Out in the pine woods of rural Horry County, where the Waccamaw River slides along dark and slow beneath the cypress trees, a small music festival is getting ready for its first weekend. The Barefoot Hootenanny will take over River Island Adventures in Longs from October 23 to 25, 2026, with two stages, 21 acts, tent sites under the trees and a river that doubles as part of the entertainment.

It is a very different kind of event from the big beachfront festivals that fill the Grand Strand calendar. According to the Post and Courier, organizers expect fewer than 400 tickets to be sold in year one, which means the crowd will feel closer to a neighborhood gathering than a stadium show. There will be late-night jam sessions, food trucks, kayaks pulled up on the bank and a Halloween celebration on Saturday night, all a short drive inland from North Myrtle Beach.

If you are planning a late October beach week, the Hootenanny is an easy way to add an evening, or a whole weekend, of live music in the woods. Here is what we know so far about the lineup, tickets, camping and the causes it supports, along with some thoughts on how to pair it with a stay by the ocean.

What the Barefoot Hootenanny Is

The Barefoot Hootenanny is the creation of River Island Adventures, led by owner Jeff Cline, with the local band The Goofy Footers serving as co-hosts. The venue sits at 1249 Vera Road in Longs, on the Waccamaw River in rural Horry County, and the property already welcomes people who come to paddle, camp and spend time outdoors. This fall it becomes a festival ground for the first time.

Cline told the Post and Courier that he wants the weekend to be more than a chance to watch a band. His idea is to bring music, the outdoors, camping and community together in one place, so that people leave having shared a few days rather than just a set list. That spirit shows in the schedule, which mixes concerts with river trips, skills workshops and charity games, and in the choice to keep attendance small in the first year.

The Lineup: 21 Acts on Two Stages

Twenty-one acts are set to play across two stages over the weekend. Among the names announced are The Fitzkee Brothers featuring Jaden Lehman, Sweet Sweet, Walona, Melissa Joiner + The Travel Cats, Sawgrass, and the co-hosting Goofy Footers. It is a lineup built around regional talent, the kind of bands you might catch on a patio on a Friday night and then find yourself following for years.

Two stages mean there should be little dead air between sets, and the late-night jams give musicians and fans a chance to keep the music going after the scheduled acts wrap up. Set times had not been published when we wrote this, so check with River Island Adventures closer to the weekend if there is a particular band you do not want to miss. If you enjoy discovering local acts, our guide to live music venues in North Myrtle Beach will point you toward places where many of these same musicians play the rest of the year.

Tickets and Prices

Pricing is straightforward. A weekend pass is $100, a single-day ticket is $50, and children 15 and under get in free when they come with an adult. That last detail makes the Hootenanny unusually friendly for families, since a couple bringing two or three kids pays the same as a couple coming alone.

With fewer than 400 tickets expected in the first year, it is sensible to secure yours early rather than planning to buy at the gate. The reported coverage did not spell out where tickets are sold, so the simplest route is to call River Island Adventures at (843) 882-7487 and ask about purchasing, camping reservations and any rules for bringing coolers, pets or chairs. Prices and policies can change, so confirm before you go.

Camping on the Waccamaw

For the full experience, the festival offers camping on 13 acres next to the grounds. Options include wooded tent sites, car camping and RV sites without hookups, so anyone bringing a camper should plan to be self-contained for power and water. There is something about falling asleep to the sound of a distant fiddle and waking to mist lifting off a blackwater river that you do not forget, and for many people that will be the heart of the weekend.

Late October nights along the river can feel noticeably cooler than the afternoons, so pack layers, a warm sleeping bag and a good headlamp for finding your way back from the late jams. Because camping details such as check-in times, fire rules and quiet hours were not included in the coverage we reviewed, call the venue before you load the car.

Beyond the Music: Kayaks, Workshops and a Halloween Party

The Hootenanny leans hard into its riverside setting. Guests can kayak to a nearby island, browse vendors, eat from food trucks and join outdoor-skills workshops, including lessons in primitive fire-making taught by veterans of the survival television series Naked and Afraid. It is the kind of workshop that sounds like a novelty until you are sitting around a circle watching someone coax a flame out of a pile of tinder, and then it becomes the story everyone tells on the drive home.

Hootenanny Charity Survivor Games

For a $15 donation, festival-goers can take part in the Hootenanny Charity Survivor Games, a competitive, good-humored way to raise money for the weekend’s causes. Details on the individual challenges were not released in the coverage we reviewed, but the format fits neatly with the fire-making workshops and river setting.

