Celebrating its ninth anniversary and moving to a new location for its grand final day celebration, Irish Fest Camden, the premiere Irish festival of the southeast, will be celebrated on Saturday, March 1, 2025 at the Kershaw County Airport in Camden.
Throughout the week of the festival, Camden businesses are invited to help join in the festivities by decorating their storefronts in an Irish theme. A committee will visit the locations with the winner receiving a unique award.
Here is a listing of the event’s festivities:
Irish Trivia returns to Broad & Vine wine bar on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $25 and includes a glass of bubbly and an appetizer. Prizes every round! Visit www.broad-and-vine.com for more info.
For the second time in as many years, the Black Box Theater, located inside the Wood Auditorium on the grounds of the Arts Center of Kershaw County will host an Irish Pub Night on Thursday, Feb. 27 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. The evening will feature a traditional Irish dinner, drinks, live music and stories about traditional Irish music and the instruments used to create it. More information may be found on www.artscenterkc.org
Returning to the festivities for the seventh year is the Friday night Downtown Camden Pub Crawl on Friday, Feb. 28. The evening is a night of live Irish music at various venues in Camden from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m.
One of the most popular events of the festival is the eighth annual Lucky Leprechaun 5K race/walk to be run at 8 a.m. on Saturday, March 1 at the Town Green in Camden. Registration is currently taking place online at: www.strictlyrunning.com/LL5k
The week of festivities leads up to the grand celebration at the Kershaw County Airport at 2203 Airline Drive, Camden, SC. The celebration is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Advance tickets are now on sale online with an early bird price of $15 for adults and $5 for children. Tickets will be $20 and $7, respectively, cash-only at the gate. Tickets are available now at the Irish Fest Camden website.
The day-long, family friendly event features food and beverage vendors throughout the expansive grounds including an authentic Irish pub featuring Shepherd’s Pie. The Highland Games, a staple of the festival since its start, brings together athletes from throughout the Southeast to compete in such events as the open stone throw, the Braemer Stone throw, the Sheaf, and the light and heavy hammer toss, which have piqued the interest of festival-goers, many of whom are getting their first look at these unique athletic events.
Stations featuring soda, water, Irish and green beer, coffee and Irish coffee, along with a whiskey-tasting tent will be part of the festivities as will a kids’ zone. An Irish historian will return to share stories of folklore and history. There will be more than 40 food vendors offering a multitude of options and more than 100 retail vendors.
One of the main attractions of the day is live music and this year the headliners are the Screaming Orphans, a four-sister group from County Donegal, Ireland, who are making their second appearance at Irish Fest Camden, and Columbia’s own and festival favorite, Syr who returns to the festival for the ninth year. In addition, there will be other musical acts spread out among three stages during the course of the day.
As snow accumulates and/or turns to ice in the evening hours, we advise residents to avoid driving, if possible, during evening and overnight hours. If you experience a power outage or require any other City service during the winter weather, please call 803-432-2421 or 803-432-0009. City facilities will delay opening until 10:00 am on Wednesday, January 22. All Municipal Court cases scheduled for January 22 are canceled and reschedule notices will be sent via mail.
Here are some winter weather tips for residents and utility customers:
Insulate exposed pipes or faucets to prevent freezing, using foam sleeves or wrapping layers of material.
Close off vents and seal or repair any cracks and openings in doors and windows.
Know where the main water valve is for your home, in case of a pipe burst during freezing temperatures. Please be aware it is not in your water meter box. Should you have an emergency and require city crews to respond to a water leak, please call 803-432-0009.
Turn off your sprinkler or irrigation system, to avoid a rupture or break.
Opening cabinet doors under the sinks in your home, to allow for warm air to reach the pipes. Leaving each faucet on, with a small trickle, to prevent freezing.
If you must be out on the roads during winter weather conditions, please drive with caution, particularly over bridges and low-lying roads where water may pool and freeze. Black ice cannot easily be seen while driving, and is most common during early morning hours or when temperatures fall below freezing.
Stay tuned to your local news outlet for updates and changes as this system approaches. Be safe out there!
The City of Camden, South Carolina (hereafter, the “City”) invites registered architects with historic preservation experience to submit their qualifications to be considered for a historic preservation planning project for Aberdeen, Camden, South Carolina. Shawn Putnam (Planning and Development Director) will receive qualification statements until 12:00 noon on February 14, 2025, via email ONLY at putnam@camdensc.org. Questions should be directed to Mr. Putnam at the email listed above.
