Flowertown Festival in Summerville is great opportunity to spend time with friends and family this weekend and support those in need

Summerville, South Carolina – The Flowertown Festival started on Friday in Summerville and will last until Sunday. The festival is great opportunity for everyone to spend time with friends and family and indirectly support those in need.

According to the Summerville YMCA who are the organizers of the festival, the festival was founded in 1973 and this weekend the festival returns for 49^th year. Just like any other year, thousands of visitors are expected in town to enjoy the colorful flowers in full bloom and experience the offerings of hundreds of vendors.

While the festival is great opportunity to spend some quality time with friends and family over the weekend, it’s also a great opportunity to also help those in need.

According to the marketing director at YMCA Summerville Erika Studds, the organizers expect more than 250,000 visitors during the 3-day event which is also the biggest fundraiser for the Y.

“It is a wonderful opportunity to have normalcy,” said Erika Studds. “We are so excited to see people out smiling, children laughing, children riding rides, it’s a wonderful sight to see our community doing something normal.”

The organizers say the festival usually brings in $200,000 and they use these funds to support local families and children.

They provide full memberships, and with summer coming, it’s a busy time where some parents need help paying for summer childcare.

“We want every child in the Lowcountry to have access to swim lessons. It’s so important, so if you come to us part of that money will be used to put kids through swim lessons. With that same token summer camp is a huge need for working parents.”

In addition, part of the funds is used to provide beds for children that don’t have a bed.

Most of the money they expect to collect come from vendor fees and like any other year, they will support adults too.

“Whether you are a mom that is looking for a scholarship so that you can exercise while your children are in child development, or you are an adult looking for blood pressure self-monitoring, diabetes prevention. Every dollar that we raise in this festival we pour back into Summerville. We do so much more than you see on the surface when you think of a fitness facility.”

More information about the festival can be found on this link.