Coastal Companion

Your ultimate guide to the coast

Garden Festival at Middleton Place – Charleston, SC

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The Garden Festival at Middleton Place is an action-packed garden festival popular with the garden enthusiast. Magnificent gardens, visionary speakers, festival market, food & wine market, music concert, community wide flower – sculpture – photography & event planning competitions, a children’s fantasy area and thousands of guests are what make the Charleston Garden Festival one of the most anticipated and must-see events of the year.

A Variety of Events for the Garden Enthusiast
Visionary speakers will appear for panel discussions, presentations and main stage speaking events. Landscape designers will create unique and innovative themed exhibit gardens. Enjoy gardening demonstrations, horticultural tours of Middleton Place gardens and selected Charleston city gardens, and family-oriented activities including a children’s fantasy area. A new component to CGF this year is The Middleton Masters, competitions spanning all skill sets in the garden, designed to inspire a budding creative genius.

Shop the Festival Market

The Festival Market will feature diverse local and national businesses displaying and selling eco-friendly, fair trade and sustainable products. CGF’s guests are encouraged to stay all day and picnic on The Middleton Place Greensward listening to afternoon concerts. The finest food vendors who are members of Slow Food USA, Lowcountry Local First and the Certified South Carolina Fresh will be catering to guests all day. Organic beer and wine will also be available to make your experience at Middleton Place truly memorable.

October 17 – 19, 2008
Hours of Operation: 9:00 am – 5:30 pm
General Admission: $15 in advance / $20 at the gate
Three Day Pass: $30 in advance / $40 at the gate
Children’s Ticket: $5 (ages 6-15, 5 & under free)
Group Discount (15 or more): Call (843) 556-6020

Coastal Carolina Fair

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Visit a classic fair just outside Charleston in South Carolina on October 30, 2008 – November 8, 2008. This is the perfect place to take your family for an old-fashioned good ol’ time Southern Style.The Coastal Carolina Fair has been around for over 50 years, and it offers the ultimate fair experience.

The Coastal Carolina Fair comes with everything you need for a family fun weekend – rides, games, competitions and most importantly – food. Leave your diet behind, because here you’ll find classics fair eats such as cotton candy, candy apples, elephant ears, corn dogs, sausage dogs, French fries and much more! And if that isn’t enough, you can also enjoy nightly fireworks and live music.

Featured artists include: Three Dog Night, Little Texas, Gin Blossoms, Bucky Covington, Heidi Newfield and Little Anthony & the Imperials.
Your kids will be thrilled by the live honey bee exhibit, the Rabbit Show, the Elephant Encounter and the Commerford Petting Zoo.

For more information visit www.coastalcarolinafair.org

Savannah Greek Festival

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St. Paul’s 57th Annual Savannah Greek Festival
St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Hellenic Center
14 West Anderson Street • Savannah, Georgia

It’s that time again Savannah, our eagerly awaited 3 Fun-filled days of Food, Music, Fun.

Join us at the St. Paul’s Hellenic Center for live Greek music, traditional folk dancing, and authentic meals and pastries. Outdoor vendors and our very own “St. Pauls Bakaliko” will be available for any greek gifts, cooking ingredients, jewelry and other hard to find items. Tours of the beautiful St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church will be offered regularly by Father Vasile Mihai exploring the history of the Orthodox faith. Discover and learn more about this Christian religion that dates back to 33 AD. You don’t want to miss this event.

• $2 Entry Tickets or 12 tickets for $10
• Raffle Tickets are also being sold for $1, with 3 GRAND PRIZES this year
• 1st – 26″ HDTV w/DVD Player
• 2nd – Digital Camera
• 3rd – Greek Groceries Gift Basket
Savannah Greek Festival takes place on October 16th, 17th and 18th, 2008
11am – 9pm Daily

Savannah Folk Music Festival

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The Savannah Folk Music Society proudly announces the events and highlights of the 19th Annual Savannah Folk Music Festival, October 10, 11 and 12, 2008. The Festival’s signature event, the Sunday Concert from 2:00 to 7:00 PM on Oct. 12, will be at historic, renovated Grayson Stadium and stars internationally acclaimed folksingers JESSE WINCHESTER and the CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS. The three day, five-event Festival is presented by the Savannah Folk Music Society and the City of Savannah’s Cultural Affairs Department, Bureau of Leisure Services. The entire Festival is FREE TO THE PUBLIC.

The Festival begins with its traditional “Folkfest in City Market” from 7:00 to 11:00 PM on Friday, Oct. 10th. The Folkfest features a variety of Savannah’s top folk performers making joyful sounds in a number of folk music styles and genre. The evening also features part one of the “Noteworthy Art” silent auction, the sale of several Gretsch guitars, some signed by celebrities and others transformed into unique art objects by leading Savannah artists.

On Saturday, Oct. 11, there are three big events.

At 9:00 AM is a Sacred Harp Sing at First Primitive Baptist Church, 3212 Bee Road. This is participatory shape note singing, a living tradition of four-part a capella Americana. This event is conducted by the Savannah Sacred Harp Singers and will conclude at 3:00 PM.

At 2:00 PM will be the finals of the “Youth Song Writing Competition.” This is the culmination of a contest between Savannah-Chatham County youth (under 20 years old) for the best original song in the acoustic folk tradition. Winners divide $1,000 in prizes from event sponsor, AMR Music. The six Savannah area youth who are finalists in the 2008 Youth Songwriting Competition are: Lauren Maxwell, age 13;Christy Miltiades, age 18; Jamison Murphy, age 12; Lauren Trivitayakhun, age 18, Zachary Williams, age 17; and Cecelia Witt, age 15. All six will present their original songs. The first place winner is also given the opportunity to present the winning song on Sunday, October 12th at the Festival’s grand finale.

The third event on Saturday is the “Old Time Country Dance” from 8:00 to 11:00 PM at Notre Dame Academy gymnasium. The dance features music from Charleston, SC string band, THE HUNGRY MONKS and the assistance of a guest caller. Beginners and contra dance veterans are welcome to have a great time. Not a dancer? The music alone is worth the visit!

The “Concert at Grayson Stadium” features JESSE WINCHESTER, THE CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROPS, MAD AGNES and THE HUNGRY MONKS as well as the winner of the Youth Songwriting Competition. The Sunday, Oct. 12 concert also includes the second half of the “Noteworthy Art” silent auction. Each of the performers will present two sets, one in an early and one in a later rotation.

The entire festival is FREE TO THE PUBLIC thanks to the support of the City of Savannah’s Department of Cultural Affairs, Leisure Services and a number of other event sponsors.

For more information, call 912-786-6953