With thousands of attendees every year, the S.C. Poultry Festival kicks over Batesburg-Leesville Thursday-Saturday. The town’s largest festival, it dates back to 1987.

While the event brings in thousands of people and more than 100 vendors, it’s also an opportunity for local businesses to drum up revenue.

While it’s hard to realistically estimate the number of attendees every year, especially when people may return for two or even three days, Brent Shealy estimates it could be close to 50,000.

The large event is currently being looked at by the state Legislature to become an official S.C. symbol.

The festival was founded by the Leesville Merchant Association and hatched as an idea of Sara Shealy, who formerly owned Shealy’s Bar-B-Que.

According to the S.C. Poultry Festival’s website, Shealy wanted to recognize the largest industry in the Batesburg-Leesville area, including the nearby areas of Saluda, Ridge Spring, Monetta and other small towns. Thus the festival was started as a one-day event, slowly graduating to three days. 

“We have a budget of about $130,000 and any money left over supports local charities and scholarships,” said Brent Shealy, adding that they contribute to a scholarship at Clemson University for anyone studying poultry or agriculture.

“Our goal is to put on a good festival to highlight the community. It’s a time when people clean up their yards and people can get together. Our primary goal is to put on a good festival and not to raise money.”

The festival has a long list of activities. Admission is free at all the concerts at the end of the day. The only costs are for the rides and vendors.

The carnival features a variety of rides, with a one-price-to-ride-as-much-as-you-want deal on Thursday and Friday. There’s also a 5k, a volleyball tournament, a cornhole tournament, a car show, a cake auction, a cooking  contest and a chicken calling contest. 

The chicken calling contest is a fun tradition that’s been with the festival from the beginning with prizes for different age categories, Shealy said.

“Anyone can participate. We’ve had people make chicken sounds and cluck to the National Anthem. It’s up to the imagination of the contestant.”

The parade on Saturday morning is a major event, with just under 100 participants, and Shealy said the fireworks show is one of the largest in the state.

On every night of the festival, there are a couple of bands performing. On Friday, Radius Church Centerville and East Wind perform. On Saturday, The Experiment and I20 Horns perform along with Finesse. Tokyo Joe and the Root Doctors wrap it up Saturday night.