Estill Fall Festival – Growing Strong Together

The Town of Estill has reimagined their annual fall festival to include a variety of arts and humanities events. The “Growing Strong Together” festival will take place November 8 – 11, 2017 in the town of Estill in Hampton County. SC Humanities supported this event with a Major Grant in September 2017.

Driven by a desire to plan an enriching and fiscally responsible town event, a hard-working committee of citizens, led by Councilwoman Dwanda Bolden and Councilman Charles Savino, has created an interesting line-up of events that make the most of the community’s existing historical, natural, and cultural assets. The committee hopes that the event will jump start the engagement of citizens in town affairs, give them a greater sense of place and connection, and unify the community in addressing its challenges.

Some of the planned events include:

November 8, 2017, 6pm at the Bull Durham Building

  • Taste of the Town: Each cook is asked to decorate their own table and dress to impress as they serve their recipe to the public. Prizes will be awarded for most beautiful table display. Entries will be photographed and recipes included in a book to be published at the end of the Festival.
  • The Unique Art of Floyd Gordon: The Unique Art of Floyd Gordon, is an exhibit of the art of Orangeburg’s Floyd Gordon, which celebrates the heritage, culture, and history of rural South Carolina. Gordon’s art beautifully depicts scenes which will be very familiar to residents of Estill and the surrounding areas. For decades, Gordon has captured the beauty and traditions of people in our region. While he pays tribute to farmers and agricultural scenes in many of his works, Gordon equally lifts up musicians and performing artists in his Jazz Series. Floyd Gordon’s creations are striking. His acrylic, watercolor, and mixed media paintings have a dramatic feel and are filled with vibrant tones. He is an inductee of the National Black College Alumni Hall of Fame and the recipient of numerous national awards, including being named Penn Center’s 2016 Featured Artist. ​This professional art exhibition should not be missed.

November 9, 2017 , 10am – 2pm at the Bull Durham Building

  • Senior Day: Senior citizens will be treated to a meal, health checks, and giveaways at this free event. Volunteers will be on hand to chronicle each senior’s favorite memory from Estill’s past to publish in the Fall Festival book.

November 10, 2017, 6pm at the Festival Center (Behind the Fire Station on 2nd St.)

  • Children’s Parade: This event is focused on childhood literacy. Kids should dress up as their favorite literary character for our 6pm Children’s Parade. There will be awards for best costume. The parade will start at the Elementary School and make its way to our Festival Center at the Estill Walking Trail behind the fire station. There are goodie bags with literacy related giveaways for the children. At the park there will be bounce houses, slides, a train ride, games, etc.
  • The Gullah Ladya Gullah performer from Charleston, will do a fireside presentation of traditional Gullah folktales and spooky stories by the fire featuring old time music and instruments.

November 11, 2017, 11am – 6pm at the Festival Center (Behind the Fire Station on 2nd St.)

  • History Tours: There will be history tours of important sites in Estill by trolley. Tours will depart from the festival center every hour. Stops will include the War Memorial, the Lawtonville Baptist Church, the Estill Museum, the original Estill blacksmith shop, the original Estill Physician’s offices, Estill United Methodist Church, and more.

The full schedule of events can be found on the website at: http://www.estillfallfestival.com, and you can get more information by contacting EstillFallFestival@gmail.com.

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 21-member Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and/or 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.