Christmas. We kick off the holiday season with the Merry Market in November. This is a great time to start your holiday shopping. We follow this with Christmas Inn Our Town. It is our biggest event lasting 10 days in December. We offer horse-drawn carriage rides through the beautifully decorated Inn Circle neighborhood. This event draws people from all over South Carolina. We offer free visits with Santa, train rides and live music in addition to the carriages.
We look forward to seeing you at our events and remember Eat, Shop and Play Local!
For more information, please contact Ellen Lane ellen.lane@fountaininn.org or Heather Cannon at heather.cannon@fountaininn.org.■
