The Simpsonville Farmers Market is an open-air market held on in-season Saturdays in the heart of downtown Simpsonville. Our vendors are local farmers and artisans, and unlike others in the area we plan and run our own market each year. We feature an array of products from the expected seasonal fruits and vegetables, to eggs and artisan cheeses, locally roasted coffee, eggs and meat, health and beauty care, and much more. What was a small affair in 2010 has now grown into a celebrated market known locally for its high quality and variety.

There is a lot to choose from, so make sure you bring your reusable shopping bags!

The US Forest Service-Pisgah Ranger District and
Haywood Community College invites people of all ages to celebrate the forest heritage
of Western North Carolina at the Cradle of Forestry in Pisgah Forest, NC during the
annual Forest Festival Day on Saturday, October 7, 2023 from 10:00 am-5:00 pm.
This activity-filled, family event commemorates the traditions of mountain living and
craft in the Cradle’s unique and beautiful setting. Forestry students, a local author,
traditional craftsmen and exhibitors will be on site during the celebration.
At the event, six colleges and universities will compete for a trophy in the Annual John
G. Palmer Intercollegiate Woodsmen’s Meet, organized by Haywood Community College
in Clyde, NC. Participating colleges and universities include: Haywood Community
College (Host) from Clyde, NC; Penn State Mont Alto, from Mont Alto, PA; Montgomery
Community College from Troy, NC; Wayne Community College from Goldsboro, NC;
Mountain Gateway Community College from Clifton Forge, VA; and NC State University
from Raleigh, NC.
Festival-goers can cheer as forestry students compete during the Woodsmen’s Meet
that has the flavor of an old-time lumberjack competition. Students will test their skills
in a number of events including archery, axe throwing, crosscut sawing, wood chopping,
chainsaw, log rolling, pole climbing and pole felling.

The Woodsmen’s Meet is held in the open field at the Pink Beds Picnic Area. This area
allows for the safety of participants and spectators while at the same time providing
opportunities to see all the action. Spectators are encouraged to bring a chair or blanket
for comfort. We are pleased to announce the return of STIHL as the event presenting
sponsor and Bojangles of Mills River will provide breakfast for each of the competing
students.
Festival goers can cut a tree “cookie” with a cross cut saw to take home. The following
community partners will also be joining us with information about their work/mission,
providing giveaways and other fun activities: STIHL, Society of American Foresters,
Hemlock Restoration Initiative, Muddy Sneakers, Local Author Gerald Ledford, Carolina
Mountain Club and FIND Outdoors.
Two presentations will be given during the event by local author, Gerald Ledford at
11:00 am and 1:00 pm in the sunken amphitheater of the Cradle Discovery Center. At
other times throughout the day, you can speak with Ledford as you climb aboard and
ring the bell of a 1914 Climax logging train engine permanently on site at the Cradle. A
PowerPoint presentation will feature railroad logging in the woods. Ledford’s paternal
grandfather Lewis Ledford worked as a mill superintendent for his brother-in-law Louis
Carr at Norwood Lumber at Forney Creek and Carr Lumber at Pisgah Forest, NC. His
father Bryson Ledford was born at Forney and named for Dr. Daniel Rice Bryson. Several
of Ledford’s great uncles were employed by the lumber mills at Forney, Ravensford,
Proctor and East LaPorte during the lumber boom of the early 1900s. The presentation
will feature many rare photographs of railroad logging in the Blue Ridge and Great
Smokies. Ledford enjoys hiking old railroad grades and has been researching the
logging railroads in western North Carolina for over 45 years. With Ron Sullivan, he has
co-authored five books of the history of logging railroads in western North Carolina
titled, “If Rails Could Talk….” The first 5 volumes are currently in print and are available
for purchase on site at the Cradle. Ledford has also provided information and
photographs for several authors as well as the Ken Burns Public Television series, “The
National Parks; America’s Best Idea.
The Trolley Company will provide a shuttle between the Cradle’s Forest Discovery
Center and the Pink Beds from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The Pink Beds Picnic Area will be
closed to non-event use for the day.
Admission for this event is $10.00 ages 13 and up; $6.00 for youth ages 4-12, and $5 for
federal pass holders and Cradle season pass holders. Children under 4 years old are
admitted free. Tickets are available on-site at the Cradle the day of the event. Cash is
encouraged however, cards will be accepted. Learn more at:

Forest Festival Day & John Palmer Intercollegiate Woodsmen’s Meet

Greenville Wine Festivals is excited to announce tickets are now on sale for the Fall Wine Festival set to take place Saturday, October 7 from 1-5 p.m. at Fluor Field at West End (945 S Main St., Greenville, SC 29601).

This 21+ event will feature more than 50 wines as well as mimosas, seltzers and beer. All beverage tastings are included in the ticket price (along with the souvenir acrylic wine glass guests will use to taste throughout the day) and food will be available for purchase. Live entertainment from Soulution and DJ Chill Will will keep attendees dancing throughout the afternoon.

Tickets are now on sale for $50, will increase to $55 after September 28 and will be $65 the day of the event (if available). The first 500 tickets sold online will be only $40, so don’t delay! There is also a new VIP ticket option available providing access to an exclusive VIP area in the stadium’s Champions Club with VIP restrooms, complimentary food and premium wine options. Only a limited number of VIP tickets are available starting at $109 and increasing to $115 after September 28 (VIP tickets will not be available for purchase the day of the event). Be one of the first 100 VIP tickets sold to pay only $99!

