Explore family friendly events, theatres, galleries, concerts, nightlife, things to do, and more in the Greenville, SC and Upstate areas.

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Thursday, October 19, 2023
Sandburg Home Tours
Oct 19 @ 11:00 am
Carl Sandburg Home

Sandburg Home Tours – Thursday to Sunday at 11am, 1pm, 2pm.

*As of April 2022, tours are free until further notice. See rates below if they change before your visit. Online reservations are available at recreation.gov.

The Sandburg Home is a great place to start your visit! The ground floor of the home contains visitor information, exhibits, tour ticket sales, the park store, and you can watch the park video. The main and top level of the home are furnished with the Sandburg family belongings. Visitors may only access the furnished ares of the home on a guided tour.

  • Tour Reservations: Reserving in advance lets you pick your preferred house tour time. Tours fill up quickly. Last-minute, in-person tickets may not be available on the day you visit. Plan ahead and reserve house tour tickets at recreation.gov.
  • Passes: The park does not currently sell the America the Beautiful– National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Passes.
    *These passes do not waive the house tour fee, but do provide a discount.
    *You can purchase a pass online at 
    America the Beautiful – National Parks & Federal Recreational Lands Annual Pass | USGS Store.
  • 30-minute house tours are offered year-round, schedule varies by season. Visit recreation.gov for the current schedule.
  • Visitors may only tour the Sandburg Home on a guided tour.
  • Tours are limited to 6 persons.
  • Strollers are not permitted on the house tour, but there is a place to leave them for storage. Infants and small children should be carried through the house while on tour.

    Sandburg Home Guided Tour Fee
    *Tours are free until further notice, this chart is the rate when fees resume.

    (credit card only)
    $10.00 for Adults 16 and older
    $6.00 for Adults age 62 and older and all interagency pass holders
    Free for Children age 15 and under

The Vanderbilts at Home and Abroad
Oct 19 @ 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
Biltmore Estate

Included with admission

Back by popular demand, The Vanderbilts at Home and Abroad exhibition offers guests:

  • An opportunity to view rarely-seen treasures from the Biltmore collection
  • A first-hand look at the Vanderbilts’ lifestyle
  • Deeper insights into George, Edith, and Cornelia’s personalities, both at home and on their extensive travels

Access to exhibitions at The Biltmore Legacy is included with Biltmore daytime admission.

Tri-ART Mister C Live Vol 1: Air is Everywhere
Oct 19 @ 11:30 am
Brooks Center for Performing Arts

Are you ready for some hair-raising science, toe-tapping music and mind-blowing media? Join Mister C for another fun day of learning together in the lab! Mister C is no stranger to finding exciting and engaging ways to explore STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) in our everyday lives. Mister C is the Emmy nominated producer and Emmy-nominated host of Full STEAM Ahead, which airs on PBS Stations across the US. He is also the creator of the YouTube channel LearningScienceisFun. Mister C Live Vol. 1: Air is Everywhere will have everyone singing, dancing and learning to the tune of science. Students and teachers will be amazed with this fun and educational series as Mister C uses humor, media and the engineering design process to make the ordinary extraordinary!

ITAC Ribbon cutting
Oct 19 @ 1:30 pm
ITAC

Founded in 1988, ITAC specializes in delivering an integrated, design-build process to deliver turnkey facilities and solutions. Join us as we celebrate ITAC’s total project solutions with a ribbon cutting Oct. 19.

MacBeth
Oct 19 @ 2:00 pm
Flat Rock Playhouse

Our Black Box series continues as we welcome to the stage the magnificent work of William Shakespeare. Surrender to a haunting story of ambition and its dark consequences, as a military hero and his wife conspire to seize political power. A terrifyingly prophetic tale of revenge, murder, and madness, Macbeth lays bare the fallout when the darkest side of humanity cheats its way into a position of power.  One of Shakespeare’s bloodiest, scariest, and yet, most popular tragedies.

Boo in the Zoo
Oct 19 @ 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Greenville Zoo

Boo in the Zoo is back for 2023!