Aberdeen is located at 1409 Broad Street, Camden, South Carolina. The Samuel Mathis House, known as “Aberdeen, was built ca. 1805 and is a contributing resource to the National Register of Historic Places-listed City of Camden Historic District. Built by prominent Camden residents Samuel and Margaret Mathis, Aberdeen remained in the family until the 20th century and has been continuously occupied as a family home until it was gifted to the City of Camden in 2021. Originally a simple one-story frame house built over a raised basement, the house sat on 273 acres close to the Mathis Store and a mile from the center of town. As the town grew, the acreage was subdivided and other homes built into one of the first neighborhoods in Camden. Even with the increased size from a ca. 1850 renovation, Aberdeen remains unique as a folk cottage style home in a neighborhood filled with typical antebellum two-story homes. It is also one of the few homes in Camden with Gothic revival elements. Currently managed by the City of Camden, Aberdeen is the only historic home open for tours in Camden. The City seeks the services of a registered architect or team of architects experienced in historic preservation to assess the existing conditions and produce plans and specifications for the stabilization and weatherization of Aberdeen.
The project has been funded by a state historic preservation grant, administered by the South Carolina Department of Archives and History (SCDAH). The conditions assessment and plans and specifications will be reviewed by SCDAH for compliance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
Nearly 200 walkers and over two dozen pets participated in the First Day Hike at Goodale State Park on New Year’s Day. John Wells, Park Manager at Goodale, led the group on a 2.4 mile hike, previewing new trails under development.
Wells said, “Today, we’re walking in an area of the park that we hope to transition to a new trail system. We just did a thinning of the forest. This forest was very thick and very overgrown and had not been thinned in decades.”
“The First Day Hike,” Wells said, “is a great way to get outside and walk off the collard greens and macaroni and have a good day, spending the first day of the year out in nature, out walking around.” Goodale State Park participates in a nationwide program called First Day Hikes.
The free event was hosted by KC Trails, Friends of Goodale, and Goodale State Park. For more outdoor opportunities in Kershaw County, follow KC Trails and Friends of Goodale on Facebook.
Mayor Vincent Sheheen has announced the establishment of the Mayor’s Cabinet.
The purpose of the Mayor’s Cabinet is to bring together a select group of non-profits in the community who perform services often handled by municipal government in other communities.
The goals of the Cabinet are to assist in coordinating service delivery, increase communications, enable joint planning, and any other areas necessary to provide benefits to the citizens of Camden.
The Mayor’s Cabinet shall begin work as soon as possible and shall be supported by staff of the City of Camden and the Cabinet Members. The Mayor’s Cabinet shall consist of the Mayor of the City of Camden and the Directors of the Arts Center of Kershaw County, United Way of Kershaw County, and the Historic Camden Foundation.
It is anticipated that the Mayor’s Cabinet shall meet quarterly or as needed, and coordinate activities as appropriate.
The City of Camden’s annual Arbor Day Ceremony and tree planting on Friday, December 6th commemorated the Arts Center of Kershaw County’s 50th Anniversary season this year.
“I spent so many years here as a child and have so many great memories here,” said Mayor Vincent Sheheen as he opened the program. “And I am excited to return here, as Mayor, and celebrate 50 years of the Arts Center and honor that with this Arbor Day commemoration.”
Mayor Sheheen was joined by City Councilman William Wilkes in the reading of the proclamation for Arbor Day, before presenting it to Arts Center Executive Director Dolly Patton. Each year, the City of Camden plants a tree to honor or commemorate an individual, group or organization. The City’s Parks & Trees Commission chooses the recipient of each Arbor Day tree planting. This year, a Chinese Fringetree, commonly referred to as the “Grancy Graybeard,” was chosen for the Arts Center and planted between the Douglas Reed House and the Daniels Education building.
“On behalf of the Arts Center of Kershaw County, I would like to sincerely thank the City of Camden for honoring 50 years of the Arts Center with the planting of a tree on Arbor Day,” said Arts Center Board President Lee Inabinet. “We are incredibly proud that, for the past 50 years, we have been able to serve the community through countless musical concerts, festivals, educational classes, theater productions and dance performances. We are deeply grateful and humbled by this recognition. It is our hope that 50 years from now, the citizens of Kershaw County will gather beneath this tree to celebrate 100 years of the arts in our community.”
Arbor Day began in Nebraska on April 10, 1872, when more than one million trees were planted as part of the celebration. In the U.S., Arbor Day is most commonly observed on the last Friday in April, but South Carolina is the only state to observe Arbor Day on the first Friday of December. This coincides with the best tree planting weather for this region, while trees are dormant and will focus on root growth instead of leaf production when planted.
