18 Feb South Carolina Crawfish & Music Festival returns to the Hammock Coast Three decades have passed since the last South Carolina Crawfish & Music Festival was held in Pawleys Island. Now, with the recent opening of J.B. Celebration Park in Pawleys’ Litchfield community on South Carolina’s Hammock Coast®, organizers are bringing the popular festival back, and attendees can look forward to the excitement of the festival returning this year. Set for Saturday, March 7, from 11 a.m.-6 p.m., the South Carolina Crawfish & Music Festival will offer freshly steamed crawfish, live music, artisans, food trucks, a kids area with face painting and balloon animals, and family-friendly fun. Local bands, The Mullets, which played at the original Crawfish Festival, Road Rash, and Chasing Racheal will entertain attendees of this community celebration. Cindy Bindner, whose husband, Jim Bindner, passed away after making plans for J.B. Celebration Park, located near Waccamaw Middle School, continued her husband’s plans for the park. The three-acre park, which has four more acres of wooded area that can be used later, opened in October of 2025. Community effort brings Crawfish & Music Festival back Bindner said event organizers are excited to bring the South Carolina Craswfish & Music Festival back after a long hiatus. “It’s going to be a fun day to relax, enjoy community, get back to nature and enjoy good food, good music, and good friendship,” she said. “So many people are working together to make this happen. It’s a true community effort.” The main sponsor for the festival is Get Carried Away, owned by Brian Henry, mayor of Pawleys Island, and his wife, Sassy. South Carolina’s Hammock Coast® has also provided marketing funds for the festival. “We are glad to be a sponsor for this special event,” said Mark A. Stevens, director of tourism development for the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce and the Hammock Coast. “This is not only the triumphant return of a longtime historic event here but the start of a new tradition.” Event tickets are $20 and include a serving of freshly steamed crawfish. Tickets will be $30 the day of the event. A limited number of special VIP tickets are also available. This is the original logo used in newspapers to promote the South Carolina Crawfish Festival. (Photo courtesy of Coastal Observer) Bindner explained that the event was started by local chef and business owner, the late Louis Osteen, in 1981 and the last year for the event was 1996. Other people involved during the original festival’s run were the late John Henry Whitmire, owner of Whitmire’s Fine Jewelry, and the late Doc Lachicotte, owner of the Original Hammock Shop. She said the event was originally done in combination with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to promote crawfish farms on former rice fields, as well as educating people about crawfish, a delicacy in some parts of the world and more closely aligned with Louisiana than South Carolina. The event was originally at multiple locations, including the Hammock Shops Village, at the Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort’s Tara Theater, and then a park near what is now Habanero’s. It would draw hundreds of people annually “The festival became so big that they ran out of places big enough to hold it,” Bindner recalled. Crawfish & Music Festival Cookoff will feature local chefs During the 2026 festival, there will be a big event from 1-3 p.m. when seven local chefs take part in a crawfish cookoff, creating their own unique recipes. Tastes for all seven dishes will be included for a $10 ticket. A People’s Choice vote will determine the winner of the best crawfish recipe. Chefs from Frank’s, Bistro 217, Perrone’s, Hanser House, Litchfield Restaurant, and the New York Butcher House will take part if the cookoff, Bindner said. There will also be a home chef who is competing. This cartoon features Chef Louis Osteen, one of the founders of the event in 1981. (Photo courtesy of Coastal Observer) About JB’s Celebration Park JB’s Celebration Park is a community gathering place built around live music, family-friendly events, and local traditions. Proceeds from park events are reinvested into maintaining and improving the park, including a permanent stage, landscaping, walking trails, and year-round community programming— ensuring JB’s Celebration Park continues to serve and strengthen the community. “JB’s Celebration Park was created as a place for the community to come together,” Bindner said. “Hosting the South Carolina Crawfish & Music Festival in that location feels especially meaningful.” Follow JB’s Celebration Park and the South Carolina Crawfish & Music Festival on social media or visit the website. By Clayton Stairs / tourism manager for the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce and South Carolina’s Hammock Coast® 0 Hammock-All
