If you’re in a Charleston beach house, you know there’s no doubt that we’re in the midst of festival season, which is truly in full swing and promises to swing even higher as Spoleto approaches.
This is such an ideal time to be in the Lowcountry. Flowers are blooming, temps are positively glorious, and high humidity is a thing of the past/future.
It’s a perfect time to book any of our rental homes South Carolina, be they Isle of Palms vacation rentals or Folly Beach house rentals Charleston SC. It’s not yet peak season for SC vacation rentals, yet there’s so much to do, and the weather makes you want to be outside, lounging on the deck of your Charleston beach house.
There are also a couple fun festivals coming up this weekend, each based on a delicious food ingredient, and they are within easy reach of our beach rentals Charleston.
fresh berry deliciousness near your Charleston beach house
First up is one that is quite close to our Isle of Palms luxury rentals. It’s the Lowcountry Strawberry Festival, taking place Thursday evening through Sunday, April 21st – 24th, at Boone Hall Plantation.
The Strawberry Festival is a local favorite. After all, it features fresh-from-the-field deliciousness and is packed with family-friendly activities ideal for all ages staying in your Charleston beach house.
- Strawberry U-Pick Fields are open during event daytime hours
- New carnival thrill rides
- Acrobatic dogs of TV’s "K-9's In Flight"
- Rockin' A Ranch Petting Zoo
- Pig races
- Live music
- Carnival rides
- Velcro Wall
- Tiki Island Obstacle Course
- Giant inflatables
- Largest Jump Pillows in the state of South Carolina
- A three-story slide tower
- Interactive games by SCDA, vendors too
- Playground fun, costumed characters
- Strawberry Recipe Contest
- Two Pie-eating Contests
- The Miss Berry Princess contest
So you can pick your own berries Friday through Sunday during the festival and bring them back as a tasty souvenir of your day. Admission to the festival itself is $10 (ages 12 and up), $5 for ages 3-11. Kids 2 and under admitted free with an accompanying adult. Ride tickets sold separately.
Here’s the official festival page with hours and all the details: http://boonehallplantation.com/lowcountry_strawberry_festival
The festival is an annual event put on by the good folks at Boone Hall Plantation, one of the Lowcountry’s preeminent locales. From our Isle of Palms vacation rentals, just cross the IOP Connector into Mount Pleasant, then take 17 North. You can’t miss it, it’s up a short ways on your left on Highway 17 (address: 2330 N. Hwy. 17, Mt. Pleasant).
Speaking of Boone Hall, it’s a major tourist destination with the famous Avenue of Oaks, plantation home and grounds steeped in 330 years of history. It’s also a working farm. In fact, it’s one of the few places in America that have been producing crops continually for over three centuries, on over 100 acres tucked in the middle of booming Mt. Pleasant. The cool thing is, locals and visitors alike can enjoy the bounty.
They sell their fresh produce at the Boone Hall Farms store, just north up Highway 17 on the right. It functions as a year-round farmers market, specialty food/gift store and cafe. It’s a great place to shop and stock your luxury house on Isle of Palms with local Lowcountry fare any day of the week, not just when the area FARMERS MARKETS are open.
Another neat festival near your Charleston beach house...
If you feel like driving a bit, this weekend’s also the latest installment of a rather old festival, which celebrates one of the primary reasons Charleston became the historically important city it was - rice. It’s the 41st annual Colleton Rice Festival, taking place this Friday and Saturday (April 22nd – 23rd) in Walterboro.
The festival is free, and boy do they have a lot of things going on. Get set for:
- Great family entertainment for all ages in your Charleston beach house
- Plenty of arts and crafts vendors
- Rice cooking contest
- Corn hole tournament (a Lowcountry tradition)
- A parade
- The 5K Rice Run/Walk
- “Rise Above” BMX Ramp Shows
- An organized bike ride - the “Tour de Lowcountry”
- Palmetto Dock Dogs competition
- Dog show
- Lots of live music (including performances by the Port Authority Band and Intensity)
- Taste of Walterboro
- Miss Rice Festival Pageant
- Tennis, golf and croquet tournaments
- Elvis in the house! (or a reasonable facsimile thereof)
- Fireworks display
For your GPS, party central is 225 East Washington Street in Walterboro. It’s a nice day trip from your beach house Charleston SC.
The official festival website has the full schedule and all the info: http://ricefestival.org/
So enjoy and celebrate two favorite Lowcountry ingredients, strawberries and rice. Remember to call EP if you’re looking for a Charleston beach house. We may be a little biased, but we believe we have the best ones around.
All best,
Lowcountry Lisa
your Isle of Palms vacation blogger