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What’s New In South Carolina: Summer & Fall 2025

Whether you're planning one last summer road trip or embracing the first signs of fall, South Carolina offers an exciting mix of family-friendly festivals, agritourism adventures, leaf-peeping hikes, and interactive museum exhibits this season. Here's a look at what’s fresh, fun, and worth planning around in the Palmetto State.

Festivals & Events

As summer turns to fall, South Carolina celebrates at welcoming gatherings throughout the state.

South Carolina Peach Festival | July 19–25, Gaffney

A summer staple since 1977, this sweet celebration offers carnival rides, a peach dessert contest, a parade, and the family-friendly Peach Jam concert. Read more.

4th Fridays on the Lawn | June–Sept, Pickens

Live music, food trucks, and community vibes light up the Pickens Amphitheater every fourth Friday through September. Read more.

Restaurant Week South Carolina | Aug. 14–24, Statewide

From casual cafés to upscale dining rooms, enjoy specially curated menus and kid-friendly options during this 11-day culinary celebration. Read more.

South Carolina Apple Festival | Sept. 5–6, Westminster

Kick off apple season with local eats, live music, crafts, and orchard-fresh treats in Oconee County — the heart of South Carolina apple country. Read more.

Euphoria | Sept. 18-21, Greenville

Celebrating 20 years in 2025, Greenville’s euphoria experience is renowned for its up-close-and-personal culinary, musical, and educational experiences. Euphoria puts attendees front and center with celebrated chefs, award-winning musicians, craft brewers, master sommeliers, and one-of-a-kind events that can’t be found anywhere else. Read more.

South Carolina Fiddling Convention | Sept. 19–20, Pickens

A beloved event at Hagood Mill Historic Site, this state-sanctioned championship draws musicians of all ages to compete in fiddle, banjo, guitar, and string band categories. The weekend also features a Friday night concert and family-friendly fun in the scenic foothills. Read more.

Albino Skunk Music Festival | Oct. 1–4, Greer

Set in the Blue Ridge foothills, this camping-friendly acoustic music fest offers a laid-back family vibe and toe-tapping Americana, folk, and bluegrass. Read more.

South Carolina Sweet Potato Festival | Oct. 11, Darlington

Homegrown happiness — one sweet tater at a time. A Darlington County autumn staple held each October, the daylong extravaganza includes children’s games, crafts, music, live entertainment, a car show and plenty of food — including the Pee Dee region’s famed sweet potato pie. Read more.

Fall for Greenville | Oct. 11–13, Greenville

Sample hundreds of menu items from local restaurants, enjoy live music on multiple stages, and catch chef demos the whole family can enjoy. Read more.

SC Pecan Music & Food Festival | Nov. 1, Florence

Free and fun for all, this annual downtown bash features 250+ vendors, kid zones, and live music from The Commodores Experience. Read more.

Segra Park – Columbia Fireflies Minor League Baseball | Columbia

Catch a home game with themed family nights, fireworks shows, and plenty of kid-friendly activities at one of the most beloved minor league stadiums in the Southeast. Read more.

Seasonal Harvests & U-Pick Farms

From late summer through fall, the harvest in South Carolina brings agritourism experiences across the state.

• Thompson Family Farms in Campobello features U-Pick sunflowers, pumpkins, theme nights and activities for kids throughout the fall.
• The family-owned, 20-acre MacGregor Orchard in Travelers Rest offers 11 different types of fruits that start ripening in mid-June through late November including peaches, nectarines, apples, muscadines, and more.
• Blue Haven Orchard in Long Creek offers yellow peaches through August, then apples starting in September, along with canned goods, homemade apple fritters and refreshing fruit slushies.
• Bryson’s Apple Orchard in Mountain Rest has peaches for sale at the end of July through the first or second week of September. Enjoy a wide selection of jams jellies, canned goods, honey, sorghum syrup and local veggies.
• Located in Long Creek, Chattooga Belle Farm has a variety of produce throughout the seasons — including apples and peaches, muscadines, scuppernongs, table grapes, blackberries and blueberries.
• At Hollifield’s Orchard in Long Creek pick a wide variety of apples: Ozark gold, Wolf River and Gala, along with apple cider vinegar and apple butter.
• Open year-round, Abbott Farms in Cowpens offers tree-ripened peaches, apples, strawberries, watermelons, sweet potatoes, cantaloupes, muscadines, peanuts (boiled and roasted), jams, jellies, pickles, salsas, hot sauces, and local honey, and homemade ice cream.
• Located right off Highway 11, Peach Country in Campobello grows peaches, strawberries, apples and a variety of produce. Don’t miss the peach & strawberry slushy or a delicious apple slushy.
• McArthur Farms in Bennetsville has been growing both produce and memories since 2007, always delivering the season’s peak produce, flowering items, baked goods and more.
• Located in Florence, Pee Dee State Farmers Market is the only drive-through market in the state — but you can stop in to choose your own fresh, regional produce and seasonal specialty items.
• Crafty Maibritt Elderberry Farm in Williamsburg offers a wide variety of goods and experiences, from raw local honey, elderberry products, and plants to natural home and body care. The farm also features an American Elderberry Grove, apiary, seasonal produce garden, plant nursery, tea garden, farm store, and educational resources for aspiring growers.
• The 15-acre, sustainability-minded Agape Farm South in Dillon County's is dedicated to cultivating lavender and medicinal herbs in the heart of the Pee Dee region.
• In the fall, visit Stewart Farms in Laurens for a U-pick pumpkin patch experience, along with a Sesame Street-themed corn maze.

