SCVB Blog

February is Black History Month and Spartanburg, South Carolina has a 3-day event planned to celebrate.

On Thursday, February 16th, Mr. Joseph McGill from the National Preservation Trust will sleep in a slave cabin at the Historic Price House, adding it to his Slave Cabin Project. He will share the as part of an all-day symposium the following day.

On Friday, the symposium, entitled Perseverance and Persistence, will focus on African American History in Spartanburg. The symposium will begin at 8:30 am with refreshments and conclude at 3:30 pm. Panelists from several colleges, universities and school districts in the Upstate will discuss the major issues facing Spartanburg from early settlement to the present. Session topics include:

•    Roots to 1800-- the creation of the African American presence in the Spartanburgh District which officially became Spartanburg County in 1795

•    Antebellum and Civil War Years, 1800-1865-- the shift from yeoman farming to increased dependence on enslaved labor. The discussion also includes the Civil War and its impact on African American families and communities.

•    Community Building, 1865-1940--  information on efforts to build autonomous lives and communities in the aftermath of war, and how African Americans adapted themselves to segregation and maintained pride in the communities they build.

•    1940 to Present-- the transformation of the lives of African Americans beginning with World War II, followed by the Civil Rights Movement

On Saturday, February 18th at 7pm, professional actress Carolyn Evans will appear as Harriet Tubman and Ballet Spartanburg will present a dance performance by Kyle Abraham.  

All events will be held at the Chapman Cultural Center Theater. For ticket information, please call 864-596-3501.

It’s time to dust off those bell bottoms and platform shoes that have been hiding in your attic and get ready to boogie the night away at Retro Fest. What has been called the South’s Largest Disco Party returns for its 15th year Saturday, February 4th.

You will feel as if you have stepped back in time as you enter the door and see hundreds of people decked out in their grooviest attire dancing the night away to disco tunes. Retro Fest benefits the Piedmont Chapter of the American Red Cross and has been a crowd sellout for years.

Retro Fest will be held on Saturday, February 4, 2012 at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium. Get your tickets now, because they go fast! You can purchase your tickets through the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium (www.crowdpleaser.com) or 864-582-8107 or through Ticketmaster.

If you have been to Spartanburg, you probably have quickly caught on that Spartanburg is nicknamed the Hub City. With signs welcoming you to the Hub City at the gateways to the community and businesses with the name Hub City Coffee, Hub City Coffee Shop, Hub City Farmers’ Market, it’s hard to miss.

If you want to know how the city got its famous nickname, visit the Hub City Railroad Museum (see there it is again…Hub City).

 Spartanburg became the Hub City back in the late 1800s, when seven train lines fanned out from the city like spokes on a wheel. Spartanburg was a major transportation hub; by the early 20th century nearly 20 passenger cars passed through and many more freight trains carried goods, textiles, peaches and other produce to nearly every corner of the country.

 The Railroad Museum which is run by a group of volunteers and train enthusiasts opened in April of 2010. Since its opening, over 4,500 visitors have toured the museum.

The Hub City Railroad Museum is housed inside of the beautifully preserved Magnolia Street Train Station and is open to visitors two days a week.  Visitors to the museum will find memorabilia and artifacts that date as far back as the beginning of the railroad.

The Hub City Railroad Museum is located at 298 Magnolia St. and is open on Wednesdays from 10am to 2 pm and on Saturdays from 9am-3pm. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated. For more information call 864- 596-3501.

Looking for something unique to do with the family this Christmas? Celebrate the holiday season at Live Oak Farms. On Saturday, December 17th from 10 to 2 the farm will host a Christmas Extravaganza, a fun-filled event for the whole family.

 Enjoy a free trolley ride around the farm and then warm up with a cup of hot apple cider and wake up your palate with samples from their farm store.

 And of course, it wouldn’t be an extravaganza without a visit from Old Saint Nick. So bring your camera and pose for a family picture with Santa and Mrs. Claus! You’ll find many other photo opportunities in this picturesque old fashioned farm setting.

 Live Oak Farms is located at 270 Sam Davis Road in Woodruff, SC. For more information, visit www.LiveOakFarmsLLC.com or call 864-991-9839.

Bring in your New Year with style at the Spartanburg Marriott’s New Year’s Eve Celebration! On December 31st, the Marriott’s Heritage Ballroom will be transformed into an elegant fantasy, complete with a band that will lure you to the dance floor, an extravagant menu, open bar, midnight champagne toast, and a twilight continental breakfast.

