Shrimply the Best Weekend!
Beaufort is handing the waterfront over to shrimp, blues, rubber crustaceans and a Forrest Gump-inspired 5K Oct. 2–3, when one of the Lowcountry’s most recognizable fall traditions returns downtown.
Shrimp Takes Center Stage
The 32nd Annual Beaufort Shrimp Festival returns to Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park for two free days built around one ingredient Beaufort knows particularly well.
Regional restaurants and chefs will serve fresh-caught shrimp dishes throughout the festival, turning the waterfront into a tasting ground for Lowcountry cooking. Between plates, visitors can browse the festival vendors at the Art & Craft Market, while families can make their way to activities and the Kid’s Corner.
There is also festival merchandise for anyone who prefers to take home something that lasts longer than lunch. The event’s official Shrimp Fest T-shirts add another distinctly local souvenir to the weekend.
Friday’s music begins with Anna Barnes, followed by The Reflex, a Duran Duran tribute band. Saturday changes the soundtrack with Peach Patrol, the Parris Island Marine Corps Band and Willie Jackson & The Tybee Blues Band.
Only in Beaufort
Saturday is when the festival’s stranger and more charming traditions really start competing for attention.
The Beaufort Digital Corridor Run Forrest Run 5K sends runners through historic downtown Beaufort and across the Woods Memorial Bridge on a course inspired by the famously South Carolina-connected film character Forrest Gump.
Then there are the shrimp that require neither peeling nor cocktail sauce.
The Sea Island Rotary Club’s 18th Annual Charity Shrimp Race puts sponsored rubber shrimp onto the water for a race that raises money for the community. It is exactly the sort of event that makes perfect sense once you have spent enough time in a coastal town willing to build an entire weekend around seafood.
That mix is what gives the Beaufort Shrimp Festival its personality. The food anchors the weekend, but the local musicians, makers, runners, families and floating rubber shrimp keep it from feeling like a simple seafood tasting. For two days, the waterfront becomes a compact snapshot of Beaufort itself, equal parts coastal tradition, community gathering and good-humored eccentricity.
To find more celebrations worth putting on the South Carolina calendar, browse the Guide to South Carolina festivals directory at https://guidetosouthcarolina.com/festivals.