SCVB Blog

For the past 34 years, the town of Cowpens has held its annual Mighty Moo Festival, which honors the naval crewman of the USS Cowpens CVL25 who served in WWII and those who currently serve on the USS Cowpens CG63. Each year these veterans and their family’s return to Cowpens to celebrate their history and service to our country. Today, the festival is a four-day event that boasts a variety of exciting events and patriotic support.

The fun begins on Thursday, June 13 and runs through Saturday, June 16. With a parade, golf tournament, beauty pageant, arts and craft vendors, street dances, and a BBQ cook-off there is something for everyone in your family. Don’t miss the street dance on Saturday evening-with beach music, along with top 40’s and oldies, the music will bring everyone to their feet. The festival will conclude on Saturday night with a fireworks display that will leave everyone in awe.

While you are in Cowpens, be sure to peak in some of the stores downtown. You’ll find plenty of fabulous antiques shops to choose from. And plan to enjoy a meal at Baguettes and Co. - their crepes, sconces, quiche and baguettes and sandwiches will leave you wanting more.

For the complete schedule of events for the Mighty Moo, check out their website at www.cowpensmightymoo.com.

Summer is almost here and soon everyone will be looking for a place to cool off. Head to Shipwreck Cove Water Park, in Duncan, SC and spend the day sliding down the waterslide or relaxing in the lazy river. This family friendly water park offers fun for all ages.  After splashing in the water, take a short break and enjoy a treat from the snack bar under your very own hut or venture over to the playground area of the neighboring Stone Ledge Park.

Shipwreck Cove is open Monday-Saturdays, 10am-6pm and Sundays, 1-6pm. Admission for everyone over 42 inches is $11 and $8 for those under 42 inches. Children under 2 years old can enter for free and admission for seniors over 62 is $5.  For those who may want to visit the park often, a Season Pass will be available this year for $95 for those over 42 inches and $75 for those under 42 inches.

 For more information, visit www.shipwreckcovesc.com or call 864-949-0290.

The first full week of May is annually recognized as National Travel and Tourism Week. It was established when the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution in 1983 designating the week to be celebrated in May.

Since its establishment, the U.S. travel community has collectively marked the event in a number of creative ways, from staging local rallies and conducting media outreach to securing proclamations and resolutions from local legislative bodies.

As it has done for the last few years, the Spartanburg Convention and Visitors Bureau (SCVB) will be traveling to welcome centers across the state of South Carolina, where staff will set up a booth and provide information on what makes Spartanburg a great place for visitors, meetings & conventions and sporting events.

The SCVB will be at the Landrum Welcome Center on Wednesday, May 9th, at the Blacksburg Welcome Center on May 10th, and at the Fair Play Welcome Center on May 11th.  SCVB staff plans to use a Spartanburg-made BMW vehicle to promote the BMW Pro-Am, Zentrum Museum and Performance Driving School.

“Tourism is an industry on the rise here in Spartanburg County,” said Chris Jennings, executive director of the SCVB.

“Direct travel expenditures totaled more than $174 million in fiscal year 2008, with the lion’s share of that (21%) coming from the lodging industry.”  Jennings said more than 3700 jobs are supported, and $10 million in tax revenue is produced from tourism spending each year.

Jennings also cited steady increases in tourism indicators such as room demand, and accommodation and hospitality tax revenue over the past several months.

“We have ramped up our marketing of Spartanburg to target markets, thanks to the support of County Council, several municipalities, and our tourism industry” he stated.  “That has produced increased spending and longer stays throughout the county.”

 Nationally, travel and tourism generated $1.9 trillion in economic output in 2011. The industry also represents one of America’s largest employers, supporting 14.4 million jobs. Direct spending by domestic and international travelers averaged $2.2 billion a day, $92.8 million an hour, $1.5 million a minute and $25,700 a second.

National Tourism Week is sponsored annually by the U.S. Travel Association, a trade association that represents the common interests and concerns of travel in the United States.

If you are looking for something different to do that will have everyone in your family entertained, you’ll definitely want to check out the Spartanburg Regional Classic.  The Spartanburg Regional Classic is a closed-circuit, multi-lap bicycling race.  It will be a featured event in Spartanburg’s largest annual festival, Spring Fling. In addition, it will be included in the USA CRITS Speed Week series, which is guaranteed to draw top national racing teams and international racers.

