Artisphere, Ag + Art Tour announce spring plans
In-person opportunities continue to increase
Lexington County joins 2020 Ag + Art Tour
On June 13-14, 2020, Lexington County will join 10 other counties in South Carolina for the South Carolina Ag + Art Tour.
This is a free tour for visitors and residents to tour farms and farmers markets featuring local artisans at every stop. During the tour, visitors get to see firsthand where food comes from, watch artists an action and purchase their works, maybe dance to a few melodies of Bluegrass and folk songs and basically learn more about rural life in South Carolina.
The Capital City/Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism office is supporting the Ag + Arts tour in Lexington County. And, a committee has been formed to help recruit farms and artisans for the weekend event. The committee members are Julie Colson, Jayne Baker, Kari Pepper McKeone, Jennifer Williams and Shannon Mercer (see attached photo).
“Our regional tourism office is excited to help with the Lexington County Ag + Arts event. We know that visitors are drawn to a unique experience and agri-tourism is a growing market in the tourism industry,” said Miriam Atria, President/CEO of Capital City/Lake Murray Country.
Visit AgandArtTour.com/farms to apply to be a tour site and to get more information. For information specific to Lexington County Ag + Arts, call 803.781.5940 or email julie@lakemurraycountry.com.
2020 Ag + Arts Tour Schedule
- May 30-31st: Colleton County
- June 6-7th: Kershaw County, Newberry County, Richland County, York County (East)
- June 13-14th: Chester County, Chesterfield County, Lexington County, York County (West)
- June 20-21st: Fairfield County, Lancaster County
- June 27-28th: Union County
Ag+Art Tour makes artist call in new county
Richland County to join growing tour in 2019
The South Carolina Ag + Art Tour is the nation's largest free, self-guided tour of farms featuring local artisans and farmers markets. During the tour visitors have the opportunity to visit your farm to see first-hand where their food comes from, watch artists in action and purchase their works, and learn more about rural life. The tour has had over 30,000 visitors participating since being founded in York County in 2012. It included 12 South Carolina counties in 2018 and is expanding to Richland County in 2019.
The 2019 Ag+ Art Tour will take place each weekend in June 2019 with different counties participating each weekend. The tour will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and 1-5 p.m. on Sundays.
Since 2019 will be the first year of Richland County participation in the Ag + Art Tour, the Richland County Tour Committee is getting started early so that we will have a great tour our in first year.
Take a look: Richland Artisan pre-application.
Time to make hay
The first weekend in June is just days away, and that means it’s time for another arts festival in South Carolina.
More low-key than its larger brethren, the Ag + Art Tour (Ag and Art Tour) continues to grow and in 2018 is spread throughout 12 counties. Ag + Art Tour is a free, self-guided tour of designated farms in South Carolina featuring local artisans and farmer's markets. During this tour you will have the opportunity to see first-hand where your food comes from, watch artists in action and purchase their works, dance to the melodies of bluegrass and folksongs, and learn more about rural life.
It’s the largest free farm and art tour in the nation with more 30,000 visitors participating since it began in 2012. And it’s ready to, ahem, make hay for the next four weekends in the counties of:
Chesterfield County (June 2-3)- Darlington County
- Florence County
- Horry County
- Kershaw County
- Chester County (June 9-10)
- Lancaster County
- York County
- Fairfield County (June 16-17)
- Newberry County (June 23-24)
- Union County
- Spartanburg County
- Saturdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Sundays 1-5 p.m.
Ag + Art Tour of Lancaster County seeks artisans for June 9-10
The South Carolina Ag + Art Tour is the nation’s largest free, self-guided farm tour featuring local artisans and farmers markets. During this month-long event that takes place in 12 counties, visitors will have the opportunity to see first-hand from where their food comes, watch artists in action, purchase something special, and learn more about rural life.
Founded in York County in 2012, the tour expanded to include Lancaster County in 2013, and the Ag + Art Tour of Lancaster County is seeking artisans to participate in this year's event – for free! Ag + Art Tour of Lancaster County will be held June 9 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and June 10 from 1-5 p.m. The tour is seeking artisans to show and sell handcrafted items. There is no fee for artisans to participate.
In Lancaster County, artisans can choose to be located at these participating farm sites and should indicate that choice when applying:
- Benford Brewing Company,
- Dixie Bee Supply & Country Store,
- Lancaster County Farmers Market (Saturday, June 9 only),
- The Ivy Place (Sunday, June 10 only),
- Howell Specialty Farmz,
- Fox Trot Farms,
- Rich Hill Farms.
Catawba Regional Ag + Art Tour adds Union County to lineup
On June 27 - 28, the Catawba Regional Ag + Art Tour will host its second regional tour introducing a fifth county -- Union County -- to the tour lineup. Tours will be held on Saturday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 – 5 p.m. While 2015 marks the second consecutive year for the regional tour, it serves as the fourth Ag + Art tour in the Catawba Region since launching in 2012.
