By Mike McCombs
The opening ceremony for the 66th Beaufort Water Festival is Friday night, and if the rain stays away, this year’s festival will be wide open.
But the rain is a wild card.
There is a 60 percent chance of precipitation through the opening weekend. But as anyone who lives in Beaufort knows, it could be wet every day and clear out at night. Or we might not see rain at all.
While the Opening Ceremony is Friday night, the Festival actually gets under way at 2 p.m., when the Festival Arts & Craft Market opens in the Promenade at the Downtown Marina.
The gates at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park open at 6 p.m., and the Opening Ceremony, a free event, begins at 7 p.m. There will be a free shuttle from the parking at the Beaufort County Government Center to downtown, where parking will be scarce and towing will be enforced.
The Parris Island Marine Band will perform for the crowd before the fireworks show over the Beaufort River.
Things get started early Saturday with Raft Races, the Bocce Tournament, the Badminton Tournament and the Children’s Toad Fishing Tournament going off in the morning before Saturday night’s Concert In The Park featuring the Eli Young Band.
If you don’t have tickets for any of the main events, visit https://www.bftwaterfestival.com/purchase-tickets.html#/. Tickets are now electronic and can be kept and presented on your phone.
For the complete Beaufort Water Festival schedule, visit https://www.bftwaterfestival.com/full-festival-schedule.html#/.
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
