Shrimp, craft beer lovers might be the winners in tiff over Beaufort festivals
Shrimp and craft beer will be celebrated in the Beaufort area soon, though in separate events amid an ongoing tiff between city and business leaders.
The city of Beaufort will host the Beaufort Shrimp Festival the first weekend of October after denying a request by the Beaufort Regional Chamber of Commerce last month to operate the festival.
The chamber instead will offer “Beers and Gears” on Sept. 29, with craft brews, classic cars and Motown music in Habersham Marketplace in Burton, chamber CEO and President Blakely Williams said Thursday.
A legal threat from the chamber related to festival ownership appears to be on hold for now. The chamber has maintained it owns the shrimp festival and opposes the city trademarking the name.
When asked if the chamber planned to pursue legal action, Williams said only that the nonprofit and its members are willing to work with the city.
“We remain disappointed at the outcome,” she said. “We look forward to working together on important issues that will make the Beaufort community better in the near future.”
Details for the craft brew festival are still being finalized, but the plan is to sell bracelets offering unlimited beer tastings, Williams said. The chamber had booked Motown group Deas-Guyz for the shrimp festival, and the band will play instead in Habersham, a community of homes, loft apartments and businesses on the Broad River.
The city-run shrimp festival is sticking with the same formula as past years when the festival was under Main Street Beaufort and the chamber. The event is Oct. 5-6.
A Forrest Gump-themed road race will wind through downtown and across the Richard V. Woods Memorial Bridge, with commemorative T-shirts and a Gump impersonator hanging out in Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park.
Linda Roper, the city’s downtown operations director, and event coordinator Rhonda Carey are working to organize the event. The city also plans a larger role in leading other city events like Taste of Beaufort, a foodie event held during the spring, a downtown trick-or-treat in October, the city said in a news release last month.
The city and chamber for months have been at odds related to the chamber’s mission, structure and operation of the festivals. Chamber leaders said they were surprised to learn early in the year the city had trademarked the names of the Beaufort Shrimp Festival and Taste of Beaufort, festivals Main Street Beaufort and the chamber have operated in the past.
A chamber attorney wrote the city in May contesting the decision to register the names. The city hasn’t heard anything further from the organization, City Manager Bill Prokop said Friday.
Beers and Gears
What: Craft beer, classic car display, live music by Deas-Guyz
When: 4 -10 p.m. Sept. 29
Where: Habersham Marketplace; 13 Market, Beaufort
Cost: To be announced. Bracelets will be sold for craft beer tastings.
Beaufort Shrimp Festival
What: Two-day festival celebrating local seafood
When: Oct. 5-6
Where: Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park, downtown Beaufort
Cost: Admission is free. Food and drinks available for purchase.
This story was originally published August 3, 2018 at 11:03 AM.