[caption id="attachment_20582" align="alignleft" width="250"]
Patrician Gambino of Clay Impressions demonstrates pottery making at Calvert Training Stables during a previous Ag+Art Tour of Lancaster County.[/caption]
Already the largest free farm tour in the nation, the 2015 Catawba Regional Ag + Art Tour will be bigger than last year, stretching across five South Carolina counties: Chester, Fairfield, Lancaster, Union and York. Adding Union County farms and artisans to this year’s event will offer more than 50 farm sites for visitors to enjoy.
The Catawba Regional Ag + Art Tour is a self-guided tour and features local artisans and farms throughout the Catawba Region. The tour gives visitors the opportunity to see where their food comes from, interact with artists, purchase their work, enjoy live entertainment, and learn about rural life.
“The tour has received great feedback and most recently received the County Activities of Excellence (CAE) Award from the American Farm Bureau Federation," says Ben Boyles, co-chair of the Catawba Regional Ag + Art Tour. "Gov. Nikki Haley also encourages all South Carolinians to learn more about our heritage and history through this event and other community events.” Last year, Gov. Haley proclaimed the week of the tour as the Catawba Regional Ag + Art Tour week.
A few sites to see along the tour include Benford Brewing Company (Lancaster County), Catawba Cultural Preservation Center (York County), Elder Farms Family Homestead (Fairfield County), Fishing Creek Creamery (Chester County), Native American Studies Center and Garden (Lancaster County), Three Horse Milling Company (Union County), Rock Ridge Farm (York County), Royal Greens (Fairfield County), Simple Times Farm (Union County), and The Powell Farm (Chester County).
Each county will host a kickoff event to introduce the featured farm sites and artisans in their communities. Kickoff events include a range of activities such as barbeque feasts, concerts, farmers markets and cooking demonstrations by local chefs using local fresh produce.
County kickoff events are scheduled as follows:
- 2015 Chester County Ag + Art Tour Kickoff on June 23, 6 – 8 p.m. in downtown Chester at the Market Building (116 Columbia St., Chester)
- 2015 Fairfield County Ag + Art Tour Kickoff on June 25, 6 – 8:30 p.m. at the Mission Ridge Training and Golf Retreat in Winnsboro (601 S. Congress St., Winnsboro)
- 2015 Lancaster County Ag + Art Tour Kickoff on June 26, 7 – 11:30 p.m. at the Historic Lancaster County Courthouse (104 N. Main St., Lancaster)
- 2015 Union County Ag + Art Tour Kickoff on June 19, 6 – 9 p.m. in the 116th block of Main St. in Union near the Union County Arts Council
- 2015 York County Ag + Art Tour Kickoff on June 11, 5 – 8 p.m. during the Old Town Farmers Market in Rock Hill (115 Caldwell St., Rock Hill)
About the Catawba Regional Ag + Art Tour
The first Ag + Art Tour started in 2012 in York County as a way to merge agriculture and art. York County hosted a total of 3,000 visitors in 2012. The tour expanded to include Lancaster County in 2013 with 6,000 total visitors, and added its third and fourth counties to include Chester and Fairfield in 2014 with a total of 8,000 attendees for the entire tour.
The tour is coordinated by a regional leadership team and county-level planning teams that are coordinated by the Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service and the Olde English District Tourism Commission. Partner organizations include economic development, chamber of commerce, tourism bureau, farm and artisan organizations, education and extension office, arts councils and community volunteers.
For more information on the 2015 Catawba Regional Ag + Art Tour, contact Ben Boyles at 803-981-3021 or visit www.AgandArtTour.com for details.
Image above: Dianne Mahaffee's Fine Art & Clay Studio in Lancaster County will demonstrate pottery and painting and host a clay turtle workshop for children.
Via: Catawba Regional Ag + Art Tour
Ag + Art Tour features artists and farms in four S.C. counties
The Catawba Regional Ag + Art Tour is a free, self-guided tour of South Carolina's Catawba region farms featuring local artisans and farmer's markets. Visitors can see first-hand where their food comes from, watch artists in action and purchase their works, dance to the melodies of bluegrass and folk songs, and learn more about rural life. This year's event takes place June 21-22 in York, Lancaster, Fairfield and Chester counties, and according to event organizers, is the largest free farm tour in the nation.
The kick-off event takes place June 3 at 2 p.m. at the Gateway in Richburg, S.C., and features more than 20 farmers and artisans participating in the tour. State officials scheduled to speak during the kick-off include Hugh Weathers, commissioner of agriculture; Duane Parrish, director of the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism; Ken May, executive director of the South Carolina Arts Commission; and George Patrick, deputy secretary for the South Carolina Department of Commerce.
A list of participating farms and artisans and tips for planning your tour are available on the Ag + Art Tour website.
Founded in York County in 2012, the Ag + Art Tour expanded into Lancaster County in 2013 with Chester and Fairfield counties joining in for 2014. More than 8,900 visitors participated in the Ag + Art Tours in 2012 and 2013.
Via: Ag + Art Tour