Surfside Beach Family Festival features crafts, music and food

Hurricane Ian pushed the Surfside Beach Family Festival forward a month, from the usual first Saturday in October to Saturday, Nov. 5.

The place to be is Surfside Drive between Hollywood Drive and Dogwood Drive between 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Surfside Beach PIO and event supervisor Robert Blomquist said around 4,500 guests generally turn out for the family-oriented event that’s been happening for more than 30 years.

“We shut down Surfside Drive from Dogwood by the ocean all the way up to Hollywood just past the library, so that whole road is filled with craft vendors and food vendors and the bands are on the two ends,” he said.

“We have something for everybody, not just for the adults to come out and enjoy the day, but also for the kids.

“We put our focus on the family events and that’s one of the reasons the event has lasted so long.”

The area next to the library with the park, playground and tennis courts will also have inflatables, a petting zoo, and for the older kids, a rock-climbing wall.

There will also be a trackless train that looks like Thomas the Train for the kids to ride.

There’ll be about 50 craft vendors selling everything from women’s clothing to homemade wooden carvings, goat milk soap and handcrafted jewelry.

About 30 food vendors will have a variety of goodies including funnel cake, Italian ices, hot dogs and gourmet popcorn.

And about 30 businesses including financial experts and real estate professionals will be on hand.

Entertainment this year will be “Ntranze” from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. and “Carolina Soul” from 1-4 p.m. That could change, so Blomquist suggests checking the website, www.surfsidebeach.org.