Event Type : Regional and Local Festivals

In 1985 The Manager of the St. George, South Carolina Piggly Wiggly Supermarket,  Bill Hunter was giving a broker of a large grits company an order.  The broker made a remark that his company sure shipped a lot of grits into St. George, considering how small the town was and its meager population(around 2000 at the time).  A week or two later another broker from another major grits company made a similar remark about his company shipping such a large amount of grits into this small town.  The Manager spoke to the two Owners of the Piggly Wiggly, John Walters and George Axson.  They all agreed that if it proved to be true, that we did consume a disproportionately large amount of grits, that they would do some research to find out just how much we did eat.

As it turned out, the people of St. George actually ate more grits per capita than any other place in the world!  We were the GRITS EATING CHAMPIONS!!!  Thus the World Grits Festival was born.

The Blessing of the Fleet is an annual festival that the Darien-McIntosh County Chamber of Commerce hosts to celebrate our biggest industry, shrimping. This three day fun-filled event consists of an art show, various food and drink vendors, arts and crafts, a YMCA 5K, children’s activities, a classic car show, nightly live entertainment and a marine parade.

On Sunday we Bless our shrimpboat captains with a safe and prosperous season. Darien’s Blessing of the Fleet is the largest on the East Coast! This weekend long festival is a great celebration of food, family and fun that usually draws in a crowd of 30,000+ throughout the weekend. We welcome you to come and join in our fellowship!

The world famous Crawfish Festival began in 1960 as a spin-off of the Breaux Bridge Centennial Celebration. The Louisiana Legislature had just named Breaux Bridge the Crawfish Capital of the World in 1959. The festival is now known around the country and even the world. Every May, thousands of hungry people flock to Breaux Bridge to be part of the festivities.
The Crawfish Festival has also become one of the largest gatherings of world famous Cajun musicians. All weekend long you can hear the sound of authentic Cajun, Zydeco and Swamp Pop music rising from the festival. Whether your musical taste is Cajun or Creole, you can witness over 30 bands perform over the three day event if you think you have the stamina. It’s a perfect opportunity to see our musical tradition passed from generation to generation. Watch the Cajun dance contests, and if you’re brave, join in. There’s no better way to learn. There are even Cajun music workshops held in the heritage tent.

If Cajun or Creole music excites you, there’s no better place to experience it than at the Crawfish Festival!

South 40 Smokehouse does not participate as a vendor, but, this is one of our favorite festivals of the year for the past 40 years.

The Atlanta Ice Cream Festival was founded in 2010 out of a desire to provide family fun in which the entire community could enjoy. This fun event features America’s Favorite Dessert – ICE CREAM, but also includes a variety of health and wellness engagement activities, fitness routines, food & non-food vendors, live local musical entertainment and even a morning 5K Fight Cancer Walk. Come enjoy America’s favorite dessert, BUT also be ready to enhance your mind on maintaining a well balanced lifestyle all year long.

Come Get The Scoop On Atlanta & Wellness!

Each year The Atlanta Ice Cream Festival engages with the community by selecting a local non-profit health agency to support and raise awareness around their health & wellness initiatives.