The fun begins at 7:30pm with a delectable menu including heavy hors d’oeuvres, hand carved tenderloin or beef, lamb lollipops and slow roasted pork sliders.

 At 8:30pm, the band will crank up and keep you rocking through the night. Summerdaze Band is a “variety dance band” that plays the most requested dance hits from the 60’s up to today’s top 40 hits.

Toast the New Year with a glass of champagne and then begin your New Year with a Twilight Continental Breakfast.

 The cost for this event is $85 per adult. If you have a group you would like to ring in the New Year, grab a table for everyone. The cost is $600 for a table of 8 or $750 for a table of 10.

You can also purchase a room package, which includes two tickets to the event with breakfast and accommodations for two. The cost for this package is $279.00.

 For more information or for reservations, call 864-596-1211.

The Holiday Lights Safari at Hollywild Animal Park has become an annual tradition for individuals and families living throughout the Southeast and visitors from as far away as California, Alaska, and Canada. It’s not often that you have the opportunity to drive through nearly 100-acres magically decorated with millions of twinkling lights, dazzling holiday themes, light sculptures, a life-sized Nativity, plus herds of live animals!

 The 21st annual Holiday Lights Safari features a drive through area with millions of lights decorating trees and pathways, lighted shapes including castles, animals, and even Noah’s ark.  The enchanted forest allows visitors to drive gently through herds of deer and safari animals while feeding the animals from their car windows and “The Walk” offers visitors the opportunity to park and walk around and visit with animals, warm themselves by bonfires, take a pony ride through a lighted forest, enjoy cocoa and snacks and have their photo taken with Santa.  

 Holiday Lights Safari runs nightly, including holidays, through Sunday, January 1, 2012. Regular admission is $6 per person with no per car rates.   Group rates are available for groups of 15 or more.

 For additional information, please call the park office at (864) 472-2038 or visit www.Hollywild.com.  

For twenty-five years, families, groups and visitors have flocked to Spartanburg to see a holiday musical performance they will never forget.  With a 225-person choir joining their voices together along with a 50-piece orchestra, Toy Soldiers, Dancing Reindeer, lights, special effects, and the finale-the lighting of the Twin Living Christmas trees-this is an event you won’t want to miss.

December 2-4, First North Spartanburg presents their 25th performance of the Twin Living Christmas Trees. The show begins with “A Christmas Celebration” that features “Let’s Celebrate Christmas Together and Come on Ring Those Bells.” “The Feeling of Christmas,” is a medley of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” “Winter Wonderland,” “Sleigh Ride,” “Silver Bells,” and “Jingle Bells.” See it snow, see Frosty and Mrs. Clause.  The Toy Soldiers will make you feel just like you are at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Finally, see “The Little Drummer Boy” like you have never seen it before. Then the moment everyone has been waiting for, the lighting of the 25th Anniversary Twin Living Christmas Trees. Hear the choir raise their voices as they sing “FALL ON YOUR KNEES” and see the magnificent brand new lights. Next up will be a gospel number that will have the trees bouncing followed by the quartet singing “Glory To God In The Highest,” that will have everyone clapping and singing along. “Have You Heard” is an acappella number featuring the choir that will be beautiful to see and hear. And finally the show will begin to look toward the manger with “Today A Child Is Born” featuring a children’s ensemble. The Glorious Nativity will tell the story of Jesus birth with BRAND NEW MUSIC and traditional Christmas Carols, such as “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” “Angels We Have Heard on High,” and “What Child Is This.”  The Nativity concludes with “He Is,” a song that traces God’s salvation of fallen man, Jesus Christ, through every book of the Bible. Every song has led to this moment where the pastor will share the gospel and give an opportunity to respond. The finale is an exciting, vibrant setting of the “Hallelujah Chorus.”

This performance is sure to bring everyone to their feet. For tickets or for more information, please visit www.twinlivingtrees.com or call 864-578-0509.

Not since the mid-1920’s, has a vintage trolley car rolled down the streets of Spartanburg. This year, Main Street Trolley is proud to introduce its 5th annual “Holiday Lights”, Trolley Tour of Spartanburg. On board, enjoy hot chocolate, Christmas music and some historic story-telling while enjoying our very best local Christmas light displays.

“This year we wanted to celebrate not only today’s vibrant light displays, but our rich Spartanburg history and also include few surprises for kids of all ages”, says Bryan Henke of Main Street Trolley. 

The “Holiday Lights” trolley tour operates December 9th-12th and 16th-23rd. Ticket prices are $8.00 per person. The tour begins at the Magnolia Train Depot in downtown Spartanburg. Reservations are required and can be made by contacting Main Street Trolley at 864-574-9876 or e-mailing mainstreettrolley@hotmail.com.

