Azalea Festival
History
A brochure from 1989 reads, “When the
azaleas are blooming in Pickens, South Carolina, the little town
celebrates! The PICKENS AZALEA FESTIVAL is like a large family reunion
given by local civic groups for area folks and those that have been away
for a few years. They also welcome folks who have never lived in
Pickens to come join the fun.”
It all began in the spring of 1983 just
north of town as a small juried show called the Mountain Arts & Crafts
Show, which was organized by the Pickens Civitan Club. Today the
Pickens Azalea Festival has grown to encompass not only arts and crafts,
but also varied entertainment, great food, and fun for the entire
family.
Later in 1983, the Chamber of Commerce
President and Pickens Civitan Club founder, Ruth Swayngham Hinkle, had
the vision to convince the Civitans to move the show to downtown and
invite other non-profit groups to participate. Hinkle told of her
vision at the annual Chamber banquet, “I see many different
organizations having activities on closed-off streets and parking lots
all over town.”
By enlisting the support of the Chamber
as sponsor, the first Pickens Festival was held in 1984 with the Civitan
Arts & Crafts Show, the Junior Assembly providing lemonade, the Jaycees,
donuts, and the Chamber giving out information.
In the next few years the event
attracted many more organizations to greatly expand the gourmet choices
to feed the hungry public and added some ingenious attractions. For
those first years it was held in May, the Saturday before Mother’s Day,
at the same time as the springtime Pickin’ in Pickens bluegrass festival
which was held in a pasture north of town. Borrowing entertainers from
the bluegrass festival, the downtown festival also brought in other
forms of local entertainment.
In 1987, Jerrie Hixon (the festival
coordinator for the first nine years) compiled the first self-guided
Historical Tour with about twenty locations. The next year and every
year after, it was published in The Pickens Sentinel
special Azalea Festival section. As the years passed, more research was
done by area historians to add new sites and old photos to the annually
published tour. By following the map in the printed tour guide,
festival goers can read about each place as they walk by. Open for
tours each year are the Hagood-Mauldin House, the Pickens
County Art & History
Museum, and the Hagood Mill.
Cynthia Boney, another long-time
festival coordinator who led the festival into the new century, worked
lovingly at preserving the history by adding to the tour until the
number was over 50 locations. Many are grateful for the support of area
businesses in faithfully advertising in the section which comes out each
year the Wednesday before the festival to provide the Historical Tour
and all the festival highlights for the current year.
Back to the chronological history of the
festival, in 1988 the festival date was moved to the third Saturday in
April to be held in the peak of the azalea blooming season and by 1989
the name was officially changed to the Pickens Azalea Festival.
Fun activities were planned each year, such as parades, stage coach
rides, a petting zoo, puppet and magic shows, clowns and organ
grinders. Some attractions were briefly part of the festival and others
became traditions.
In 1990 a very special big cake was made
to celebrate the 250th birthday of General Andrew Pickens.
Connie and June Bowers graciously accepted the challenge to play the
parts of the General and his lovely wife Rebecca at the celebration
party. Anna Simon, newspaper reporter (now with The Greenville
News) played the part of Brenda Starr to “interview” the
historic couple at the party. A tradition was started. Now over the
years, many different local couples have accepted the honor to put on
the period clothing and be the official greeters of the festival by
playing the part of the Revolutionary War hero and his wife.
Through the years, several other
traditions have remained strong – another is the annual Azalea Festival
T-shirt. Starting in 1987, each year the Pickens Civitan Club has
chosen artwork illuminating a Pickens area landmark. The first shirt
was pale yellow with brown ink, featuring the Hagood Mill drawn by local
artist Mary McDaniel.
Over the years many different colors of
shirts have been added and local artists have donated their talents for
“shirts that help the community.” Most featured places on the
historical tour, such as historic homes, museums, Chapman’s Bridge, the
old Pickens school house, the Pickens “Doodle” train engine and even
natural landmarks, such as Glassy
Mountain and Table
Rock Mountain.
Each year, Pickens
High School art students are invited to enter original drawings of an azalea flower
and one drawing is selected to become the “official artwork” of the
festival. Since 1989, an official U.S. Postal Service cancellation
stamp has been made for the Pickens Azalea Festival Station from the
artwork. Letters are received every year from all over the
United States requesting the
cancellation stamp. In addition, many folks visit the post office
station at the festival to mail friends and even themselves a card or
letter with the collector’s stamp. This award-winning drawing is also
featured on the T-shirt and in publicity.
Many long-time visitors to the festival
have T-shirt collections which include all 17 shirts and 15 cards with
the annual one-day cancellation stamp. Some folks have also collected
the posters and wonder if they may someday be displayed in the county
art museum!
Planning for a festival of this size
takes all year. The few that have assumed the task of leadership are
greatly appreciated. Although the sponsorship has gone from Chamber to
Civitans and back to the Chamber, the groups have always worked together
to get the fun day accomplished. In 1992, when Hixon left the lead,
the Chamber passed the sponsorship back to the Civitan Club where the
energetic work of festival coordinators Chalma Drake, Michael Chastain
and Cynthia Boney brought new and creative ideas.
In 2002 the Greater Pickens Chamber of
Commerce was asked to re-adopt sponsorship of the Azalea Festival.
Jerrie Hixon was asked lead and revive the structure of the
community-wide representation of the Azalea Festival Planning
Committee. In the summer of 2003, the role of festival coordinator was
taken over by the long time community leader and former Jaycee, Russ
Gantt.
Under Gantt’s leadership, the Festival
added Friday evening entertainment and carnival rides in 2004 and is
billed for the first time in 2005 as a two-day event – Friday evening
and all day Saturday.
As the
years have progressed, the number of booths has increased to more than
100 and many more civic groups have contributed their talents and many
hours of volunteer work. The festival has spread out through downtown
Pickens – down Main Street, onto Court Street and
Lewis Street, in Legacy Square and business
parking lots – just as Ruth had envisioned. Separate areas are set
aside for children’s activities, entertainment stages, bike tours and
historical tours, displays, such as radio-controlled model airplanes,
and of course, the great variety of food to be enjoyed while dining in
the street at tables decorated with azaleas!
As the Azalea Festival begins its 24th
year as a family event, the tradition continues as a way for more than
40 civic non-profit community organizations to raise funds for various
worthwhile causes. It has been estimated that approximately $100,000
has been raised over the years to go to local charities through the sale
of food and souvenirs and other items. Yet, as always, there is NO
ADMISSION fee charged to come and bring the whole family to enjoy the
spring celebration in Pickens!
