Edisto Shag Festival lights up island on Labor Day Weekend

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By: Jessica O’Connor

One of the state’s first shaggers and author of Boogie Woogie Beats, Dino Thompson, has said of the iconic dance, “We started dancing like we talked to girls at the beach-laid back, slow and easy.”

Bay Creek Park took on that laid back vibe this Labor Day weekend as Edisto Beach hosted its 13th annual Shag Festival. Lovers of South Carolina’s state dance enjoyed three full days of music, food, fun, fellowship, and of course, smooth footwork in the coastal breeze.

Said to have sprung to life on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, I personally think one hasn’t fully “experienced” all that the Carolina Shag embodies until you’ve shagged somewhere on our great state’s shoreline. Also described as “a cold beer on a warm night, with a hot date and no plans for tomorrow,” the shag is just best enjoyed somewhere dancers can let their hair down and relax. What better place to grab ahold of that feeling than at the beach?

I’ve always felt that we, as humans, can feel our ancestors through our own life experiences if only we open our minds and hearts to doing so. My mother’s side of the family hails from a little tobacco town called Mullins, so I’m part of a number of generations that grew up spending summers at Myrtle Beach. Beach music and the familiar “one-and-two, three-and-four, five-six” beat of the shag always remind me of the stories I’ve heard told of my grandparents’ and their siblings’ antics on the boardwalk. I thought of my own sweet southern family with a smile as we stepped into Bay Creek Park over the weekend, the salt air kissing hundreds of smiling faces in the vivid marsh sunset.

Dancers of all ages showed off their own personal twist on what is said to be the south’s version of swing dancing, a myriad of brightly colored outfits weaving in and out amongst each other in rhythm with the music. Others sat nearby with cold drinks and good-smelling food, fingers snapping along to the beat as the Shag Doctors serenaded a packed dance floor. Without a doubt some were intoxicated by a sense of nostalgia, their minds drifting back to bygone summers on the strand.

And that’s just fine. Everyone is young again at the Edisto Beach Shag Festival.

If you missed it this year, make plans to attend the 2023 Edisto Beach Shag Festival. The event boasted arts and crafts vendors, several food vendors (including Walterboro’s Shorty’s Smokin’ Butts), a non-pro shag competition, and free shag lessons. The music stayed alive throughout each day courtesy of DJ Pat Patterson, Band of Oz, Edisto Gumbo, The Entertainers, and the Shag Doctors. I hear Elvis even dropped by.

Visit https://www.facebook.com/EdistoBeachShagFestival to see more of the sights from this year’s festival and for all the latest news on next year’s event!