Events Calendar
Explore family friendly events, theatres, galleries, concerts, nightlife, things to do, and more in the Greenville, SC and Upstate areas.
Interested in adding an event to our calendar? Please click the green “Post Your Event” button below.
Date: Saturday, August 9, 2025
Location: Croft State Park SHELTER #3
Address: 450 Croft State Park Rd, Spartanburg, SC 29302
Time: 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM (this time frame is extended to allow everyone to complete a basket. You may finish much earlier based on your skill set).
Note: Camp Croft State Park’s Shelter #3 has restrooms within walking distance and a hilltop view of the forest overlooking Lake Craig.
Cost: $50 per participant (recommended ages 8+)
Purchase your tickets here: https://carolinabamboo.org/product/kuboo-basket-weaving-saturday-august-9-2025/
Get wild and “embrace the invase” in this kudzu/bamboo= “KuBoo” Basket Weaving class! Get to know split bamboo and kudzu as weaving materials. Learn how to harvest and strip a kudzu vine. Engage with refined, hand-crafted split bamboo. Weave the Kudzu and Bamboo together to create your own personalized and unique KuBoo basket!
We will provide baubles and decorations for you to choose from to make your basket unique. Many of these embellishments will be made of bamboo, including beads and buttons made from canes and rhizomes.
We will also provide all weaving materials, including split bamboo that has been “defanged”, meaning: The edges of all split bamboo materials will be processed beforehand using the traditional Japanese habatori, mentori and senbiki methods. These techniques remove the sharp edges and splinters from split bamboo. Our refined split bamboo will make weaving with bamboo more enjoyable, manageable and easier on the hands. Watch our YouTube video for a quick visual overview of these three processes here: https://youtu.be/omEk3KkTLFk
While we weave, Aaron will be available for a Q&A session about bamboo. Bamboo is a mysterious plant to many. Ask Aaron questions to learn more about bamboo while you weave.
What to bring:
A water bottle
A “Can-do” attitude!
We will provide:
Electric industrial fans
All crafting and weaving materials and tools
Camp Croft State Park’s Shelter #3 has restrooms within walking distance and a hilltop view of the forest overlooking Lake Craig.
Additional Cost: Croft State Park is over 7000 acres and offers everything from a playground to hiking and biking trails. As a state park, there is an admission fee: $3 for adults over the age of 15, $1.50 for seniors, $1 for kids ages 6-15, and free for children age 5 and under. This admission fee is NOT included in your ticket price and must be paid separately upon entry into Croft State Park. Note: You may choose to avoid this fee by requesting a SC State Parks Passport from your local library. If you choose this option, we recommend making a request for this item a few weeks in advance before the class, due to possible high demand and low availability.
Stop by M. Judson for a free pop up event with poet Chelsea Fraser!
Things to Know
Festival Entry
The Sourwood Festival is free and open to the public.
Pet Policy
Furry friends are welcome to attend the Sourwood Festival! All pets must be on a leash at all times. Please clean up after your pet.
Festival Location
The Sourwood Festival takes place in historic downtown Black Mountain. Vendors and festival events will be hosted on Cherry St., Sutton Ave, Black Mountain Ave, Broadway Ave, Vance Ave and Town Square.
Food
The Sourwood Festival will feature snack vendors. We highly encourage attendees to visit one of the over 50 local restaurants Black Mountain and Swannanoa have to offer!
Road Closures
During the Sourwood Festival, these streets will be closed to traffic, creating a pedestrian-friendly experience – Cherry St, Sutton Ave, Black Mountain Ave, and a small portion of Vance Ave.
Parking & Shuttle
Free public parking is available at the old Bi-Lo, and additional parking is at the Black Mountain Ingles near the Garden Center. A free shuttle will pick up at this location every 15 minutes and drop festival goers off on Vance Ave.
Bathrooms
Public restrooms are available on Cherry Street and in Town Square, and there will be regular and handicap porta-jons throughout the festival area.
Join us for a free event celebrating poet Amy Pence’s new collection, We Travel Towards It. She will be in conversation with fellow poet Claire Bateman, so this is not one you want to miss!
A lavish Sweet Sixteen turns deadly in this twisty, pulse-pounding novel — serving a fresh take on a classic locked-room mystery for fans of The Guest List and First Lie Wins. If you love Megan Miranda and Stacy Willingham, you do not want to miss Books Over Drinks with Kelsey Cox!
