Spittoono facts for kids
Spittoono is a fun, family-friendly music festival that happens every August in Central, South Carolina. It's a three-day event held in a big field, and its main goal is to raise money for different charities. These charities help "kids and animals" in the area.
The festival started in the summer of 1981. It was created by a group of local people called the Redneck Performing Arts Association (RPAA). This group was formed at a place called the ESSO Club in Clemson, which used to be a gas station and grocery store. The RPAA officially became a charity in 1982, meaning they were recognized as a group that helps others.
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What is Spittoono?
Spittoono was first created as a playful, lighthearted version of another big arts festival called Spoleto, which takes place in Charleston, South Carolina. The name "Spittoono" was sometimes spelled "Spitoono" in different years.
How the Festival Works
Local bands play their music for free at Spittoono. There is no charge to enter the festival grounds. Instead, the money for charity comes from selling T-shirts and cold drinks. The music you can hear at Spittoono includes rock and roll, country, Bluegrass, and the Blues. It's known for being a lively, down-to-earth music show.
Where Spittoono Has Been
From 1981 to 1990, Spittoono was held in the parking lot of the ESSO Club. But it grew so popular that it needed more space! Because of this, and some disagreements about how money from sales was handled, the festival moved in 1991. It found a new, larger home at the Guard Armory. Spittoono continued to grow and eventually moved to its current location in 2015, as it had outgrown the armory field too.
The Festival's Legacy
In 2017, the RPAA announced that Spittoono XXXVII (the 37th festival) would be the "Grand Finale." This was because fewer people were attending, partly due to the more distant location and also because many of the original attendees were getting older. Plus, the weather had been bad for two years in a row.
However, on the final night of Spittoono XXXVII, a new sponsor stepped forward! This meant that Spittoono would continue. On September 8, 2017, the RPAA announced that $18,000 raised during that year's event was donated to twelve different charities. This shows how much good the festival has done over the years.
External links
- [1] - The SPITOONO Home Page