To purchase tickets, visit https://tinyurl.com/44c4jc6f and follow @greenvillewinefestivals on Instagram and Facebook for updates.

Claudia Whitmire Hembree, author of Jocassee Valley, shares the rich history of the area, including her eyewitness account of the 1970 flooding project and its impact on the area. Registration required. Call 864-268-5955 to register.

WNC Fall Harvest Days – Engine and Tractor Show
Antique Tractors, Hit n’ Miss Engines, Crafters, Antiques, Toys, Parts,
Tractor Pull, Food and More
Featuring: International Harvester Brands
Included in Admission:
Kids’ Corner
Tractor Pull 1964 or older – under Covered Area on Saturday 10:00am
GATE 1 opens Friday and Saturday 8am to 5pm Rain or Shine
Adult Admission $8 / Children 12 and under Free with paid Adult
Sponsorship Opportunities and Vendor Space Available
Phone: 828-435-0413 / Email: [email protected]
WNC Agriculture Center
1301 Fanning Bridge Rd
Fletcher, NC 28732

A free festival in downtown Spartanburg, the Spartanburg Soaring! International Kite Festival presented by Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System will feature live music by local musicians, performing acts/artists, tasty food trucks, local arts and crafters at a makers market, an interactive kids zone with activities for all ages, and so much more!

Attendees are welcome to bring their own kites but a limited number of kites will be available for purchase at the festival. Proceeds help support the mission of Chapman Cultural Center!

The Spartanburg Kite Club will be in attendance with their members and friends including international kite flyers who visit from Europe, Asia, Canada, and across the United States to join in on the kite flying fun!

About Spartanburg Soaring!

In spring 2014, Chapman Cultural Center launched a community-wide initiative called Spartanburg Soaring! to encourage creativity, promote healthy outdoor activity, and to build civic pride. Using kites as a common theme, Spartanburg Soaring! engaged cultural curiosity and promoted active play through activities and events all across the city. The kite festival takes place in and around the Chapman Cultural Center each year when hundreds of colorful kites fill the skies above Spartanburg.

Learn more about what to expect this year and how you can participate below!

Kids Zone

There’s fun for the whole family during the Kite Festival – including the kids activity area. In past years we’ve had Spartanburg’s Play Mobile truck, face painters, drum circles, and more!

This year’s Kids Zone will feature activities and programming like:

Makers Market

One of Spartanburg’s great assets is its artists. The Makers Market will be set up where regional artisans will sell their wares – keeping 100% of their profits – so you can keep a piece of local culture even after you fly away. Everything will be affordable and locally handcrafted.

Are you a maker or artist interested in attending? Apply here!

Community Organizations

What makes Spartanburg Soaring! so great? It’s the collaborative nature of the festival! This year we have plenty of community organizations stopping by the festival to make sure there is something everyone can enjoy! This year’s organizations will be announced soon.

Are you a local nonprofit interested in attending? Apply here!

Food Trucks

It wouldn’t be a festival without delicious, local food! This year’s food trucks will be announced soon.

Are you a food truck interested in attending? Apply here!

Music & Performances

Spartanburg Soaring! will have musicians and performers at various locations throughout the festival. From dance acts to your favorite local musicians, there’s something everyone can enjoy!

Volunteer!

We’re looking for volunteers to help make our festival a great experience! Contact Lauren Prestino-Friedrich if you are interested in being involved.

The House is on Fire by Rachel Beanland

Richmond, Virginia 1811. It’s the height of the winter social season. The General Assembly is in session, and many of Virginia’s gentleman planters, along with their wives and children, have made the long and arduous journey to the capital in hopes of whiling away the darkest days of the year. At the city’s only theater, the Charleston-based Placide & Green Company puts on two plays a night to meet the demand of a populace that’s done looking for enlightenment in a church.

On the night after Christmas, the theater is packed with more than six hundred holiday revelers. In the third-floor boxes, sits newly widowed Sally Henry Campbell, who is glad for any opportunity to relive the happy times she shared with her husband. One floor away, in the colored gallery, Cecily Patterson doesn’t give a whit about the play but is grateful for a four-hour reprieve from a life that has recently gone from bad to worse. Backstage, young stagehand Jack Gibson hopes that, if he can impress the theater’s managers, he’ll be offered a permanent job with the company. And on the other side of town, blacksmith Gilbert Hunt dreams of one day being able to bring his wife to the theater, but he’ll have to buy her freedom first.

When the theater goes up in flames in the middle of the performance, Sally, Cecily, Jack, and Gilbert make a series of split-second decisions that will not only affect their own lives but those of countless others. And in the days following the fire, as news of the disaster spreads across the United States, the paths of these four people will become forever intertwined.

Based on the true story of Richmond’s theater fire, The House Is on Fire offers proof that sometimes, in the midst of great tragedy, we are offered our most precious—and fleeting—chances at redemption.

Fee
A $2.50 fee is required to assist the organizer with costs related to A Novel Bunch.

Nourishment

We always go to a restaurant to dine after the discussion so plan to join us for this. We will eat at Takosushi.

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