2013 catfish festival

WEDNESDAY • MARCH 27, 20132 • CATFISH FESTIVAL 2013

WEDNESDAY • MARCH 27, 2013 CATFISH FESTIVAL 2013 • 3

Festival Preview

... 4Catfish Q&A

... 6Forecast

... 13

BY DAN BROWNThe Independent

hile the weathermay disagree, thecalendar saysspring has arrived.

And in BerkeleyCounty, springofficially arriveswith the annual St.Stephen CatfishFestival.

The Catfish Festival will run from April 5-7and feature some old and new faces to entertainand wow more than 30,000 visitors to St.Stephen over the festival’s three days.

According to festival organizer, JohnnyBroome, many of the festival favorites are backagain this year.

“We have the magician Ricker M., who willwalk around the festival grounds performing

various magictricks for kidsand magic fansof all ages,”Broome said.

Ricker M. is amagical enter-tainer perform-ing professional-ly since 1979.“He delivers hisshows withhumor and inter-action that gete v e r y o n einvolved in theact,” Broome said. “He is also an accomplishedballoonist, juggler and puppeteer. He’ll be avail-able all three days of the festival.”

Broome added that Miss Jingles the clownwill also be back this year with a face paintingbooth.

“Miss Jingleshas always beena crowd favoritehere,” he said.

The festivalbegins Fridayafternoon April5, at 4 p.m. andwill continuethrough Sundayevening at 7p.m. The festivalwill present alllocal fare, craftsand food for thepublic to enjoy.

While the annual undertaking may be madeup of fun and games, the importance of the fes-tival can’t be denied.

“The Catfish Festival puts the town of St.Stephen out to the community and reflects whatthe town stands for,” said St. Stephen resident

William Truesdale. “Each year the festival hasmore food and craft vendors.

“The festival grows progressively larger eachyear.”

Kendra Scott from St. Stephen said theCatfish Festival provided fun for the wholefamily.

“It gets people together, grown-up and kidsfor a day of fun,” she said.

The three-day event is free and open to thepublic.

All the standard Catfish Festival favorites willbe present in the days ahead, including theannual Cake Walk, Sweet Pea contest andCatfish Stew Cook Off Saturday afternoon.

More than 20 food vendors will be on hand toprovide the same fare the Catfish Festival hasenjoyed for years to include funnel cakes andhand-dipped corn dogs, gyro wraps and frozentreats to name a few.

“We have a large variety of great food avail-able every year,” Broome said.


Catfish Festival brings new season in St. Stephen

Kendra ScottWilliam Truesdale


CatfishFestivalQ & A

What is your favorite memoryof the Catfish Festival?

Tara Jackson (St.Stephen): “Whenthe Catfish Festivalfirst started I was 13years old. I had myface painted at oneof the vendors, andmy picture wastaken and it waspublished in theB e r k e l e yIndependent news-paper.” Tara Jackson

Dan Brown/Independent

Macedonia Middle School Principal Janie Langley rides the Scrambler with Raegan Claridge and her sister Addisa Claridge (in rear car).“Sometimes carnivals and festivals like these are the only chance many of these kids get a chance to enjoy a day like this,” Langleysaid.


The CarolinaDancers, a localline dancingtroupe, entertainsthe crowd in2012.Dan Brown/Independent


Charsetta Grahamof Charleston ofDelaysha’s JewelryBox at the 2012Catfish Festival.Frank Johnson/Independent


Frank Johnson/Independent

Great food is a staple of the Catfish Festival.



Katelynn and Dylan McMakin of Jamestown are all smiles at last year’s festival.



Makenzie Solis and Jayden Dorsett of Summerville enjoy a ride on “Frolic” at the 2012Catfish Festival.


Gail Freeman and Markie Smith Moncks Corner display handmade jewelry at last year’sCatfish Festival.


Weather forecast betterthan 2012 for festivalBY DAN BROWNThe Independent

his year’s CatfishFestival should avoidthe fate of last year’srain-soaked event thatsaw the weather holdattendance under itsaverage.

Still, anyone wonder-ing about the weather forecast for the 21stAnnual Catfish Festival should take apage out of the scouts’ book, and be pre-pared.

The forecast for April 5-7 calls for a lit-tle cooler temperatures than normal withhighs in the mid-to-upper 60s during theday and lows in the upper 40s at night.While there is a chance of rain, it is signif-icantly less than the 2012 festival.

Last year’s weather threw a damper on

the festival with heavy rain and storms onFriday and popup storms on Saturday.

Not this year. This year the forecast bodes a little bet-

ter for St. Stephen with a decreasedchance of rain and the onset of warmertemperatures than what’s been seen in thebeginning of spring.

In preparing for the weather on yourexcursion to this year’s Catfish Festival,it’s best to plan for the worst and hope forthe best.

Take an extra jacket or sweater in casecooler temperatures prevail and it neverhurts to pack the umbrella.

According to the National WeatherService, a 30 percent chance of thunder-storms is in the forecast for the early partof the week, April 1-3, but skies areexpected to clear as the weekendapproaches with warmer temperaturesprevailing.

2013 catfish festival

Documents

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stephen catfishfestival