It’s Bookish Game Night at M. Judson! Join us and our friends at the Greenville County Library for a night of Literary Bingo, complete with prizes. Look for this event once a month, for a regular dose of fun.
This is a free event.
Stop by M. Judson Booksellers for a free pop up with author Sandy Lundy!
On August 18 at 6 PM, we’ll be hosting Victoria Benton Frank for a discussion of her latest novel, The Violet Hour, a heartwarming and empowering novel about thriving after tragedy.
Get a 10% discount on the book when you RSVP on Eventbrite and present it at the bookshop register!
A heartwarming and empowering novel about thriving after tragedy, from the author of the “enchanting, hilarious, and insightful” (Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times author) My Magnolia Summer. If you love Kristy Woodson Harvey and Mary Kay Andrews, you do not want to miss Lunch & Lit with Victoria Benton Frank!
A heartwarming and empowering novel about thriving after tragedy, from the author of the “enchanting, hilarious, and insightful” (Patti Callahan Henry, New York Times author) My Magnolia Summer. If you love Kristy Woodson Harvey and Mary Kay Andrews, you do not want to miss Lunch & Lit with Victoria Benton Frank!
Never been to Lunch & Lit? Your ticket includes entry to the event, a signed copy of the book, and a three course meal from Soby’s.
Join us for a special free reading with Greenville Poet Laureate Glenis Redmond for her new poetry collection, Over Yonder!
Georgann Eubanks will visit the bookshop on August 19th at 6 PM to share her new book, The Fabulous Ordinary: Discovering the Natural Wonders of the Wild South, “an engaging and enlightening tour of the US South’s flora and fauna.”
Get a 10% discount on the book when you RSVP on Eventbrite and present it at the bookshop register.
A charming, heartfelt novel about the bonds of family, whether found or foretold, from the author of The Sweet Taste of Muscadines. If you love Patti Callahan Henry and Kristy Woodson Harvey, you do not want to miss Books Over Drinks with Pamela Terry!
Friday, August 22 at 12:30
Chapman Cultural Center
The Last Train Robber
Did You Know America’s Last Train Robber Lived Out His Years in Spartanburg, SC?
He never meant to rob a moving train—or get caught in a shootout just blocks from the White House. But it really happened.
Climb aboard with author Wilson Casey to hear the firsthand account of the last moving train robbery in American history. In Bedlam on the W. Virginia Rails, Casey shares the incredible true story of Luman “Lu” Ramsdell, as told by the train robber himself. Dubbed “The B&O Zoot Suit Bandits” by the national press, Lu and his gang became infamous for their violent 1949 heist.
Lunch and Learn is sponsored by the Chapman Cultural Center
There are a limited number of seats, be sure to register in advance (even members!)
Admission: $5 for non-members / Free for SCHA members.
Don’t forget to bring your lunch!
Allen Lyle will be dropping by Hub City Bookshop on August 23 at 11 AM – 1 PM to sign copies of Red Sun Rising, the first installment in an exciting dark fantasy/sci-fi series.
We would love to know you are coming!
Join us for a special Golden Hour to celebrate the release of R.F. Kuang’s highly anticipated novel, Katabasis! This event is free, with specialty cafe items and books available for purchase. Author will not be here.
Join local author Scott Gould at The Bohemian Cafe (2 W. Stone Ave.) for the launch of his latest novel, Peace Like A River!
From the “great storyteller” (Natalie Jenner, author of The Jane Austen Society) Brooke Lea Foster, a captivating new novel set in 1965 and 1978 about a graduate student who returns with her sisters to their family’s summer home on Martha’s Vineyard and begins to unravel old family secrets. If you love Beatriz Williams and Karen White, you do not want to miss this Books Over Drinks event!
The Virgin Suicides meets I Have Some Questions For You with a dash of the horrors of Nightbitch in this debut suspense following one woman as she begins to uncover the truth of the death of her estranged best friend and the Sylvia Plath adoring girls they attended college with decades ago. If you love Kate Elizabeth Russell and Rebecca Makkai, you do not want to miss Books Over Drinks with Penny Zang!
Join us for a free In Conversation event with Southern author Pete Candler to celebrate his book, A Deeper South!