 The race has an officially sanctioned, half-mile course that is unique for its cobblestone start/finish line, open-air plaza center, and dangerously sharp right turns. This race is set on a half mile course and has been likened to Nascar or horseracing on two wheels. It is one of many cycling activities held in May as part of National Bike Month.

 The event is a major component of the Bike Town initiative, a collaborative campaign that earned the City of Spartanburg its national designation as a Bicycle Friendly Community. That effort is spearheaded by Partners for Active Living (PAL), a nonprofit, 501c3 organization dedicated to promoting active lifestyles in Spartanburg County.

 For additional information about the Spartanburg Regional classic, please visit www.BikeTownSpartanburg.org or call 864.598.9638

Landrum, South Carolina will be in full bloom May 11-13 as they kick off a weekend celebration of gardens and art. The weekend event called “Art in Bloom” will include garden and art bazaars along with tours on Saturday of five spectacular local gardens with local artists painting on site.

On Saturday, May 12th from 9am-5pm, you will be able to tour five notable private gardens in the foothills of the Carolinas. Master Gardeners will be available to answer your questions, point out items of interest, and share their knowledge of plants appropriate to our area. To immortalize these beautiful gardens some of the area’s most accomplished artists will be painting - what fun to watch their interpretations take form. The rain date for the garden tours is May 13th.

Also on Saturday, the downtowns of both Landrum and Tryon will come alive and will be converted into a garden and art bazaar on Saturday from 9am-5pm. Foothills gardeners are very fortunate to have wonderful garden centers and suppliers providing wonderful products and expert. Many of these suppliers will come together during Art-in-Bloom to present the Art & Garden Bazaars.  The bazaars in Tryon and Landrum will feature displays to stimulate your creative juices; along with plants, trees, art, outdoor furniture and more available for you to purchase.

While you are in Landrum, be sure to stop in their shops and restaurants. Landrum is known for its quaint downtown filled with antique shops, where you can find treasures of all kinds. There are also many great restaurants to choose from when you are ready to take a break from the bazaar and eat. There is even a wine bar if you are in the mood to relax with a glass of wine.   

The event wraps up on Sunday with a sculpture exhibit at the Tryon Fine Arts Center and a lecture by guest speaker Sally Spangler Barnett ay 4pm. Following the lecture at 5pm, there will be a wine and cheese reception along with a sale of works of arts celebrating the beauty of the Carolina Foothills. This is your chance to buy a beautiful work of art memorializing the uniqueness of the Foothills.

The cost for the garden tours is $20 per person and includes entrance to all gardens. The cost for both the garden tours and Sunday’s finale event is available for $35. There is no cost to attend the garden and art bazaars. Tickets may be purchased online on this website.

Mark your calendar and get your tickets for your opportunity to see golf professionals and celebrities up close and personal during the BMW Charity Pro-Am. This celebrity golf fundraiser has hosted 96 celebrities since it started in 2001. The tournament will return to the Carolina Country Club May 17-20 for its fifth year. It is certain to satisfy your celebrity sightings wish list with star athletes, actors from popular TV shows and movies, and musicians.

Making their debut this year are actors Anthony Anderson, Danny Masterson and Grant Show along with Rascal Flatts bassist Jay DeMarcus and Golf Channel morning host Holly Sonders. Returning celebs include Steve Azar, Greg Kinnear, Cheech Marin, Gary Valentine, Kevin Sorbo, Mark Bryan, Javier Colon, Lucas Black, Rob Morrow, Terry O'Quinn, Josh Kelley, David James Elliott, Bruce Greenwood, Oliver Hudson, Patrick Warburton, Dean Felber and Jeffrey Donovan.

This event not only gives fans the opportunity to get up close and personal with celebrities, but is also raises money for local charities. The event has generated $8.6 million for a wide variety of charities over the first 11 years.

Tickets can be purchased at buybmwtickets.com and military members and those 14-and-under with an adult ticket-buyer get in free.

