They travel far and wide to attend the Hammock Day Festival in Pawleys Island

They travel far and wide to attend the Hammock Day Festival in Pawleys Island

PUBLISHED July 23, 2025

They came from as far away as California and New York. And Ohio and Colorado. And West Virginia and Pennsylvania. And, of course, the Carolinas were represented.

All in all, folks from more than 200 ZIP codes around the USA descended on Pawleys Island Saturday, July 19, 2025, for the annual Hammock Day Festival.

Making their way through the Hammock Shops Village, they shopped, ate, danced to music and shared a love for South Carolina’s Hammock Coast – and, especially, for the hammock, weaved by hand in Pawleys Island since the 1930s.

The iconic Village was, once again, the setting for the Hammock Day Festival that featured live musical performances by The Embers and The Tams, vendors, food trucks, kids’ activities, merchandise and prize giveaways, and more. National Hammock Day is officially July 22 annually, but we celebrated early on South Carolina’s Hammock Coast®.

Out of the thousands who came out to brave a sweltering 90-plus-degree day, five were lucky enough to win an Original Pawleys Island, donated by The Original Hammock Shop.

Two of those winners could be described as traveling the shortest distance and traveling the furthest to celebrate Hammock Day – Jessica Roth of Pawleys Island and John Thompson of Oakland, California.

Roth said she was lounging in a hammock at the Original Hammock Shop when she received a call from Beth Stedman, CEO and president of the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce, telling her she had won the first hammock to be given away during the festival.

“I’m so excited to win a hammock at the Hammock Day Festival,” Roth said. “I feel like I manifested it. I have the perfect spot for it in my backyard between two live oaks that have been waiting for a hammock.”

And then there was John Thompson, all the way from the West Coast and experiencing the Hammock Coast and the Hammock Festival for the first time. He was the final winner of the day, and when his name was called, he let out a whoop!

“The amount of excitement I’m feeling right now will be completely alleviated once I get in this hammock,” Thompson said. “I’m going back to California later this week, and I can’t wait to sway my cares away.”

Other hammock winners were Charles Edens from Sumter, Deb McLaree from Myrtle Beach, and Sarah Odom of Old Fort, North Carolina.

For the second year, three Georgetown County entities came together, along with the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce, to mark the annual the celebration of National Hammock Day on South Carolina’s Hammock Coast®. In addition to the Chamber of Commerce and tourism officials for South Carolina’s Hammock Coast hosted the Hammock Day Festival with the Original Pawleys Island Hammock Shop and the Hammock Shops Village.

In previous years, the Chamber and the Hammock Coast held a morning event for Hammock Day at the Chamber’s Visitor Center at 28 Wall St., Pawleys Island, in the Litchfield community. In the afternoon, the Hammock Shops Village held its own special tribute to National Hammock Day.

Mark A. Stevens, director of tourism development for the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce and the Hammock Coast, said the event was a big success.

“We were delighted to see all of the people who came out for this year’s Hammock Day Festival,” Stevens said. “It’s such a delight to have a young man from California be so excited to win a hammock, and, likewise, it was so much fun to talk to so many people from all over the PeeDee region. We enjoyed giving away free Hammock Coast caps and selling the first official Hammock Day Festival T-shirt.”

South Carolina’s Hammock Coast®, a registered trademark, is the official tourism moniker for Georgetown County. Stevens said the Chamber staff gave out about 750 free Hammock Coast caps and sold almost all of the inaugural T-shirts.

Todd Nifong, vice president of sales and marketing for The Hammock Source, the parent company of the Original Pawleys Island Hammock Shop, said this year’s event was the best one yet.

“The turnout was spectacular,” Nifong said. “We saw many familiar faces from the past years events which is always wonderful.”

He said he spoke with travelers from all parts of the country who stopped in to enjoy the day.

“Kids enjoyed the face-painting and bounce houses and adults lined up for the great food and danced the day away to the Embers and Tams,” Nifong said. “Our plan is to continue to make this event bigger and better every year to give back to the community and to make it a day that everyone marks on the calendar.”

Alora Beaver, general manager of Pawleys Island Hammocks, summed it up with three words: “It was awesome!”

“Foot traffic was steady throughout the day, and sales were very good,” she said. “Hammock Day marks the peak of our season.”

