Beaufort Shrimp Festival cancelled, won't be rescheduled | Hilton Head Island Packet

The Beaufort Shrimp Festival has been cancelled due to inclement weather, organizers say.

LaNelle Fabian, executive director of Main Street Beaufort, said organizers met with the City of Beaufort at 10 a.m. Saturday and decided to cancel the event out of safety concerns for visitors.

Forecasters had called for as much as a foot of rain to fall across Beaufort County earlier in the week but by Friday afternoon had dialed that down to about 7-8 inches to fall between Friday and Sunday afternoon, according to officials with the National Weather Service Charleston.

Fabian, who was helping volunteers remove everything from the Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park before high tide occurred at 1 p.m., said the grounds were already "sloshing" with water.

Despite a forecast of heavy rains for the area, about 100 runners competed in the event's 5K run held at 8 a.m. Saturday, Fabian said. While planners realize visitors were disappointed, the event will not be rescheduled, Fabian said later Saturday. 

"Events are so detailed and it takes months to put together," she said. "It's pretty much impossible to reschedule." Event planners, she said, would instead begin working on next year's festival scheduled for Sept. 30-Oct. 1.