ATLANTA, Ga. (March 27, 2012)  Amy Phillips, Marketing & Communications Manager for the Spartanburg Convention & Visitors Bureau (SCVB) has earned certification as a “Travel Marketing Professional” (TMP) after completing the three-year program of the Southeast Tourism Society (STS) Marketing College.

 Phillips was one of 78 new TMPs recognized at the STS spring meeting in Tunica, Miss.  STS Marketing College started in 1992, and 706 people have earned TMP certification.

 The STS Marketing College is a professional development program that for one week each summer turns the facilities of North Georgia College and State University in Dahlonega, Ga., into a laboratory to teach tourism marketing.

 Instructors are working professionals in the travel industry such as convention and visitors bureau executives, public relations practitioners, sales and marketing consultants and research experts.

 “This is not another program like ours in the country; we are the envy of travel professionals in other regions,” said Bill Hardman, president and chief executive officer of STS.

 Tourism ranks at the first, second or third-largest industry in the 12 STS states that stretch from Virginia to Louisiana.

 Course topics include special events marketing, media relations, tourism advertising, vacation research, crisis management, heritage tourism and community/rural tourism. After the classroom work, students also must complete a project that relates to their employment.

 “We are very proud of Amy’s achievement,” said Chris Jennings, executive director of the SCVB.  “Her marketing and communications work is being recognized by one of the top tourism groups in the U.S.  And now Amy is making Spartanburg a revolutionary tourism destination!”

As spring begins and the flowers bloom, it is the perfect time to capture the beauty of the Spartanburg area on camera. The Spartanburg Convention and Visitors Bureau (SCVB) will once again hold a Photography Contest and is asking you to go out and show us how you see Spartanburg through your lens. 

This is the fifth year that the Convention and Visitors Bureau has held a Photography Contest and as in the past, the winning pictures will be used in the 2013 Spartanburg Visitors Guide. 

The guide will be organized around 5 themes and the SCVB is specifically looking for pictures that are representative of each theme – Arts and Culture, History and Heritage, Agri-Tourism, Made in Spartanburg, and Recreation. Submitting pictures of community events, shops and restaurants is also encouraged.

“We think this is a wonderful way to get locals out to explore our County and to take pride in what we have to offer here and ultimately share it with visitors to our community,” says Amy Phillips, Marketing and Communications Manager for the SCVB. “We also wanted to start the contest early this year so that they beauty of the spring, summer and fall could all be captured”.

Please submit your photographs on CD-ROM (digital files only, highest quality) with a numbered print out of titles/descriptions of the photos being entered by Monday, August 1^st to Amy Phillips, 105 N. Pine Street, Spartanburg, SC 29302. Please be sure to include your contact information with the pictures you submit.

Mark your calendar for the official storytelling festival of South Carolina, held each year in Woodruff, SC. We all love a good story. As children, we are read stories before bed time and later as we grow older we begin to create our own stories and share them aloud with others. Storytelling allows our minds to enter another world and get lost in the tale.

The town of Woodruff knows the importance of a good story. Woodruff is a small town of about 5,000 people and is located in Spartanburg County. In 1985, two Woodruff natives attended the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN and came back inspired with a dream in their hearts to have a storytelling festival in their own town. And that is where the story begins. The first Stone Soup Storytelling Festival was held in 1986 and only two years later in 1988, it was recognized as the official storytelling festival of South Carolina by the General Assembly.

The 2012 Stone Soup Storytelling Festival will be held April 20-21. Friday evening you won’t want to miss the traditional stone soup supper (stone soup and cornbread), which will be followed by an evening of ghost stories. The agenda for Saturday is full of storytelling fun, so you may want to purchase a special all day ticket for all the storytelling events (workshops are extra). The cost is $10 for individuals or $20 for families. The day will kick off with a 5k run and a cycling event that will take you to Walnut Grove Plantation and the Price House. Following the run, stick around for breakfast, workshops, storytelling, a youth theater production, a story slam competition, and the grand finale concert Saturday evening. Throughout the weekend, local Woodruff restaurants will be serving up “Stone Soup Specials.

For a complete list of all of the activities during the festival, visit www.stonesoupsc.com or call the Woodruff Library at 864-476-8770. Make sure you make plans to be there, so you will have your own story to tell!