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Nation’s largest free farm + arts crawl announces 2023 event

No bull! Annual event has ... bumper crop of counties

The annual South Carolina Ag + Art Tour is adding Aiken and Sumter counties while returning eight previously participating counties to feature a cornucopia of more than 100 tour sites during the 2023 iteration of the event—the largest such in the U.S.

[caption id="attachment_52401" align="alignright" width="300"] Click to enlarge.[/caption] Will Culler, Clemson Extension agribusiness agent and tour director, bills the free, self-guided farm and art tour as a great way to educate people about where their food and fiber come from while they're introduced to local artisans. Now in its 12th year, it has seen steady growth in length and counties and sites participating. Ag + Art Tour is looking for #SCartists who want to exhibit! Go here for information and to apply. Have a farm? Tour sites are being sough to apply too. “We are proud of the commitment of our farms, artisans, and county teams. Because of that, we can sustain continued growth,” Culler said. “One of our goals has been to give people a better knowledge of what is produced in their backyard and help them to support local businesses while making healthier food choices. This event does that by putting food and product with a face.” The 2023 tour include farms and artisans in Aiken, Chester, Colleton, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Lexington, Newberry, Richland, Sumter, and York counties.

2023 schedule

Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 1-5 p.m.
  • May 6: Lexington
  • May 13-14: Aiken, Lancaster, Sumter
  • May 20-21: Colleton, Newberry
  • June 3-4: Kershaw
  • June 10-11: Richland, York
  • June 17-18: Fairfield
  • June 24-25: Chester
Tour stops include farms and farmers' markets, with art at each location. Artisans on the tour range from weavers, painters, musicians, storytellers, metalworkers, and craftsmen to poets and live musical performances. Some farms will offer value-added products, such as jarred and canned foods, honey, baked goods, or even farm-fresh meals.  There is no fee to attend; visitors can start and stop their tour at any location.
The tour began in York County in 2012 and has added at least one new county each year since. The interest in the South Carolina Ag + Art Tour continues to be high, and it is the largest free farm tour in the nation. More than 85,000 visitors have enjoyed it since its inception. More information about the participating farms, markets, artisans, and ancillary sites can be found online at www.agandarttour.com and its social media accounts:
  • Facebook: @agandarttour
  • Instagram: @agandarttour
Various counties have accounts too, so do a quick search for yours. And don't forget the hashtag: #agandarttour. Plan your mooooooves now.
About the South Carolina Ag + Art Tour The South Carolina Ag + Art Tour is a free self-guided tour of farms and farmers' markets featuring artisans at every stop occurring every weekend in June.  The first Ag + Art Tour was held in 2012 in York County to blend agriculture and art. The tour began to expand in 2013 and has continued to do so yearly. It is the largest free farm and art tour in the nation. The tour is coordinated by leadership and county-level planning teams led by Clemson University Cooperative Extension. Partner organizations include economic development agencies, chambers of commerce, tourism bureaus, farm and artisan organizations, education and extension offices, arts councils, and community volunteers.
Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/corn-fields-under-white-clouds-with-blue-sky-during-daytime-158827/

Jason Rapp

Ag + Art Tour announces 2022 return

Via email, the annual South Carolina Ag + Art Tour announced it will take place again in May and June 2022.

No bull! We would not steer you wrong. Starting the final weekend in May, and every weekend in June, explore the agriculture and artistic heritage of South Carolina through the South Carolina Ag + Art Tour.  This experience is a free, self-guided tour of designated farms in South Carolina, featuring local artisans and farmer's markets. The Hub is a fan. (Probably because we really like cows.) So if you live in or near Charleston, Chester, Chesterfield, Colleton, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Lexington, Newberry, Richland, and York counties... get ready! Exact dates and additional details TBA, but for those of you bemoaning, you know, actual winter weather: this is a sign of spring. Ag + Art Tour is coordinated by Clemson Extension in partnership with organizations in all participating counties.

Jason Rapp

Ag + Art Tour ’21 calls for artisans

And farms!

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Thursday, April 15, 2021

Look like it's Call for Art Friday on The Hub.