Saturday Halloween Celebration and Sunday on the River

Because the festival falls the weekend before Halloween, Saturday brings a Halloween celebration, which is a fine excuse to pack a costume. Sunday closes with a river activity, a gentle way to end a weekend that began with guitars and campfires. If your family is building a fall itinerary around the season, our list of family-friendly fall activities in North Myrtle Beach has more ideas for the rest of the week.

The Charities Behind the Weekend

Three organizations are set to benefit from the festival. The Surfrider Foundation works to protect oceans and beaches, The Adaptive Surf Project helps people with disabilities get into the water on a surfboard, and Winyah Rivers Alliance focuses on the rivers of this corner of the Carolinas, including the Waccamaw that runs right past the festival grounds.

That mix of beach and river causes suits a festival held a short drive inland from the Atlantic. Coastal families spend their summers in the surf and their autumns on the rivers, and the Hootenanny’s charity choices tie those two halves of Grand Strand life together in a way that feels natural rather than tacked on.

Pairing the Festival With a North Myrtle Beach Stay

Longs is a short drive inland from North Myrtle Beach, which makes the Hootenanny easy to fold into a beach vacation. Some visitors will camp the whole weekend. Others will stay by the ocean and drive out for a day of music, returning at night to a hot shower and the sound of the surf. Either way, you get the best of both landscapes in a single trip.

If you stay near Cherry Grove, on the north end of town, you will be well placed for the drive inland and for a morning walk along the marsh. Ocean Drive puts you close to the shag clubs and restaurants on Main Street, Crescent Beach offers a relaxed middle ground, and Windy Hill on the south end sits near Barefoot Landing for dinner on the waterway. Late October is also a gentle time on the beach, and the same weekend brings other happenings you may want to add, so check our Myrtle Beach events calendar and our pillar guide to things to do in Myrtle Beach before you finalize your plans.

Another Reason to Be in Cherry Grove That Weekend

The festival happens to share its Saturday and Sunday with the Grand Strand Kite Festival, which is scheduled for October 24 and 25 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Point at Cherry Grove, 6300 North Ocean Boulevard. It is free, and it is organized with Klig’s Kites. A family could easily spend Saturday morning watching big, bright kites tug at their lines over the north end of the beach, then drive inland in the afternoon for music by the river. As with any outdoor event, times and plans can shift with the weather, so confirm before you go.

A Sample Hootenanny Weekend

One easy rhythm is to spend Friday settling into your rental and watching the sun set from the beach, drive inland Saturday for an afternoon of music, a fire-making workshop and the Halloween party, then sleep in on Sunday before heading back to the Waccamaw for the river activity, or simply spend the day on the sand. Families with young children might choose the day ticket, while music lovers who want every note can pick up a weekend pass and treat the beach as a place to recover afterward.

Groups that want room to gather after the festival will find it in oceanfront homes in North Myrtle Beach, with space for a late dinner and stories from the day, while couples and smaller parties may prefer the simplicity of oceanfront condos with a balcony over the water.

Frequently Asked Questions

Make the Beach Your Home Base for Hootenanny Weekend

A weekend of river music in Longs pairs beautifully with mornings on the sand in North Myrtle Beach. Stay by the ocean, drive inland for the bands and the campfire workshops, and come back to a quiet beach and a comfortable bed when the last jam winds down.

Sources: The Post and Courier (September 2026). Lineup, ticket prices, camping options and schedules are subject to change, so confirm all details with River Island Adventures before you go.

Purple juice runs to the ankles. A crowd leans over the rail of a wooden tub, somebody’s aunt is shrieking with laughter, and a stomper in rolled-up shorts is marching in place like the grapes owe her money. Over on the Pepsi Stage a band is kicking into the next song, and the smell of fermenting muscadines drifts across the lawn toward the lake. That is SeptemberFest at Barefoot Landing, and it comes back this Saturday, September 19, 2026.

This year carries two milestones at once. It is the 10th annual SeptemberFest, and it hosts the 50th annual Duplin Winery Grape Stomp, a tradition that started at North Carolina’s oldest operating winery long before anyone was selling T-shirts on Highway 17. The festival runs from noon to 5 p.m. in Dockside Village, and walking in, watching the stomp and listening to the music cost nothing.¹

SeptemberFest also falls at the best time of year on this coast. Labor Day is behind us, the summer traffic has thinned, the ocean is still warm, and the beach rules have relaxed for the season. For anyone staying in North Myrtle Beach, the festival is a few minutes’ drive from the sand and an easy way to fill a Saturday afternoon between a morning walk on the beach and a sunset dinner on the waterway.