Greenville Zoo’s annual family-friendly Halloween event is back for its 37th year! This event features trick-or-treating and fun specialty areas including Dragon Alley, Alice’s Fun House, Ghost Town, and an extinct species graveyard. Everyone is invited to dress up and join in the Halloween fun!

Art Walk: Traditional Hawaiian Sacred Hula
Oct 19 @ 5:00 pm
Artists Collective | Spartanburg
Dancing Through Life

Beth Bullman Regula

As a child, Beth Regula always wanted to dance, as far back as she can remember, but lessons were not in the cards. So, the Spartanburg artist “learned to dance using paint and brushes. The results will be on display in her upcoming exhibition, “Dancing Through Life,” Oct. 3 through 28 in Gallery II of the Artists Collective | Spartanburg.

 

Dance will be included on Thursday, Oct. 19, during ArtWalk Spartanburg, when Kaleo Wheeler will share traditional Hawaiian Sacred Hula. An artist talk at 6:30 p.m. also will be part of the event.

ArtWalk: reception Because I Can by Judy Martin
Oct 19 @ 5:00 pm
Artists Collective | Spartanburg
Because I Can

Judy Martin

Upstate glass artist Judy Martin wants to use her art to help people look at things differently – that glass can be used in different ways and that art is about freedom. Her works of kiln fired glass will be on exhibit Oct. 3 through 28 in her show “Because I Can” in Gallery III at the Artists Collective | Spartanburg.

 

An artist reception will be held Thursday, Oct. 19, as part of ArtWalk Spartanburg.

Spartanburg ArtWalk
Oct 19 @ 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Downtown Spartanburg

Occurs on
the third Thursday of each month.

Participating museums and galleries are open from 5 – 8pm.

Light refreshments are usually served. Please check each venue’s website for more details.

VENUES

Cooking Up Confidence – Virtual Cooking Series
Oct 19 @ 5:45 pm – 7:15 pm
online

Cook along with various healthcare professionals from Diabetes Education, Food Services, and Cardiology from the comfort of your own home.

Cooking Up Confidence is a series of 4 virtual cooking classes and will cover a variety of different cooking techniques to make home-prepared meals easier and fun! Recipes can be adapted to meet your family’s needs.

5:45-7:15 PM every other Thursday: October 5, 19, November 2, 16

Classes will be taught using a FoodShare Spartanburg produce box, but are not required to participate. The recipe concepts and grocery list will be sent out by the Monday before class at the latest.

If using a box, you will need to pre-order, purchase, and pick up a box before each class. It’s easy! BOX ORDERS FOR THIS CLASS ARE DUE BY 2PM THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28TH.

Box pick up is at 147 Chapel St. Spartanburg, SC 29303 (right up from SMC, less than a mile) Wednesdays before class.

Order by calling Ruth’s Gleanings/FoodShare at 864-586-2840 or in-person at 147 Chapel St.

FoodShare boxes cost $21 credit/debit, $20 cash, or $5 for folks with SNAP. The boxes contain 9-12 varieties of produce, with a value of $20-$30, from South Carolina as much as possible. We will send out reminders for ordering before each class. You will also be responsible for purchasing some extra pantry staples and optional proteins.

There are two main goals for the classes:

1) To teach basic skills to be comfortable cooking and substituting ingredients for what you have or want to use.

2) Have fun in the kitchen cooking with others and their families!

Components of the class include food safety, cooking methods, cooking skills, food storage tips, and nutrition. We recommend these classes for people who want to expand their comfort with cooking, and we encourage children ten years and up to join in!

We will ask you to answer some survey questions for us at three different points during and after the class to tweak these classes to be effective for future community members. Participants must sign a liability waiver before participating.

4th Annual Divertimentos + Dressage: Benefit Brooke USA
Oct 19 @ 6:00 pm
Tryon International Equestrian Center

The signature event is sure to delight guests once again with a live symphony orchestra playing classical pieces to the choreographed movements of extraordinarily gifted dressage riders and their Grand Prix horses.

This year, Brooke USA inaugurates its own musical ensemble, the Dorothy Brooke Orchestra, dedicated to promoting the welfare of working horses, donkeys and mules and the people they serve across the globe. Named after Dorothy Brooke, the founder of the Brooke family of charities, the orchestra, directed by Kyle Elgarten, Assistant Conductor for the Palm Beach Symphony, is comprised of leading musicians from North and South Carolina.

