Stars Come Out at Sun Fun Festival
By Christina Lee Knauss
If you bring the celebrities out, they will come.
That paraphrase of the famous line from "Field of Dreams" accurately describes the crowds that came out June 5-6 for the main events at the 58th annual Sun Fun Festival, held for the second year in The Market Commons district off Farrow Parkway.
The two-day festival drew between 40,000 and 50,000 people, according to Nancy Gray, media communications manager for the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
Thousands waited in line for more than two hours on June 6 to get autographs and photographs from celebrities such as young actor Jason Earles, who plays "Jackson Stewart" on the Disney Channel hit "Hannah Montana"; Blake Lewis, recording artist and runner-up from season six of "American Idol"; and actor Robert Newman, who plays "Joshua Lewis" on "The Guiding Light."
Crowds also lined up to get autographs and photos with professional wrestler Ric Flair, who received the key to the city during the annual Welcome Ceremony held June 6.
Thousands also turned out for a free evening concert by national recording artists Lifehouse, a pop-rock band whose best-known singles include "Hanging by a Moment" and "You and Me."
The entire festival was definitely family-friendly, with plenty of attractions for children including inflatable bouncers, games, kid-oriented performances, and an interactive play area set up by event sponsor Honeycomb Cereal.
Gray said the festival drew 100 food and arts-and-crafts vendors, twice as many as in 2008.
It was one of the rare festivals where cereal boxes outnumbered the empty soft drink and beer cups in trash cans. Workers with Honeycomb Cereal estimated they handed out 20,000 mini-boxes of the cereal to festivalgoers during the day.
The crowd for the Lifehouse concert included everyone from teens and teens in trendy clothing to young couples, families with small children, and entire multi-generational groups sitting together on blankets and in folding chairs, grandparents with kids and grandkids.
Organizers said the festival's move to The Market Common in 2008 allowed them to plan for larger-scale events and bring more people together in a centralized location.
"This location gives us many more opportunities to plan things for the festival," Gray said. "We've got more space for vendors, and it allows us space for concerts by national acts like Lifehouse, more space for things for kids to do."
Since its beginning in 1951, the Sun Fun Festival has become one of the best-known festivals in South Carolina, and is one of the longest-running events on the Grand Strand.
In its early years, Sun Fun Festival events were held at various locations around Myrtle Beach, with many events - including sandcastle-building, bubble gum blowing, watermelon-eating contests and "human checkerboards" - being held right on the beach. For many years, the annual Sun Fun Parade was also a tradition, but that event was phased out in the past decade.
This year's events also included personal watercraft exhibitions on the lake near Farrow Parkway, as well as personal watercraft racing on the ocean near 32nd Avenue South and Springmaid Pier in Myrtle Beach.
Beauty queens have always been a traditional part of the festival, and this year was no different. Two queens were crowned at the Miss Sun Fun "Jewels of the Sea" pageant held June 6 at the Myrtle Beach High School Auditorium.
Top honors went to 21-year-old Jenny Price of Clover, who is the 2010 Miss Sun Fun. Boiling Springs resident Hillary Bradshaw, 17, won the title of 2010 Miss Sun Fun Teen.
Patrick and Lisa McLean of Myrtle Beach brought their son Erik, 3, out to see the kid-friendly events, including performances by the Backyardigans from Nickelodeon. The family left the festival for a few hours to check out Freestyle Music Park, and then returned for the evening concert by Lifehouse.
"This setup is nice - I like it," Patrick McLean said. "This park is a good spot for something like this." Lisa McLean particularly enjoyed the outdoor concert and hopes next year's Sun Fun includes more outdoor shows.
Myrtle Beach resident Carol Lewis spent two hours at the festival before taking a spot on the field in front of the stage for Lifehouse.
"I think this festival is a great thing - I love it," Lewis said. "They really need to continue this type of thing, and work on having more concerts of this caliber here."
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