Food festivals commence every week across the U.S. These citywide takeovers have joined existing smaller-scale community functions, creating more opportunities to celebrate food across the state.
The start of 2025 brings with it a new year of culinary gatherings in South Carolina. From economic drivers that welcome thousands of people to niche events that celebrate Southern culture, here are 15 food festivals to check out this year.
Black Food Truck Festival
April 25 to 27
The Black Food Truck Festival, a celebration of Black-owned businesses, is returning to Charleston in 2025. What started as a gathering of about 5,000 individuals in the Charleston Battery soccer stadium has turned into a multicultural outdoor gala with food, drinks and live music.
Charleston Wine + Food Festival
March 5 to 9
Charleston Wine + Food hosts about 100 events across the Lowcountry each year as part of its 35,000-plus attendee citywide festival. In 2025, the three-day Culinary Village will take over Johnson Hagood Stadium, marking the return of the tasting extravaganza to downtown. The large gathering with samples from chefs and beverage vendors was based in Marion Square from 2005 to 2020.
Chef Anthony Marini of The Pass (right) passes out sandwiches at the Charleston Wine + Food Festival’s Culinary Village at Riverfront Park in North Charleston, Sunday, March 5, 2023.
Columbia Food & Wine Festival
April 22 to 27
The Columbia Food & Wine Festival has welcomed over 12,500 guests since it was launched in 2018. The festival typically features about a dozen events, including tastings and seated meals, in various locations across Soda City.
Editor’s Note: Columbia Food and Wine Festival, LLC has full nonprofit status under its operator, The Post and Courier Foundation, 501(c)3.
Euphoria
September 18 to 21
What began as a small three-day event with chefs, wine experts and musicians has grown into the four-day Euphoria festival that draws talent from across the country. In years past, Euphoria has welcomed Michelin-starred chefs and celebrities like Keanu Reeves.
Fall for Greenville
October 10 to 12
This three-day music and food event is one of the Upstate’s largest. Last year, it featured at least 81 concerts and 57 food vendors that catered to the nearly 150,000 visitors who flocked to downtown Greenville.
Florence Wine & Food Festival
March 27 to 29
Founded in 2017 by Tim Norwood and Frank Chisholm, the Florence Wine & Food Festival features several events over three days, including the Grand Tasting, a three-hour gathering with a similar structure to the Charleston Wine + Food Festival’s Culinary Village. This year’s headliner is acclaimed pitmaster Rodney Scott of Rodney Scott’s BBQ.
International Culinary Institute of Myrtle Beach chef Wilson Lui prepares General Tso chicken at the Grand Tasting at the 2024 Florence Wine and Food Festival.
Food & Wine Classic in Charleston
November 14 to 16
From the founders of a star-studded food festival in Colorado, the Food & Wine Classic in Charleston debuted in 2024. Led by Food & Wine, Southern Living and Travel + Leisure magazines, and presented by Explore Charleston, the event is a spinoff of the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, which was hosted in Colorado for the 41st time in June 2024.
Hilton Head Island Seafood Festival
February 19 to 23
This family-friendly festival is returning for an 18th time in 2025. A benefit for organizations like the Island Recreation Scholarship Fund, Waddell Mariculture Center and Gullah Heritage Museum, the Hilton Head Island Seafood Festival features 11 dinners, tastings and master classes over five days.
Holy Smokes BBQ Festival
November 8
With the barbecue community’s camaraderie in mind, Holy Smokes was born in 2021, when Anthony DiBernardo of Swig & Swine and Aaron Siegel of Home Team BBQ teamed up with Robert F. Moss, John F. Davis and Joe Norton to make the inaugural event happen. Holy Smokes’ collaborative format features four different villages — Texas, Traditional, New School and Coastal — with tastings at each.
The Holy Smokes BBQ Festival will take place at Riverfront Park in North Charleston in November.
Irmo Okra Strut
Date TBD
The Irmo Okra Strut, which turned 50 in 2024, typically takes place in September. The annual event starts with a parade and features rides, arts vendors and food over two days.
Loris Bog-Off Festival
Date TBD
Chicken bog has such a large following in South Carolina that there is an annual festival dedicated to the dish. Each year in the small town of Loris, located just a few miles from Myrtle Beach in Horry County, chicken bog enthusiasts congregate to share their best recipes at the town’s Loris Bog-Off Festival, which is entering its 46th year this fall.
Lower Richland Sweet Potato Festival
Date TBD
The Lower Richland Sweet Potato Festival has been around for nearly 50 years. Expect an abundance of sweet potato pie and carnival rides at the event, which welcomes thousands of people and typically takes place in the spring.
SC Peach Festival
Date TBD
Founded in 1968, the South Carolina Peach Festival continues to attract visitors from across the Upstate to celebrate the region’s traditions and agricultural heritage. The annual festival celebrates South Carolina’s standing as the No. 1 peach producer in the Southeast — South Carolina generally averages more than three times the amount in pounds of peaches harvested than Georgia each season, according to the S.C. Department of Agriculture.
SC Pecan Music & Food Festival
Date TBD
Puppeteers, marathon runners and musicians take the place of busy office workers, college students and lunch customers during the SC Pecan Music & Food Festival in Florence.
Just nine hours bring 50,000 people — more than the population of Florence — downtown. The SC Pecan Music & Food Festival, now in its 21st year, is a people-magnet, community touchstone and the Official South Carolina State Pecan Festival. Last year, it took place in November.
SC Strawberry Festival
May 2 to 3
In Fort Mill, town leaders and strawberry growers staked their claim as the Palmetto State’s central strawberry location 16 years ago, when the SC Strawberry Festival was launched. The event celebrates producers of the heart-shaped fruit in South Carolina, where strawberry sales tripled from 2017 to 2022, according to the S.C. Department of Agriculture.
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