“The experience of live orchestral music with musical freestyle dressage is simply captivating and unlike anything else I had ever seen. Last year, I had the privilege of attending the event and fell in love with Divertimentos & Dressage, not to mention that Brooke USA is a charity very close to my heart,” said Sharon Decker, Chair of this year’s Divertimentos & Dressage and President, Carolinas Operations, Tryon Equestrian Partners at Tryon Resort/Tryon International Equestrian Center.

Starting with registration at 6:00 PM, guests will enjoy a pre-performance reception with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. Promptly at 7:00 PM, guests will be treated to a one-hour performance. This year for the evening of music and freestyle dressage, individual adult tickets are $90 per person. To purchase individual tickets, a ringside table at $1,150, or to learn more about other sponsorship and ticket opportunities, please visit BrookeUSAevents.org.

Divertimentos & Dressage is an exciting event that supports the life-saving work of Brooke USA. Brooke USA strives to alleviate the suffering of working horses, donkeys and mules, and the people who depend on them for survival in vulnerable communities across the globe. In fact, 100 million working equines support the lives of 600 million of the poorest people on earth. These animals are the backbone of communities and their best means of making a living. Without healthy working horses, donkeys, and mules, they would not be able to put food on their tables, send their children to school or build better futures for themselves and their families.

“Divertimentos & Dressage is a fantastic opportunity for Brooke USA to expand awareness for our organization while providing the community with an exciting and unique event,” stated Sally Frick, Chair of the Brooke USA Foothills Advisory Council, a member of Brooke USA’s Board of Directors, amateur equestrian, and professional flutist. “The event is so successful that Brooke USA has made a commitment to replicating Divertimentos & Dressage in other markets. This last Spring, we held it for the first time in Wellington, FL and it was a resounding success,” added Frick.

About Brooke USA Foundation (Brooke USA): The mission of Brooke USA is to significantly improve the health, welfare and productivity of working horses, donkeys and mules and the people who depend on them for survival worldwide. We are committed to sustainable economic development by reducing poverty, increasing food security, ensuring access to water, providing a means to education, and raising basic standards of living through improved equine health and welfare. We accomplish this by raising funds and responsibly directing them to the areas of greatest need.

Brooke USA strives to alleviate the suffering and vulnerability of developing communities by funding and implementing programs that improve the quality of life and health of working equines and thereby positively impacting their economic sustainability, protecting the planet, ensuring gender equality, and guaranteeing life on land resilience. We want to see healthy, happy people and equines that work in partnership to achieve sustainable local economies.
www.BrookeUSA.org

book signing party: The Wish Painters
Oct 19 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Artists Collective | Spartanburg
Did you know the Collective is haunted?

Author Cynthia Manuel, our Webmaster, has written and illustrated an intriguing chronicle of the ghost sightings at the Collective. History buffs will get a kick out of the considerable local history that she has woven into the tale.

 

The book, The Wish Painters will be available for sale at the Collective beginning October 3rd. Just in time for that spookiest of holidays.

 

There will be a book signing party at Art Walk on October 19th from 6 – 8pm

True Home Open Mic at Flood Gallery
Oct 19 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Flood Gallery

Uncensored expression: anyone is invited to step up to share song, music, poetry, comedy, rants & raves!

The most eclectic open mic around, in a welcoming gallery setting! 6 pm signup, perform 6:30-8:30 pm.

Midnight Movies: THE TRUMAN SHOW
Oct 19 @ 7:15 pm
Falls Park

JOIN US EVERY THURSDAY NIGHT

Come early to grab a good spot and play trivia with us before the show. Movies begin at sundown in Falls Park every Thursday in September & October. Local food trucks and Poppington’s Popcorn will be on-site.

Feel free to bring your own picnic, chairs/blanket and enjoy a cozy night under the stars!

$1 wristbands must be purchased on-site if you plan on bringing alcohol.

As an important reminder for all, please leave all pets at home, do not bring glass cups or bottles and no smoking on-site.

