Paddle Fest, Festa Italiana, Riverfest heat up summer | Best Bets
SATURDAY-SUNDAY, TUESDAY | 06.25-06.26, 06.28
Festivals include paddles, Italian culture, riverside fun
▪ Fifth annual “Family Day and Paddle Fest,” Saturday at Union Station, 333 Henry Road (S.C. 41) Hemingway and benefiting Tara Hall Home for Boys, based in Rose Hall section of Georgetown County – with paddle launch registration 7-10 a.m., for $40 ages 17 and older, $25 ages 8-16, and free ages 7 and younger (with adult on vessel), including gate fee, trip and meal, and kayak/canoe rentals available for $10. Festival, for people not paddling, gate open 8 a.m., for $10 ages 17 and older, and $5 ages 8-16, including meal, also with children’s barrel race for ages 8-12 at 1 p.m. 843-546-3000, 843-546-3666 or www.tarahall.org.
▪ “Fire, Smoke, and Deadly Showers of Cast Iron: Artillery at Fort Fisher,” 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at Fort Fisher State Historic Site, 1610 Fort Fisher Blvd. S. (U.S. 421), Kure Beach, N.C., including period firings of field artillery pieces, costumed interpreters covering drill and military equipment used in Civil War battles from December 1864-January 1865, and discussion at 2 p.m. about eastern N.C. homefront at that time. Free. Through Sept. 4, site open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays and noon-5 p.m. Sundays. 910-458-5538 or www.nchistoricsites.org/fisher/.
▪ “Festa Italiana,” by Order Sons & Daughters of Italy in America, Myrtle Beach Lodge 2662, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday and noon-7 p.m. Sunday at Myrtle Beach’s Grand Park on Farrow Parkway, across from The Market Common. $1. 848-333-7059 or or www.sonsofitalymb.com.
▪ “Conway Riverfest,” 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday – including fireworks at 9:30 p.m. – Conway’s Riverfront Park, at end of Elm Street, and on Marina Drive. Free for Marina Drive activities, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.; and $5 ages 13 and older, otherwise free, for Riverfront Park area, 3-10 p.m., with hand stamps available for re-entry. 843-248-2273 or www.conwayriverfest.com.
▪ “Surf’s Up! Beach Art & Music Event,” 1-6 p.m. Sunday, with more than 40 beach-theme artworks displayed, decorated surfboards from Eternal Wave Surf Shop, and music by Steve Carrigan, singer-keyboardist, in Surfside Beach’s Dick M. Johnson Civic Center, 829 N. Pine Drive, behind town hall on U.S. 17 Business. Free. 843-650-9548 or www.surfsidebeach.org.
▪ At Old Bridge Museum, 109 Shoreline Drive W., Sunset Beach, N.C., open 5-8 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesdays, with variety of weekly programs, June 28-Aug. 11: “Life Along The Coast” on Tuesday evenings; “Young Explorers,” for ages 5-13, 10:30 a.m.-noon Wednesdays; and “Family Fun Night,” 6 p.m. Thursdays. Also, in “Project PBJ,” jars of donated peanut butter and jelly collected through June, for relay to Brunswick Family Assistance and Seaside United Methodist Church food pantries to distribute to families with children. 910-363-6585 or oldbridgepreservationsociety.org.
FRIDAY | 06.24
Scotty McCreery returns to House of Blues
Scotty McCreery, a baritone country crooner from Garner, N.C., in suburban Raleigh, will play House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach at 8 p.m. Friday, with Morgan Myles opening.
The winner in 2011 of Fox-TV’s 10th season of “American Idol,” McCreery has scored hits including “I Love You This Big,” “The Trouble with Girls,” “See You Tonight” and “Feelin’ It.” Tickets are $27.50 general admission, plus processing fees.
Also in the next week at House of Blues, in Barefoot Landing, on U.S. 17:
▪ Jeezy, 9 p.m. Saturday. $39.50, plus fees.
▪ All summer, by Murder Mystery Productions (www.murdermysteryproductions.com) – “Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre,” 7 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, for $42; and “Wedding Bells for a Southern Belle” dinner show, 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, for $49, including tax and gratuity.
