Wedding & Event Venue near Darlington, SC

DARLINGTON, SC (WMBF) - The 42nd annual South Carolina Sweet Potato Festival is set to kick off Saturday.

“Everywhere we go, and especially as I’ve been out and on the square this week, everybody’s excited about the Sweet Potato Festival,” says the festival committee’s co-chair, Krista Abbott.

Abbott says the one-day festival is the largest in Darlington, outside of racing events, telling WMBF it brings anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 people to the Public Square.

Multiple vendors come from out of state and bring festival attendees with them.

The festival is put on by the Pilot Club of Darlington as a fundraiser for their charitable causes, but Darlington community members who work on the Public Square say the festival also makes a positive impact on the local economy.

Rita Buck, who owns Merle Norman Cosmetics and Salon, tells WMBF the festival happening right outside her store is great for her business.

“Right on the sidewalk, it’s very convenient for the customers to come in and out,” Buck says. “It’s an opportunity to meet new clients, new potential customers, who didn’t know we were here and what we had to offer. So, it’s a very lucrative, positive experience.”

Another shop tells WMBF the Sweet Potato Festival is its busiest day of the year. At the Pub on the Square, server Christina Hodge says every festival on the square means the pub is full all day.

“There’s not a seat to be taken,” says Hodge. “There’s a line out the door that’s usually waiting to be seen. It’s pretty much a madhouse.”

Buck says the festival is a special time for the city.

“We have so many things to offer to the residents of Darlington County,” she says. “We still commit and put the festival together for them, and they still come out and show their numbers.”

The Sweet Potato Festival will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the Public Square.

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DARLINGTON, SC (WMBF) - The City of Darlington announced in a release Tuesday that it will be launching a program to attract new homeowners and encourage growth in the community.

The program is set to launch Oct. 1 of this year and last until Sept. 30 of 2027.

Mayor Curtis Boyd said, “The City of Darlington is committed to fostering growth.”

The program is designed to promote construction of single-family homes and help strengthen neighborhoods. It will also strive to promote development and help to expand the local tax base, the release says.

“Darlington is a beautiful and safe place to live and raise a family. We want to improve housing and welcome new families to our community and with this Housing Incentive Program, builders will have an opportunity to help build Darlington up at a discounted price,” Boyd added.

In order to qualify for the program, the release says the housing may not be intended for rental use.

The City of Darlington claims it will reimburse the contractor or homeowner for fees, including: tap, water, sewer and connection.

The city also claims it will pay for a building permit upon completion of the sale of the home or property.

The builder must enter into an application agreement with the City of Darlington prior to construction, the release says the builder will then have three years to complete construction or have a buyer.

According to the release, the builder must also submit a final closing statement to the city and an affidavit. The affidavit must be signed by the homeowner and the builder stating the home will be a primary residence.

“Fees received from this program will be deposited into an interest-bearing escrow account in which the city shall be entitled to retain any and all interest earned and may withdraw interest at any time without notice,” the release from the city says.

For more information on the City of Darlington, visit cityofdarlington.com or call 843-398-4000.

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A clerk at a grocery store mistakenly gave a woman a lottery ticket that was different than what she requested, but the faux pas paid off in a big way for her, South Carolina Education Lottery officials said Thursday in a news release.

The Darlington woman ended up winning a $303,000 grand prize on the Palmetto Cash 5 game that was something different than what she originally wanted, according to the release.

“If the clerk hadn’t made a mistake, I wouldn’t have won,” the winner said in the release.

Prior to the Sept. 4 Palmetto Cash 5 drawing, the woman stopped in the Piggly Wiggly supermarket on Pearl Street in Darlington to purchase a ticket, officials said.

The woman wanted to buy a game where she would play her own numbers, which is what she normally does, according to the release. But the clerk made the mistake of giving the woman a quick pick ticket where the numbers were randomly selected, officials said.

The clerk handed her the wrong game which she accepted, according to the release. Realizing the error, the clerk asked if she still wanted a Palmetto Cash 5 ticket.

“I said, ‘Yes,’ ” the woman recalled.

That quick pick surprised her by matching all five numbers to win the game’s top prize, according to the release.

The winning numbers from the Sept. 4 Palmetto Cash 5 drawing were 5, 9, 25, 34 and 41.

The winner will be allowed to retain some privacy, as South Carolina is one of 11 states — along with Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas and Virginia — that allow lottery winners to remain anonymous.

The woman told lottery officials that she plans to use her newfound windfall to fix up her house.

The odds of winning $303,000 playing Palmetto Cash 5 are 850,668-to-1, according to the release.

The Darlington Piggly Wiggly grocery store received a commission of $3,030 for selling the winning ticket, officials said.

The Palmetto Cash 5 jackpot for Thursday night’s drawing is $140,000.

It costs $2 to purchase a Palmetto Cash 5 ticket, and drawings are held on a daily basis at 6:59 p.m., officials said.