Subscribe to receive event information via email or text.

Truman Show

He doesn’t know it, but everything in Truman Burbank’s (Jim Carrey) life is part of a massive TV set. Executive producer Christof (Ed Harris) orchestrates “The Truman Show,” a live broadcast of Truman’s every move captured by hidden cameras. Cristof tries to control Truman’s mind, even removing his true love, Sylvia (Natascha McElhone), from the show and replacing her with Meryl (Laura Linney). As Truman gradually discovers the truth, however, he must decide whether to act on it.

Bewitched Broadway
Oct 19 @ 7:30 pm
Greenville Theatre

An original musical revue, Bewitched Broadway will feature thrilling songs from terrifyingly good musicals like WickedLittle Shop of Horrors, Beetlejuice, Jeykll & Hyde, The Phantom of the Opera, Sweeney Todd, The Addams Family, and much more. This incredible revue will showcase spine-tingling talent from the Upstate, including a live band on our stage! The whole family is sure to have a Wicked good time enjoying this perfect Halloween treat.

Patrons can reserve tickets at any time 
Subscribers can reserve their seats starting: September 25
On sale to the public: October 2

Cliff Leaman Saxophone Quartet
Oct 19 @ 7:30 pm
Sigal Music Museum

Join Sigal Music Museum for an evening concert with Triptych Musica!

MacBeth
Oct 19 @ 7:30 pm
Flat Rock Playhouse

Our Black Box series continues as we welcome to the stage the magnificent work of William Shakespeare. Surrender to a haunting story of ambition and its dark consequences, as a military hero and his wife conspire to seize political power. A terrifyingly prophetic tale of revenge, murder, and madness, Macbeth lays bare the fallout when the darkest side of humanity cheats its way into a position of power.  One of Shakespeare’s bloodiest, scariest, and yet, most popular tragedies.

The Palmetto Saxophone Quartet Concert
Oct 19 @ 7:30 pm
Sigal Music Museum

Support Sigal Music Museum

 

The Palmetto Saxophone Quartet is a dynamic ensemble dedicated to exploring new repertoire and delivering unique and profound performances of classic and forgotten scores. As teaching-artists, they are also passionate about nurturing the next generation of saxophonists and chamber musicians through clinics and masterclasses. Formed in the summer of 2019, the ensemble consists of American saxophone virtuoso Clifford Leaman and former students who are now formidable and world-renowned artists in their own right: Andrew J. Allen, Sheldon Johnson, and Matthew Castner. They are proud artist-endorsers of Key Leaves products.

Associate Dean, Director of Graduate Studies, and Professor of Saxophone at the University of South Carolina, Clifford Leaman is in great demand as a soloist and clinician and has performed and taught throughout the United States, Canada, Italy, Spain, France, Slovenia, Croatia, Sweden, Australia, Thailand, Taiwan, and China. He has recorded four compact discs with piano, and two discs with percussionist Scott Herring as the RoseWind Duo. In addition to his work with piano and marimba, Leaman has performed as a concerto soloist with numerous Wind Ensembles and Orchestras and has recorded concerti by Brant, Bassett, and Dahl. He has given masterclasses at the North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference, the International Navy Band Symposium the World Saxophone Congress and the Asian Saxophone Congress in addition to major schools of music and conservatories across the globe.

Dr. Leaman is the soprano saxophone chair in the Palmetto Saxophone quartet and performs in a variety of chamber ensembles. An avid supporter of contemporary music, Leaman has commissioned and given the world premiere performances of over 35 works, including concerti by William Bolcom, Leslie Bassett, Frank Ticheli, Stacy Garrop, and Michael Colgrass. Leaman is an artist-clinician for D’Addario, Tea Leaves and the Conn-Selmer Company, Inc. and performs exclusively on Selmer saxophones and D’Addario Reserve reeds.