▪ Free concerts on The Deck – Gypsy Riot 7-11 p.m. Saturday, and “Sweet Reggae Sundays,” 6 p.m. weekly, and Orphan Annie 7-11 p.m. Monday-Thursday.
▪ Corey Smith, with Muscadine Bloodline, 9 p.m. July 1. $17.50 general, plus fees.
Details at 843-272-3000 or www.hob.com/myrtlebeach.
SUNDAY | 06.26
Light up history with tour of Lighthouse Island
The Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge and Coastal Expeditions will lead a tour to the two historic structures on Lighthouse Island on Sunday.
After a slide presentation at 10 a.m. in the Sewee Visitor and Environmental Education Center, on U.S. 17 in Awendaw, about 35 miles south of Georgetown, guests will drive about 10 miles north to McClellanville and board a ferry at 11:30 a.m. at 405 Picnkney St., for the hourlong, 7-mile, eco-tour crossing to the island, from which the return voyage will depart at 3:30 p.m.
Because the destination is in a National Wilderness Area, without a docking area, participants will wade ashore from ankle-to-knee-deep water and walk about a half-mile on a grass path to the lighthouses. The 65-foot-tall conical lighthouse was built in 1827, and an octoganal lighthouse from 1857 and 150 feet in height, dates to 1857. Both lights are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Other outings for this isle are 11:30 a.m. Oct. 9 and 9:30 a.m. Nov. 20 – both Sundays.
Tickets are $45, by advance reservation only, through Coastal Expeditions at 843-884-7684 or bullsislandferry.com.
SUNDAYS | Through 07.31
Ground Zero presents ‘Sunday Celebrations’ concerts
The annual “Hot Summer Nights,” by the Oceanfront Merchants Association in downtown Myrtle Beach, includes “Sunday Celebrations” concerts, coordinated by the Ground Zero teen ministry of Myrtle Beach (843-945-9440 or www.mygroundzero.com).
They’re all free, at 7 p.m. Sundays in the city’s Plyler Park, at Mr. Joe White Avenue and North Ocean Boulevard, with this scheduled lineup: Among The Thirsty on June 26, Manafest July 3, J.J. Weeks Band July 10, Abandon July 17, 7eventh Time Down July 24, and Remedy Drive July 31.
Other “Hot Summer Nights” highlights, and free, in the Myrtle Beach boardwalk area include a Kids Carnival, 6-9 p.m. Mondays through Aug. 15 in park; “Boardwalk Elvis” concerts by David Chaney, 6:30-8 p.m. Wednesdays in park; band concerts 7-9 p.m. Wednesdays at Ninth Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard, and 7-10 p.m. Fridays in Plyler Park; and fireworks off Second Avenue (North) Pier, 10 p.m. Wednesdays (but not July 1 or 6) through Aug. 17, and on July 4.
Details at 843-779-2662 or www.myrtlebeachdowntown.com.
SATURDAY, SUNDAY | 06.25, 06.26
Four other series fill weekend air with music
All free to attend:
▪ Sea Notes Choral Society “American Patriot – A Salute to America,” 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at Brunswick Community College Odell Williamson Auditorium, off U.S. 17 in Supply, N.C. 910-363-4183 or www.sea-notes.com.
▪ “Arts at the Church,” with Festive Brass of Myrtle Beach, 3 p.m. Sunday at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 2061 Glenns Bay Road, west of Surfside Beach. 843-650-0313, or email arts.at.the church@gmail.com.
▪ “Sunday Night Summer Concert Series,” with Garden City Baptist Ensemble, 6 p.m. Sunday at First Baptist Surfside Church, 711 16th Ave. N., Surfside Beach. 843-238-0206.
▪ “The Rectory Lawn” Summer Music Festival, with John Lammonds and Blue Dogs Acoustic Trio, 6-9 p.m. Sunday outside All Saints (Anglican) Church, 3501 Kings River Road, Pawleys Island. 843-237-4223, ext. 205; allsaintspawleys.org/announcements; or email holly@allsaintspawleys.org.
This story was originally published June 23, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Paddle Fest, Festa Italiana, Riverfest heat up summer | Best Bets."