Main Street Trolley is the premier transportation provider for weddings, corporate and special occasion charters in the Upstate. The “Spartanburg Ghost Tour” compliments the current “Holiday Lights” Christmas tour in December and the central city of Spartanburg “History Tour”.

On Tuesday, November 29, Spartanburg’s downtown will transform into a Victorian wonderland. Complete with horse drawn carriages, chestnuts roasting over an open fire, strolling carolers, and Spartanburg’s official Christmas tree lighting, A Dickens of a Christmas is the perfect way to ring in the holiday season.

A Dickens of a Christmas is one of Spartanburg’s favorite traditions and is held the first Tuesday following Thanksgiving each year.  Thousands of people enjoy this festive event, all looking for the spirit of the season.

There will be a special treat this year for out-of-town visitors: “We’re having a little special recognition program to find the person or persons who traveled the furthest to come to Dickens. We’re calling it a ‘Dickens of Drive,’” said Kathy Chandler, Executive Director of the Spartanburg Downtown Association and chair of the event.

“The winner receives a giant gift basket, filled with special items and gift certificates, donated mostly by the downtown merchants. Just stop by the Information Trolley at the corner of Church and Main streets and let them know how far you traveled!”

All activities are centered along Main Street in downtown Spartanburg, and most are free. Starting with horse-drawn carriage rides around Richardson Park, there is a progression of family activities—living windows, chestnuts roasted over an open fire, strolling carolers singing old standbys, food vendors, specialty shopping, a reading of “The Night Before Christmas,” and Santa Claus in Morgan Square to name a few. Another new attraction this year will be a Charles Dickens impersonator at the Hub City Bookshop.

The highlight of the evening is always the lighting of Spartanburg’s official Christmas tree in Denny’s Plaza. The ceremony begins at 7:30 p.m. with entertainment provided by The Spartanburg Community Band and the Spartanburg Repertory Company.

Some exciting new attractions this year include…

• A Lionel steam locomotive model train with operating engine smoke, headlight, whistle, running lights, six freight cars and building structures and accessories will be displayed in a window of the Bijou Building, donated by the Hub City Railroad Museum.

• The Plaza on Main will host the Dickens Holiday Marketplace, where artisans will sell their crafts, everything from jewelry to woodcarvings to nutcrackers.

• Letters to Santa will be inside Carolina Cash. Children can come in and write to Santa (with the help of a few elves). There is a real mailbox to drop letters in, and Santa will write back via US Mail.

• Victorian group photos can be taken of family and friends against a snowy Victorian backdrop. Victorian clothing will be provided.

For more information about A Dickens of a Christmas, please call 494-9621 or visit online at SpartanburgDickens.org.

With Christmas just around the corner, it is time to begin making your list and checking it twice. When you are looking for a unique gift for that person that has everything, Spartanburg has some great options for you.

For the adventure lovers, a gift certificate for the Ultimate BMW Experience is a gift they will never forget! The recipient of this gift will have chance to go behind the scenes and behind the wheel at the one and only home of BMW in North America. At a cost of $149, this gift is sure to bring a smile to everyone’s face. For more information, call 1-877-9BMWEXP or visit their Website.

Have a chocolate lover or person with a sweet tooth on your list? Pick up a bag of Dottie’s Toffee, made here in Spartanburg. This delicate crunchy toffee with whole almonds is topped in thick creamy milk chocolate and sprinkled with a generous layer of crushed almonds and is sure to suit any sweet tooth desire. Dottie’s Toffee is sold in gift shops and specialty food stores across the Southeast. In Spartanburg, you can purchase the delicacy at Inside Irwin’s, Green Zinnia, Prices’, Home and Garden Classics, and Theodore Morris. You can also purchase the toffee at Dean and DeLuca’s nationwide and at select Whole Foods. The toffee is also available for purchase through their Website.

For the book lovers, be sure to stop in the Hub City Bookshop while you are in town, where you will find a great selection books from national bestsellers to books written by local writers. Not only can you find a book that will make the perfect gift here, but all the proceeds from the sale of books fund creative writing education and independent book publishing in the Spartanburg community, making it a gift that truly keeps on giving.

Some other great Made in Spartanburg gift options include coffee beans from Little River Roasting Company, The First Snow Ale from RJ Rockers Brewing Company, or Bridgewater Candles from Grace Management.

 And there are lots of options at our specialty stores, boutiques and antique stores. Visit our website for a complete list.