Sometimes it works out that way. Now, we are fans of the Ag + Art Tour, and are really excited to have it back this year. To make it successful, it needs artisans. If you live in or near one of the participating counties, this is your chance. Artisans, for the purpose of this program, are defined as individuals who make hand crafted products without the use of kits, commercial models and whose primary components are not manufactured. Artisans will be located at Tour Farm Sites and can sell their products. Farmers Markets are tour sites but we do not place artisans at these locations as they have their own rules and regulations for participating. Examples of artisans include but are not limited to painters, potters, weavers, quilters, acoustic musicians, artisan bakers, value-added producers, etc. There is no fee to participate. The Ag + Art Tour County Planning Teams will make every effort to place artisans at their requested location but this placement cannot be guaranteed.  If multiple artisans select the same location, placement will be based on a first-come-first-served basis, with special attention given to the type of artisan to allow for a diversity of activities at each site. Interested? Click here to learn more and apply. Do you own or operate a farm and feel like maybe being host of some of these great artisans and activities? They need you too.

Jason Rapp

Artisphere, Ag + Art Tour announce spring plans

In-person opportunities continue to increase

That bright thing is back in the sky today.

One's thoughts inevitably turn to spring on days like today. The days are zipping toward March and there's a warmer weather pattern to enliven the spirit and enhance mood. With so many people yearning for some semblance of routine to return, and time drawing nearer to outdoor events being more palatable, two South Carolina (outdoor) arts festivals announced plans to come back after joining so many on an unfortunate (but understandable) one-year hiatus.

South Carolina Ag + Art Tour (weekends May 29-June 27)

This is an annual crawl across several South Carolina counties that showcases things South Carolina does well. (You probably guessed what from the event's name.) Starting the final weekend in May, and every weekend in June, explore the agriculture and artistic heritage of South Carolina through the South Carolina Ag + Art Tour.  This experience is a free, self-guided tour of designated farms in South Carolina, featuring local artisans and farmer's markets. This year you can plan to make visits in these counties: Charleston, Chester, Chesterfield, Colleton, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Lexington, Newberry and Richland + York. The festival is organized by Clemson University Cooperative Extension.

Artisphere (May 7-9)

Hailed as one of the country's top arts festivals, Artisphere announced yesterday that it's returning to Greenville's Main Street for its usual Mother's Day Weekend run. Like so many things, it won't quite be the same—at least not yet. Masks will be mandatory, attendance will be limited and everyone will be funneled through one of three entry points. And, just for this year they say, it will be confined to the West End Historic District on South Main. Reservations for 2.5-hour time slots will be available to the general public starting March 15 for a $5 fee that will be returned upon admission as a credit to buy art. Sign up for notification and learn more about Artisphere 2021 here. (Disclaimer: the S.C. Arts Commission provides operating support to Artisphere that is tangential to this newsworthy item.) The Hub will try to keep readers updated on additional festival announcements as they occur.
Image by kie-ker from Pixabay

Jason Rapp

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.  

Submitted material

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:

  1. Chesterfield County (June 2-3)
  2. Darlington County
  3. Florence County
  4. Horry County
  5. Kershaw County
  6. Chester County (June 9-10)
  7. Lancaster County
  8. York County
  9. Fairfield County (June 16-17)
  10. Newberry County (June 23-24)
  11. Union County
  12. Spartanburg County
2018 Tour Times
  • Saturdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Sundays 1-5 p.m.
Once again, yes, admission is free, but there will likely be a charge to purchase food, beverages and a farmer’s and/or artisan’s products. Some activities may also have a cost. Head to the Ag + Art Tour website to begin plotting the course that works for you. (And do them a solid: don’t forget to use the hashtag #agandarttour in your social media posts.)

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.
There are other locations included on the tour, but they are coordinating artisans independently. Ancillary locations are Dianne Mahaffee’s Fine Art & Clay Studio and Landscape Carolina. A host of Mahaffee’s students will be on hand demonstrating, along with artist/owner Dianne Mahaffee. Landscape Carolina is encouraging artisans to set up and those wishing to participate at this location should contact Lancaster County Council of the Arts at arts.takepart@gmail.com. Interested artisans should visit AgAndArtTour.com/artisans for more information and to apply. Each of the 12 participating counties that make up the SC Ag + Art Tour has its own artisan application linked from that page.  The deadline to apply is Friday, April 27, 2018. For artisan information, please contact Lancaster County Council of the Arts Program Coordinator at 803-285-7451 or arts.takepart@gmail.com.  For general information regarding the Ag + Art Tour of Lancaster County, call 803.289.1492, email cdoster@lancastercitysc.com, or visit AgAndArtTour.com.

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"]Ag+Art Tour Patricia Gambino 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)
Catawba Regional Ag +Art Tour 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

ag + art greenhouseThe 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  

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