FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 7, 2001
Shorter days, cooler nights . . . leaves of red and gold . . .
(COLUMBIA, FLORENCE, GREENVILLE)---Suddenly summer has faded into yesterday as autumn sneaks into South Carolina! The changing season brings with it new interests and activities. Thoughts of football, pumpkins and holidays begin to occupy our minds. Crisp red apples, cotton candy and the aroma of roasted peanuts appear in various places throughout the state. This can only mean one thing---fall festivals are on the horizon!
This year the South Carolina Department of Agriculture will sponsor three festivals. For the first time, “Autumn Fest at the Market” at the Greenville State Farmers Market, 1354 Rutherford Road, Greenville, SC will be held September 14-16; followed by another event with a new name, “Autumn at the Market” hosted by the Columbia State Farmers Market, 1001 Bluff Road, Columbia, SC the weekend of September 21-23. Now in its ninth year, the Fall Plant and Flower Festival at the Pee Dee State Farmers Market in Florence will again take its usual place on the calendar, the first weekend in October---October 5-7.
The festivals are a public service to provide consumers with a variety of farm-fresh late summer and early fall produce and to help promote South Carolina farmers’ and growers’ agricultural products. All three festivals will feature an array of agricultural products including freshly harvested produce; pumpkins in all sizes and shapes; decorative squashes, ornamental corn and gourds; trees, shrubs, plants and flowers; in addition to lawn and garden accessories, furniture, tools, statuary, iron works, woodcrafts and other items for lawn and garden décor.
Hours will be the same for all festivals: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
There is no charge for admission or parking. All facilities are handicap accessible. Groups, tourists, motor coaches are welcome. So, take your family and friends to a festival near you! Even better, attend all three! Don’t forget to wear your walking shoes and take along your utility cart or wagon!
For more information about any of the festivals, contact Dick Felder or Mary Ridgeway at the South Carolina Department of Agriculture in Columbia, (803) 734-2210.