BENNETTSVILLE — Springtime whimsy buzzed around Bennettsville Saturday for the town’s inaugural Beeville Festival; an all-day, fun-filled, jampacked entertainment event that drew crowds from neighboring counties throughout the day.
The inaugural Beeville Festival was truly a community effort, and organizers say the event’s success came from the overwhelming support shown across Bennettsville and Marlboro County.
“We’re incredibly grateful to everyone who embraced the vision for the Beeville Festival and helped bring it to life,” said Brittany Jones, Director of Business & Community Development for the City of Bennettsville and leader of Main Street Bennettsville. “From city administration, council, and staff to the Main Street board, local businesses, Marlboro County Government, the school district, AMIkids Bennettsville, vendors, and all of the children who submitted artwork, this festival happened because so many people said yes and worked together.”
Jones said the Beeville Festival is deeply connected to Bennettsville’s agricultural roots and the city’s recent designation as a Bee City. “With our strong agricultural history and surrounding farmland, becoming a Bee City was an important goal for our community,” Jones explained. “The Beeville Festival was nearly two years in the making. It really began with the installation of pollinator planters throughout downtown. After seeing the success of that project, we applied for the Bee City designation, and once it became official, we moved full steam ahead with planning the festival.”
Creating Beeville
Jones recognized many of the people who helped make the event happen, such as Chelsea Carabo, who oversaw the pollinator and agriculture area, Maria Franqui who organized the baking contest, Terilynn Holmes who managed vendor coordination, and Bailey Lindsay Hunter who assisted with setup.
Jones gave special recognition to Courtney Medlin for placing bee decorations throughout town, saying the displays became a visible symbol of the community’s excitement for the festival. Organizers described the event as a major success, citing positive feedback from residents, visitors, business owners, vendors, and participants throughout the day.
“The response has been overwhelmingly positive,” Jones said. “People were excited to see the energy downtown and experience something new for Bennettsville. We hope the Beeville Festival continues to grow and become a tradition for many years to come.”
Feverishly working to sprinkle Beeville magic across the city, local artist Courtney Medlin painted bees of all shapes and sizes flying across the windowpanes of numerous local storefronts in preparation for Saturday’s big day.
Medlin said, “I was proud to represent Creation Station and Medlin Customs as I was warmly welcomed by so many businesses. My only regret is not having enough time to paint on every pane and introduce myself to every owner. Brittany Jones did a spectacular job pulling this all together. The discipline, availability, and vulnerability it takes to cultivate this experience is often overlooked but she did great. I look forward to seeing the continued growth of this city and having met a lot of new people who live here and work here, it’s definitely something we can accomplish TOGETHER! All the staff and vendors who participated in making this event successful thank you and thank you to my new friends who hung the mural”!
Entertainment and commerce
One of the most exciting aspects of the festival was the transformation of the courthouse square into a hub of activity and entertainment. “We were excited to fully utilize the courthouse square and showcase the heart of our downtown,” Jones said. “It was the first time we’ve ever had rides set up downtown, and seeing [student] artwork displayed across the courthouse lawn brought back memories of the former Jubilee Festival.”
Additional family attractions such as petting zoo and pony rides proved crowd favorites. Beeville also featured special performances by talented guests Luke Hall, Next Level Band of Charlotte, and Chad Tolson.
Highlighted at the festival were local vendors selling everything from food, clothes, hats, and commemorative trinkets galore. Representing thriving local commerce, a variety of vendors were present to make the festival special, including Face Painting Sisters, Hangar Layne, Down at the Dock, Alford’s Smoke N’ Grill, Elite’s Concession and Vending LLC, Reborn Woods, The Chill Zone, and QueDee Candle LLC, to name a few.
Friendly competition
Several friendly competitions were held throughout the day, including the Student Art Competition and Baking competition.
Drawing from a pool of four age groups, Student Art Contest Winners were divided by pre-K through second grade, third through fifth grade, sixth through eighth grade, and nineth through twelfth grade.
First place winners were: Hannah Carter, Davis Allen, and Isabella Asburn. Second place winners were: Lismary Dejesus, Zaylee Purdue, and Tymere Miles, and third place belonged to: Hazel Ellis, Lakota Freeman, and Keegan Kirk.
The theme of Beeville’s student art competition was “A Day in Beeville,” celebrating bees, honey, pollinators, flowers, and the spirit of the festival. Sixty student artwork pieces were displayed in an outdoor gallery during the event.
The Beeville Baking Contest drew 30 entries across cake, pie, cookie, and unconventional dessert categories. Cake winner was Mahilda Douglas, the prize for best cookie was taken home by Carolyn Lide, Brandi Ritter was awarded best pie, and coming in winner of best unconventional dessert was Chavette Hancock. Winners from each category received $250 and the theme for the competition was “Sweet as Honey.”
Attendee response
Clifton Cousar and Carrie Little said they were having a great time taking in the vibes and tasting the food.
“We are really enjoying ourselves and they have it set up real nice here. You can tell a lot of hard work has gone into this,” said Cousar.
Little agreed, adding, “I’m enjoying looking at what the vendors have to offer and the food is all wonderful.”
The Ricky and Amanda Hatcher Family said they were thrilled to have safe, local fun for families on a beautiful Saturday to enjoy.
“We are just enjoying the food and making rounds with the vendors,” said Ricky. Hopeful of catching an unsuspecting bee unawares, the Hatcher’s son Lawson said he was most excited about getting to see the bees.
Garnett Goins, one half of Face Painting Sisters, said the day was a busy one for her artistic fingers, adding she and her sister, Melissa Herring are already looking ahead to Clio’s Ribs and Rods on May 29 and 30.
“Flowers and hearts are always popular—that and the spiderwebs the boys like,” said Goins of her most asked for designs.
Saying “Thank you!”
When it came to making the 2026 Beeville Festival a success, the hard work of many went in to preparing for the day, including Kid Zone Sponsors: Sandhill Connextions, CareSouth Carolina, Hardy Lumber and Barns, Cantey Foundation Specialist, and Scotland Healthcare System, and Community Sponsors: Scott Vision Properties, Sully Blair State Farm Agent, Jennings Law Firm, Pepsi of Bennettsville, TScott Investment Properties.
Bennettsville’s inaugural Beeville Festival was funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the national endowment for the arts.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.