FORT MILL, S.C. — Fort Mill has canceled its annual South Carolina Strawberry Festival because of the weather.
The popular annual event, which was scheduled for Saturday, has been canceled because of scattered storms in the forecast.
The WCNC Charlotte Weather Team has been encouraging everyone to stay Weather Aware this weekend because scattered storms could produce a lightning threat for anyone attending outdoor events. Beyond the Strawberry Festival, those weekend events are also expected to include the Lovin' Life Music Fest, Charlotte FC and Charlotte Knights.
"With the safety of our vendors, patrons and staff in mind, the Town has made the difficult decision to cancel the South Carolina Strawberry Festival," the town said in an email to participants. "We apologize for any inconvenience."
While the festivities were called off outdoors, neighbors banded together to support vendors who could have lost business Saturday. A smaller-scaled "mini-Strawberry Festival" was held indoors at a local business.
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Storms this weekend are not forecast to be continuous. Instead, they will be scattered on and off throughout the weekend. And while severe weather such as tornadoes and damaging wind are not anticipated, thunderstorms can produce life-threatening lightning.
Strawberry lovers are not totally out of luck, however. The State Line Gear store has offered to host a "mini Strawberry Festival" for a smaller number of vendors on Saturday.
The event is from 10-5 p.m. at 118 Academy Street.
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This Saturday would have been the fifteenth annual festival. The event in Fort Mill typically includes strawberry pageants, golf tournament, strawberry sprint, stroll and strawberry scavenger hunt. The South Carolina Strawberry Festival features live entertaining, kids rides and activities, strawberry pie, ice cream and other recipe contests. They also have pig races, great food from local and regional vendors, arts and crafts and a car show. And on Saturday night, there's typically a fireworks show to close out the event.