Bedazzled buggies will be showcased in Port Royal’s quirky golf cart parade Saturday
Port Royal’s one-of-a-kind Golf Cart Parade brings out dozens of golf cart owners, who light up the night in blinged-out, cleverly decorated buggies as they roll through town. The holiday favorite — which has become as much of a tradition as the annual lighting the Christmas tree — also brings out the creativity of the town’s golf cart-loving residents. Last year’s winner transformed their ride into a boat using PVC pipe draped with lights. A green Grinch dangled a fishing line over the edge as it plied Paris Avenue.
“Port Royal is a little quirky at times,” says Nancy Plank, “and I think it just adds to the Port Royal theme.”
Plank is the chairperson of the Old Village Association of Port Royal, the not-for-profit that organizes the sparkly spectacle, an unusual but fitting Christmastime celebration in a town whose theme is “Cool, Coastal and Far From Ordinary.”
She says it’s the only the parade featuring all golf carts in the immediate vicinity. The Christmas Golf Parade was launched in 2010 and was later dubbed “world famous.” The Old Village Association, which also runs a soft-shell crab festival in April and a fall festival called OktoPRfest featuring food trucks and beer, has organized it for the past nine years.
This year’s golf cart caravan is at 6 p.m. Saturday. Port Royal residents can just drive to the starting line but all comers are welcome as long as they show up by 5:30 p.m. at Helena Square, 1624 Paris Ave.
“They can trailer it in from Beaufort,” says Plank, “we don’t care.”
Police lead the parade. A fire truck is at the end, with Santa on board. An after party follows at the Shellring Ale Works on 11th Street where there will be free photos with Santa and music by popular local performer Chris Jones.
Last year, 55 bedazzled carts turned out while a few hundred people lined the sides of the streets to watch and cheer as the cart caravan rolled past. Plank is expecting even more carts this year. One of the most stunning carts has been the“candy cane train,” a cart that pulls several tiny compartment coaches that kids ride in.
Many residents in the town are proud golf cart owners and the parade is a chance to showcase their rigs decked out with festive decorations, Plank says. You never know, she says, what they will come up with.
“I think it’s just something different here,” Plank said. “It’s like, ‘who can come up with the most innovative design for their golf cart?’ It’s fun.”
While there is no cost, some participants are in it to win it, competing for “best in show,” Plank says.
Restaurants and businesses donate certificates that are used as prizes for the best-decorated carts.