Scenic Trails & Leaf-Peeping Adventures

Begin your fall color adventures in the mountains in mid to late October and work your way down towards the coast in November.

Capital City/Lake Murray Country:

• ​Each year, thousands of Purple Martins roost on Bomb Island in Lake Murray — a spectacle best viewed by boat. June through August, local tour operators offer seasonal family cruises for a front-row seat.

Lake Hartwell Country:

• ​Yellow Branch Falls Trail offers gorgeous fall foliage and a spectacular waterfall that stretches 75 feet across.

Old 96 District:

• ​The seven-mile Clark Hill Lakeview Trail loops around the expansive Clark Hill Lake, giving walkers, joggers and hikers an eyeful of the changing colors.
• The Savannah Valley Railroad Trail (SVT) is a nine-mile hiking and biking trail opened in 2011 that winds through beautiful autumn landscapes.

Pee Dee Country:

• Little Pee Dee State Park in Dillon County is home to easy-to-moderate trails through longleaf pine forests that burst into an array of hues in the fall.
• Lee State Park in Bishopville features forested boardwalks along the Lynches River that give visitors a front row seat to autumn’s natural fireworks show.
• The 1,590-acre Woods Bay State Park in Florence County boasts a one-mile canoe trail and boardwalk for wildlife viewing through Carolina Bay ecosystems.

The Upcountry:

• Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Oconee State Park is a great late-summer escape, with a family friendly sand-bottom swimming pond (with a spot just for pets), along with well-maintained hiking trails.
• The 12 miles of trails in Table Rock State Park take hikers to mountain streams and waterfalls, plus serve as an access point to the 80-mile Foothills Trail.
• Fall migration season brings bald eagles, Cooper’s hawks, sharp-shinned hawks, merlin, American kestrel, Mississippi kites, and more feathered friends to Caesars Head State Park.

Hands-On History & Family-Friendly Museums

Discover history, culture and more at these fascinating South Carolina museums.

• On view through Oct. 5 at the Gibbes Museum in Charleston, Picturing Freedom: Harriet Tubman and the Combahee River Raid is inspired by the untold story of the Combahee River Raid from the perspective of Tubman and the enslaved people she helped to free that is revealed for the first time through groundbreaking research.
• At the South Carolina Cotton Museum in Bishopville, visitors have a chance to take a look back at the time when cotton was king. Exhibits take visitors through the full history of the state's cotton culture from the early days of the cotton boom to the modern cotton industry. Displays include original tools, textile machinery and even a contemporary crop duster that hangs above the rest of exhibits.
• The Bart Garrison Agricultural Museum of South Carolina recently unveiled a new exhibit — Cultivating Legacies: The Story of Black Americans in South Carolina’s Agriculture. The exhibit seeks to chronicle the importance and role of Black farmers in South Carolina from enslavement to the modern day.
• Every eligible maiden is invited to attend the Greenwood Museum’s annual Princess Tea Party on Saturday, August 16th (11 a.m. and 2 p.m. seatings). Come dressed as your favorite princess, meet Disney Princesses, get your royal photo taken in the Cinderella carriage, try on a glass slipper, enjoy a delicious tea party, door prizes and more!
• Opening Sept. 27 at the Columbia Museum of Art, Keith Haring: Radiant Vision collects over 250 original works from the groundbreaking artist, including drawings on paper, lithographs, silkscreens, posters, and other items that illustrate the entire span of his short but prolific career.

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About the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism

The South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism is a cabinet agency assigned to operate and manage South Carolina's state parks, market the state as a preferred vacation destination, and provide assistance to communities to develop recreation assets. Explore the official tourism site of South Carolina and discover all the rich history, sandy beaches, and family attractions a South Carolina vacation has to offer at DiscoverSouthCarolina.com.