Other shops in the Hammock Shops Village are Whitmire’s Fine Jewelry, Pawleys Island Shoes, Pawleys Island Wear, Elegantz (women’s and men’s clothing and accessories), Carolina Gourmet, High Country Olive Oil, Woof Gang Bakery and Grooming (pet store), Carolina Nature Nook, Elizabeth Paige Candles, Barefoot General Store, Details by Three Sisters (fashion accessories and onsite engraving), Christmas Mouse, Alter Ego (women’s boutique clothing store), Affordables Apparel, The Beach House (home décor), Pawleys Island Mercantile, LaTierra Mineral Gallery, and Stella & Remi (Southern pecans and confectionaries). Restaurants are Local Eat Drink Celebrate and bisQit.

In addition to California, people traveled from other states, including New York, New Jersey, Florida, Virginia, Texas, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. They each expressed their love for Pawleys Island and the annual Hammock Day Festival event.

Trevor and Amanda Frederick and Cari Berwick, all from Vero Beach, Florida, and Keith and Mary Ann Maidlow of Middletown, New Jersey, were at the event together. They said they have been vacationing on the Hammock Coast for five years and were staying at Litchfield by the Sea this year.

“We just love the family time, the golf carts, the pool, and the beach,” Berwick said. “It’s the best!”

Mary Nardo of Richmond, Virginia, said she’s been coming to Pawleys Island since 1982 and always makes Pawleys an annual vacation destination. “We love coming here and eating at the wonderful restaurants here,” she said, “and we always come to the Hammock Shops Village.”

She was accompanied at the festival by her son, 26-year-old Barham Nardo. “All my life, I’ve been coming to Pawleys Island and our trips here really are my favorite part of the year. We even have a Pawleys hammock back home in Richmond, too.”

The Nardos usually rent a house on the creekside of the island.

“I always remember running down the wooden dock and smelling the pluff mud,” Barham said when asked about his earliest memories of coming to Pawleys Island. His mother added, “We love to come down here and cook Frogmore stew and dine in some of the wonderful restaurants, and we always visit the Hammock Shops Village. We were so excited that this event was going on at one of our favorite places.”

Peggy Small of Pawleys Island, formerly of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said the first time she came to Pawleys Island was in her mother’s womb.

“My mother was pregnant with me,” Small said, “so I guess you can say Pawleys is really part of my makeup.”

That was in 1955, and the family returned to the island many times since then.

“When we first ame to Pawleys Island, we stayed on the south end and all we did was float the creek, float on inner tubes on the ocean and catch crabs,” she said. “I live here now, and I’ll never leave.”

Lindsay Wolfe of Memphis, Tennessee, was with her two sons, Walker and Whitten. She said she has been coming to the area with family for decades.

“We’ve been coming to Pawleys Island for 36 years, and we have never missed a year,” she said. “This is our common denominator.”

Macy Morgan of Boston, Massachusetts, who was at the festival with a friend, Philip Scaltaldo, and her mother, Elaine Morgan, said they enjoy visiting the Hammock Coast. They also enjoyed the Hammock Day Festival, she said.  “We love Pawleys Island so much because it is quiet, laid back and just a great place to unwind and relax,” Macy said. “We love to check out places like the Hammock Shops Village, so we were excited to come for this event.”

About the Hammock Coast

South Carolina’s Hammock Coast is one of the Palmetto State’s top tourist destinations. Generations of visitors have made Georgetown County their preferred vacation spot. Buoyed by its large selection of vacation rental condos and homes and wide-open, pristine beaches, Hammock Coast beaches routinely make the best-of lists from various media outlets. In fact, Pawleys Island was recently named South Carolina’s Best Beach by USA Today/10 Best.

In addition to the beaches, people are drawn to the Hammock Coast for its nature-centric pastimes such as fishing, boating, kayaking, birding and more. Attractions such as Hopsewee Plantation, Hobcaw Barony, Brookgreen Gardens, Atalaya Castle at Huntington Beach State Park and historic Georgetown with its five museums are also popular must-do activities for visitors of all ages.

The Chamber operates Visitor Centers at 28 Wall St. in the Litchfield community of Pawleys Island and at 531 Front St. in historic Georgetown.

For more information about the Hammock Coast, visit https://hammockcoastsc.com/ or follow on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Or call the Chamber at 843-546-8436. For more about the Original Hammock Shop, visit https://pawleysislandhammocks.com/. For more about the Hammock Shops Village, visit https://www.hammockshopsvillage.com/

By Clayton Stairs / tourism manager for the Georgetown County Chamber of Commerce and South Carolina’s Hammock Coast®