INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 30)

 Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

Southeastern Wildlife Exposition … (Part Four)

Beautiful and Historic Charleston

The first event on Thursday was the Preview Afternoon. This allowed me to sleep in… a little. Frankly, I had wanted to get a fairly early start. I had heard so much about Charleston that I wanted to see it for myself. Yesterday was really a blur… into town late and no chance to look around. Today was going to be different. Charleston was founded over 300 years ago. Its quaint streets and wonderful shops all added to its uniqueness. To have a better feel for the city, we drove around the downtown streets. After a good tour we reached the building that housed the Preview. The SEWE art portion was divided into two venues, original art and limited-edition art. Not all of the participating artists had both. One of the great features of SEWE is that they insist that any artist participating in the show be in attendance. The “Original” venue was where all of the artists gathered for the Preview Afternoon. The art was spectacular. Even though the art was all wildlife, the interpretation of each artist was vastly different. From the main original’s venue, we left to view the limited-edition art. Although the reproductions were very good, they could not match the splendor of the original art. The Preview Afternoon started at 1:00 pm and ran until 5:00 pm. Although there was a lot to see, I was able to sneak away for some more site seeing. Right across from the main venue was The Old City Market. It was like stepping back in time. The jumble of shops and stall, the crowded aisle and the sounds of people talking and laughing all added to the excitement and vitality of the place. Time was marching on and I had to meet Sam to get ready for the Preview Night Gala and Sale… and what a time we had!