Landsford Canal State Park in Catawba, SC will host their annual Lilyfest on Saturday, May 18. In 2024, there will be cultural programming opportunities through a partnership with the Catawba Cultural Center, which will staff an information table and give demonstrations. SC Humanities supported this event with a Mini Grant.
Lilyfest celebrates the peak bloom of the rare rocky shoals spider lilies, breathtakingly beautiful flowers that only bloom for a very short, but predictable, window of time. Landsford Canal State Park has the largest population of spider lilies in the world, so dense that they cover the Catawba River in a blanket of white flowers.
As part of the 2024 LilyFest, the Catawba Cultural Center will staff an information table with displays and artifacts from 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. as well as giving two thirty-minute presentations at 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. The presentations include 15 minutes of historical information and interpretation and 15 minutes of dancing and songs. Other events at LilyFest include the Katawba Valley Land Trust leading guided hikes and the Southern Songwriters Association giving musical performances. Local vendors will be selling crafts, artwork, and souvenir items. Food trucks will have drinks, snacks, and meals available for purchase, or visitors can bring a picnic lunch to enjoy along the banks of the Catawba River.
The Catawba Cultural Center is tasked with “protecting, preserving, promoting, and maintaining the rich cultural heritage of the Catawba Nation.” Learn more: https://catawbaculture.org/.
Entrance to Landsford Canal State Park is $6/adult, $3.75/SC senior, $3.25/child 6-15, children 5 and under are free. More information, including directions, about Landsford Canal State Park is available here: https://southcarolinaparks.com/landsford-canal.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c)3 organization is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos, and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually. South Carolina Humanities receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as corporate, foundation and individual donors. The National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
