GILBERT, SC (WACH) - The Fourth of July brings friends together for outdoor activities, fireworks and grilling out, but in Gilbert the holiday also comes with plenty of peaches.
For more than 50 years the Town of Gilbert has hosted the Lexington County Peach Festival. This year, the festivities began at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday and continued throughout the day. The festival will ended with a fireworks display at 10 p.m.
Each year the festival is held at the Gilbert Community Park on the Fourth of July. The park is located on Rikard Circle behind Gilbert United Methodist Church and between Gilbert Primary and Gilbert Middle Schools. The festival is one of the largest in the southeast part of the country.
The community enjoyed the peach pageant, peach parade, live entertainment, an art contest, an antique car show and other exciting events during the festival. There were also amusement rides for children.
The parade began at 9:30 a.m. and barbeque lunches were served along with peach ice cream, peach cobbler, peach tea and other tasty treats.
This year, volunteers with Operation Thank You hoped to get 5,000 thank you cards signed by festival attendees. The signed cards will be sent to military chaplains to distribute to troops serving overseas.
Gilbert Mayor Randy Clamb said the event usually brings between 40-50,000 people from around the state. He also said they could not do it without volunteers.
"We've got volunteers who put it on yearly. They work tirelessly. And this is just a wonderful thing for the community, and the economic impact it has on the town."
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