Saturday, October 31, is the last busy day of the shoulder season along Surfside Drive. The Surfside Beach Halloween Charity Car Show fills the street from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. with more than 60 trophies on the table. A few blocks over, Shuck-O-Ween runs from noon to 4 p.m. at Neal & Pam's and 1st Avenue South, with live music, food, games and a costume contest, according to the Town of Surfside Beach's weekly bulletin.
The next day the town's public life moves. Through mid-December, almost every item on the town calendar happens at Memorial Park, 410 Surfside Drive, or on the streets around it. The weeks when the beach is quietest are the weeks the town's own events run closest together, and they share one address.
The weekly rhythm, anchored at Surfside and Willow
Memorial Park sits at Surfside Drive and North Willow Drive. The town calendar lists the Farmers Market there every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. through December 15, at the end of a season that started April 7. The December calendar shows the last three Tuesdays as December 1, 8 and 15.
The same lawn hosts the Arts & Crafts Vendors Market on two Thursdays in November, the 5th and the 12th, also from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For the first two weeks of November, that means two weekday market days at the park. After that the Tuesday market carries the schedule on its own until the holiday events take over.
The change that makes these midweek visits easier starts November 1. Seasonal public parking in the Town of Surfside Beach is free from November 1 through February 28. The town also notes that "all posted parking signs, restrictions, and regulations still apply." In summer, a short Tuesday stop at the market costs a meter. In November it doesn't, as long as the car is parked where the signs allow. The town's parking page has the details.
| Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesdays through Dec. 15 | Farmers Market, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. | Memorial Park |
| Nov. 5 and Nov. 12 | Arts & Crafts Vendors Market, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. | Memorial Park |
| Nov. 11 | Veterans Day Breakfast, 7–11 a.m. | Saltaire Kitchen and Bar |
| Nov. 11 | Veterans Day Service, 2 p.m. | Memorial Park |
| Nov. 12 | Health & Wellness Fair, 9 a.m.–noon | Surfside Beach Fire Department |
| Nov. 26 | Turkey Trot, 8–11 a.m. | Surfside Beach Fishing Pier |
| Dec. 3 | Christmas Tree Lighting, 4–8 p.m. | Memorial Park |
| Dec. 6 | Christmas Tour of Homes, 4–7 p.m. | Along Surfside Drive |
| Dec. 12 | Christmas Parade, 2 p.m., plus Holiday Market, noon–4 p.m. | South Ocean Boulevard, Surfside Drive and Memorial Park |
November's two mornings that leave the park
Two November events start somewhere else, and both still come back toward the town's center.
Veterans Day starts at the oceanfront. The town calendar lists a Veterans Day Breakfast at Saltaire Kitchen and Bar from 7 to 11 a.m. on November 11, where veterans eat free. The Veterans Day Service follows at 2 p.m. at Memorial Park. The next morning, the Surfside Beach Fire Department hosts a Health & Wellness Fair from 9 a.m. to noon.
Thanksgiving morning goes to the pier at 11 Ocean Boulevard South. The town's Turkey Trot listing gives an 8 to 11 a.m. window, with free online registration for the 9 a.m. Gobbler Kids' Dash. On the race's RunSignup page, the 5K costs $50 and the Kids' Dash is free. Online registration closes at 6 a.m. on race day, and the page names NS Promos as the producer. Signing up the night before is safer than counting on a race-morning entry.
December runs straight down Surfside Drive
In December the park fills up again, and the events spread from the lawn onto the road.
The Annual Surfside Beach Christmas Tree Lighting is Thursday, December 3, from 4 to 8 p.m. at Memorial Park, and admission is free. The town's event page lists the program this way:
- 4:00 p.m., the Lakewood Elementary School Chorus
- 5:00 p.m., a welcome from Mayor Krouse
- 5:10 p.m., "The Vocalitas" on stage
- 6:30 p.m., the tree lighting
- 6:35 p.m., "The Vocalitas" again until 8 p.m.
The same page lists food trucks, arts and crafts vendors, Santa photos, Santa's Mailbox, a live Nativity scene, ornament decorating for children and a snow machine. It also says Willow Drive will be closed for the festival. Anyone who uses Willow as a shortcut home on a Thursday evening will need another route that night.
The Christmas Tour of Homes follows on Sunday, December 6, from 4 to 7 p.m. along Surfside Drive. Tickets are $25, sold at The Salty Mermaid Home Decor and Boutique at 816 3rd Avenue South. The town's listing says proceeds benefit J&P Treasures and Limbs for Life. Ticket holders can also visit two local businesses that open for the evening with discounts and giveaways. In his September 25 update, Mayor Robert Krouse credited Keep Surfside Beach Beautiful with bringing the tour back.
The Surfside Beach Christmas Parade closes the stretch on Saturday, December 12, at 2 p.m., along South Ocean Boulevard and Surfside Drive. A Holiday Market runs at Memorial Park from noon to 4 p.m., and the event page lists road closures. Three days later, the Farmers Market holds its last Tuesday of the year in the same park.
A few regular stops sit close to all of this. Sundown Restaurant & Sports Pub is at 810 Surfside Drive, a short walk from Memorial Park. Hakaya Café, which WBTW named among the area's new restaurants in June, serves Yemeni coffees and teas, crepes, waffles and pastries. Its signature coffee mixes Yemeni coffee with ginger, cream and cinnamon.
The same weeks are when next season gets decided
While the park handles the events, Town Council and staff are deciding what the town looks like next year. Most of those decisions are small and specific.
At Fuller Park, one tennis court is being converted into two pickleball courts. Council approved the change in September, according to the mayor's September 25 update. Mayor Krouse's October 23 update described the work as "nearing completion." The same update said a kitchen renovation at the Surfside Beach Fire Department was starting the following Monday, paid for with a $50,000 grant from Lowe's.
The pier's 2027 lineup is also taking shape now. According to the mayor's update, council approved Blue Poppy Jewelry for a kiosk on the pier in 2027. Lobster Dogs has applied for a spot next to the pier, and that application was on the agenda for the next regular meeting. The update also listed a first reading on dropping council's second November meeting, as the town already does in December. If that passes, there will be one fewer council meeting for residents to attend before the new year.
The biggest project is on Highway 17, at the former Wild Water & Wheels site. The town's October 20 resident update explains that concrete from the old water park, above and below ground, is being crushed on site and reused for new roads and infrastructure. Only one contractor, Atlas, is permitted to bring concrete onto the property. On timing, the town is direct:
"Concrete crushing will happen intermittently as more buried material is uncovered. The equipment may be left and returned as needed. There is no firm completion date yet."
The long-term plan for the site is commercial. The town has approved roads, utilities and grading, and interested businesses, including potential hotel and restaurant developers, have started buying nearby parcels. Once financing is final, building the site's infrastructure is expected to take about six months. The update notes that it is based on discussions with project representatives on September 23 and that timelines may change. Questions go to the Planning, Building and Zoning Department at 843-913-6111. Nearby, WMBF reported in July that a 127-room Hampton Inn & Suites at 1100 US 17 Business had broken ground and is expected to open in spring 2028.
Mayor Krouse holds open office hours most Thursdays from 3 to 4:30 p.m. That is the town's own channel for questions about pickleball courts, pier kiosks and the old water park site, and it is open during the same weeks the Tuesday market is running.
If the work at the former Wild Water & Wheels site or the new hotel construction on Business 17 has you wondering how the Highway 17 corridor could affect what your own home is worth, Liat Edri can give you a free home valuation based on current local sales, with no pressure to do anything with it.