As an active soloist, Dr. Sheldon Johnson has presented performances at the North American Saxophone Alliance’s Biennial Conference, the College Music Society’s Regional Conference, as soloist with the Bowling Green State University Philharmonia, the Roanoke Youth Symphony Orchestra, and in many other public recitals and concerts. As a chamber musician, Dr. Johnson is currently the alto chair in the Palmetto Saxophone Quartet and has performed as part of the St. Olavfestdagene in Trondheim, Norway, the United States Navy Band’s International Saxophone Symposium, the Treetops Chamber Music Society’s concert series, the University of South Carolina’s Southern Exposure concert series, and as part of a film project with artist Matthew Barney. Dr. Johnson teaches saxophone at Radford University. He holds a BM from Northwestern University, an MM from Bowling Green State University, and a DMA from the University of South Carolina. His teachers include David Jacobsen, Frederick L. Hemke, John Sampen, and Clifford Leaman. He is a Conn-Selmer and Key Leaves endorsing artist.

Andrew J. Allen has been lauded as “a master of all sizes of saxophone,” by The Instrumentalist, while The Saxophonist has hailed his “virtuosic saxophone performance,” and The Saxophone Symposium has cited his “complete control of the instrument.”  As a concerto soloist, Allen has appeared with the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra, along with numerous academic ensembles, and he has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, and Croatia as a soloist and chamber musician. He has premiered more than two dozen works from such composers as François Rossé, Robert Lemay, Fang Man, Jesse Jones, Greg Simon, and Jay Batzner. Allen’s recordings include Step Inside: New American Music for Saxophone and Percussion and The Avenging Spirit, both on the Equilibrium label, and he is a featured soloist on Spring Shadows: Electronic Solo Works by Anne Neikirk on Ravello Records. Present chamber ensemble activities include the percussion and saxophone group Rogue Two (with Gordon Hicken), the flute and saxophone ensemble The Allen Duo (with Elise Naber Allen), and the Palmetto Saxophone Quartet. Allen is Associate Professor of Saxophone, Coordinator of Winds & Percussion, and Coordinator of the Bachelor of Arts in Music at Georgia College & State University, and he serves as President-Elect of the North American Saxophone Alliance.  His primary teachers include Phil Barham, John Nichol, and Clifford Leaman, and he has received additional instruction from Joseph Lulloff at the Brevard Music Center; Claude Delangle, Vincent David, and Arno Bornkamp at the European University of Saxophone; and Christine Rall at the Rascher Saxophone Quartet Workshop.  Allen is a Conn-Selmer Artist-Clinician, a Vandoren Performing Artist, and a Key Leaves Endorsing Artist, and he performs exclusively on Selmer Paris saxophones and Vandoren mouthpieces, reeds, and ligatures.

Joseph S. Lyons is a saxophonist and artistic designer based in Columbia, SC. Lyons is currently pursuing a DMA in Saxophone Performance at the University of South Carolina, where he researches experimental applications of modular synthesizers as independent instruments in saxophone chamber music. Lyons is an active performer and designer in the pageantry arts. From 2014-2017 he was a member of the Bluecoats Drum & Bugle Corps, and in 2023 he was the featured soloist in the Bluecoats’ SoundSport ensemble, Rhythm IN BLUE. Lyons is the Program Coordinator of TECH.tonl, a saxophone/modular synthesizer duo dedicated to exploring potential uses of creative technology. TECH.tonl has presented at CU-Boulder, CU-Denver, and the 2023 NASA Biennial Conference. Lyons holds degrees from the University of Georgia (BME), Georgia State University (MM), and Stephen F. Austin State University (PAC); his primary teachers are Connie Frigo, Jan Berry Baker, Nathan Nabb, Clifford Leaman, and Lauren Meccia.

Friday, October 20, 2023
2023 Greer Ghost Tours
Oct 20 all-day
Tours Start at Multiply Locations

Choose from two tours full of Greer’s wild and frightening stories, from its rough start on Trade Street to the bodies left behind in its first cemetery: https://www.greerheritage.com/ghosts/

2024 Legislative Survey
Oct 20 all-day
online

Advocating for Spartanburg County’s Business Community

Make sure your business’ voice is heard in Columbia by filing out the Upstate Chamber Coalition’s Legislative Priorities survey. This survey is taken by businesses from across the 10-county region, and we need to make sure Spartanburg County businesses get involved in this process.

The survey takes only a few minutes to complete, and will remain open until Monday, Oct. 23.