Officials mull over a new Okra Strut spot

COLUMBIA -- Okra Strut officials are uncertain where the nationally recognized festival will be held this fall.

Festival leaders are weighing choices after Irmo Town Council gave the OK late Tuesday for staging some - but not all - parts of the popular September gathering around the town park.

"It will be somewhere," festival administrator Jim Twitty said. "Nothing is resolved."

The 38-year-old festival, one of Lexington County's largest, is homeless after the new owner of the Irmo Village Shopping Center ruled out its return there.

Town leaders are willing to allow art and crafts exhibits and other low-key aspects of the festival on streets around the park.

But features that attract large crowds - carnival rides, a community dance and beer sales - must go elsewhere, they decided.

That setup will protect the three-acre park from damage that large crowds cause, Mayor John Gibbons said.

The quieter aspects of the festival are "in keeping with the character we designed the park for," he said.

Festival officials could lease commercial parking lots near the park for some features, creating a multisite event, Twitty said.

Holding it at separate sites, even if only a few blocks apart, would create "a different feel," he added.

Another possibility is moving the two-day gathering to Seven Oaks Park in the St. Andrews area, about three miles south of Irmo's park, if officials there are willing. Discussions on that possibility have been held, but a decision was on hold until Irmo leaders settled on their plan, Twitty said.

Efforts to reach officials with the Irmo Chapin Recreation Commission were unsuccessful.

A decision on a site is needed by late spring to ensure enough time for preparation, Twitty said.

The festival is self-supporting, with proceeds for civic improvements, nonprofit groups and scholarships.