Edisto Island and Edisto Beach offer a pristine backdrop as fall and holiday events approach
Edisto Island, S.C. – With leaves falling and cooler temperatures setting in, the Edisto Island and Edisto Beach communities have been making big plans for the fall. They wound up the end of summer with the popular Music & Shag Fest over Labor Day weekend, and the fourth annual Edisto Shrimp Fest closed out September in Lowcountry culinary style.
October – one of the island’s prettiest months – will brim with activity, starting with The Edisto & Beyond Tour, an annual tour of plantations, churches, graveyards, and historic sites set for Saturday, October 11, from 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Sponsored by the Edisto Island Historic Preservation Society, the tour will feature Sunny Side Plantation, Cypress Trees Plantation, Blue House Plantation, Jack Daw Hall, “At Ease” Beach House, Trinity Church, Presbyterian Church of Edisto Island, Old First Baptist Church, Zion Reformed Episcopal Church, and the Murray and Jenkins Cemeteries. Each stop will showcase how Edisto is preserving its rich history, and each tour will begin at the Edisto Island Museum, located at 8123 Chisolm Plantation Road. Tickets sell out quickly each year, with a limited number being offered. For more information or to check ticket availability, contact the Edisto Museum at 843-869-1954 or visit www.edistomuseum.org.
The Annual Fall Show and Sale, sponsored by the Edisto Art Guild, will also be held on October 11at the Edistonian, located at 406 Highway 174. For more information, contact the Edisto Chamber of Commerce at 843-869-3867 or visit www.edistochamber.com.
The Edisto Chamber of Commerce will sponsor its annual Edisto Fall Festival the following weekend. This street fair, featuring art, local culinary treats, and activities for the kids, will take place on October 18 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Jungle Road. Following the festival, local restaurants will sponsor evening events. For more information, contact the Edisto Chamber of Commerce at 843-869-3867 or visit www.edistochamber.com.
The second annual Mostly Bluegrass Festival will be held at West Bank Plantation, located on the N. Edisto River, on Saturday, October 25, from 11:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Some of the best Bluegrass and Americana bands will be performing, including Hurray for the Riff Raff, Lonesome River Band, Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen, Shelly Waters with the Joe Taylor Group, Southern Flavor Bluegrass, Blue Iguanas, Flatt City, and Blue Plantation. Visit www.edistobluegrass.com for additional information.
Trick or Treat at the Creek will be held on Friday, October 31, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Bay Creek Park. This event is popular with the kids (and parents too) with games and prizes, and table to table trick or treating. A costume contest in the park, sponsored by McConkey’s Jungle Shack, will be held at 7:00 p.m. For more information contact Town Hall at 843-869-2505 or visit www.townofedistobeach.com.
Come November, the Open Land Trust Oyster Roast and Annual Meeting will be at held at historic Middleton Plantation. The event, which features Edisto oysters amid beautiful creek views, will take place on November 16, 2014. Edisto Gumbo will provide music. Visit the “events” page at www.edisto.org for ticket information.
Ongoing, the weekly Arts and Crafts Market features the work of local artisans. The market is held every Wednesday through November 14 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the picturesque Bay Creek Park.
Looking ahead to the holidays, the Edisto Community Chorus Christmas Concert is always popular. The performance is set for Sunday, December 7, at 6 p.m., and is sponsored by the Edisto Ministerial Alliance. The concert will be held at the Edisto Beach Baptist Church, located at 414 Jungle Road on Edisto Beach.
The 24th annual Edisto Christmas parade will be held on Saturday, December 13, at 2 p.m. Sponsored by the Edisto Chamber of Commerce, the parade begins at the 600 block of Palmetto Boulevard along Edisto Beach and ends at the Pavilion, near the Edisto Beach State Park.
Year-round, nature lovers may delve into any of the numerous tours that focus on birds and other wildlife on Edisto, including dolphins and migratory birds that pass through the area, such as bald eagles and peregrine falcons, along with thousands of shorebirds, such as the dunlin, whimbrel, and godwit.
Set in a rare, sparsely-developed corner of the world, Edisto, with its vast green spaces, ancient live oaks, wide open marsh views, and quiet, pristine beach, offers a coastal island experience uncommon today among Eastern seaboard communities. Visitors and residents arrive under a live oak canopy via Highway 174, designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation as a National Scenic Byway. Here, there’s a slower pace of life, coupled with a broad range of year-round recreational activities, all set in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. This is the coastal island destination that is said to offer its own “state of mind…any time, any season.” For more information, please call the Edisto Chamber of Commerce at 843-869-3867 or 1-888-333-2781 or visit www.edistochamber.com.
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