So after reading reviews and checking out the website online and getting all the info I needed, I was ready to check out the SC Strawberry Festival.
And 100% cosign, no clue as to why this is called the Strawberry Festival. Maybe at one time they had a strawberry focus but only signs of strawberries were at the entrances/exits. Otherwise, I would just consider this a normal festival.
Upon going to the website, I learned of the $5 parking with free shuttle to the festival, so we readily took this option. Not familiar with the area, I did reach out to a fellow yelper and asked which area would be best and so we went and parked at Nations Ford HS and this indeed was the best option. They had plenty of "shuttles" and we had no wait on the way to the festival and on the way back, our wait was very minimal.
The set up is decent. Food Vendors, Rides and Art/Crafts Vendor are all set up in different areas. What I really liked about this festival was the playground because my son was able to play and have some fun and we didn't have to spend a lot of money on rides. We were going to do rides but after seeing how long the lines the were and reading how long people waited, it just wasn't worth it to me.
Most food booths are cash only and they don't serve drinks. You have to go to coca cola booth for drinks. Crazy right? They do have ATMs on site but be better prepared than I was and bring more cash.
The strawberry jam stage had plenty of performances and most were enjoyable.
But truth be told, this is not a festival I would repeatedly visit every year. It was fun for a family experience but I know for certain there are other family activities we could do and have much more fun.