Here is what is happening, when it happens, how to get a grape stomp ticket now that advance sales have closed, and how to turn the day into a full early-fall weekend.

SeptemberFest 2026 at a Glance

SeptemberFest is Barefoot Landing’s end-of-summer celebration, put on with Duplin Winery, which runs its tasting room and store on the property. The festival centers on Dockside Village, the restaurant district on the waterfront side of the complex. The grape stomp itself happens on the lawn between Crooked Hammock Brewery and the Barefoot Landing Playground, so families can keep one eye on the tubs and the other on the swings.²

Schedules and ticket details can change. Confirm with Barefoot Landing and Duplin Winery before you head out.

The 50th Annual Duplin Winery Grape Stomp

Duplin Winery opened in Rose Hill, North Carolina, in 1975 and is known across the South for muscadine wines. Muscadines are the thick-skinned grapes that grow wild in the Carolinas, sweet and a little musky, the grape a lot of Southern families remember picking off a backyard arbor. Duplin expanded to North Myrtle Beach in 2015, and the Barefoot Landing location has been a steady stop for visitors ever since.³

The stomp is exactly what it sounds like. You take off your shoes, climb into a tub of muscadines and get to work. It is messy, loud and not remotely dignified, which is the whole point. Grown men who would never dance at a wedding end up high-stepping in front of strangers, and kids treat it like the best mud puddle they have ever found.

What the Ticket Includes

Stomp tickets have been listed at $35 per person. The ticket covers the stomp itself, a bottle of Duplin’s Fifty Crush (a wine named for the 50th stomp) and a custom-designed souvenir cup made for this year’s event. Spectators do not need a ticket.^1,4

How to Get a Ticket Now

Advance online sales closed on Monday, September 14. That leaves festival day. Duplin Winery will sell a limited number of tickets at its tent starting at 11 a.m., first come, first served, until they run out. If a stomp is the reason you are going, plan to be at the tent before it opens. Barefoot Landing’s parking lots are large, but they fill up on a festival Saturday, and the line at the tent forms early.

A practical tip from people who have done it: wear shorts or pants you can roll well above the knee, and bring a small towel and a pair of flip-flops for afterward. Muscadine juice stains, and you will be walking back across the boardwalk.

The WPDE Celebrity Stomp Off

At 2 p.m. the tubs get famous. WPDE ABC15 is sending a team of familiar faces from its newsroom for the Celebrity Stomp Off. The lineup includes Simon Williams, Kyra Purvis, Amanda Kinseth, Andrew James, Jennifer Abney and chief meteorologist Ed Piotrowski, the man most of the Grand Strand trusts when a storm is heading this way.²

There is something satisfying about watching the people who deliver the evening news up to their shins in grape skins. Get to the lawn a few minutes early if you want a spot along the rail. The Stomp Off falls right in the gap between the two bands, so the crowd tends to drift over from the stage all at once.

Live Music on the Pepsi Stage

Two Grand Strand bands split the afternoon on the Pepsi Stage in Dockside Village. Sunburst Radio opens at noon and plays until 2 p.m. They play regularly at local spots like Local on the Water, Neal & Pam’s and Sugrue’s Pub, so plenty of people in the crowd will already know them. After the Stomp Off, 100 Grand Band, a Myrtle Beach group, takes over at 2:30 p.m. and plays through to the 5 p.m. close.^1,5

Waterfront music is one of the things this coast does best, and Dockside Village is built for it. You can stand near the stage, find a table along the boardwalk, or listen from the lawn while the stomp goes on. If the afternoon puts you in the mood for more, our guide to Myrtle Beach events lists what else is on the Grand Strand calendar this fall.

Sidewalk Sales Across Barefoot Landing

SeptemberFest also doubles as a shopping day. Fourteen Barefoot Landing merchants are setting up sidewalk sales for the festival: Big Chill Island House, Cariloha, Charleston Shoe Co., Dressed By Jess, Earthbound Trading, Faux Paws, Havens Marketplace, Holly Street Home, Monkee’s, Savannah Bee, Shining Sol, Spice & Tea Exchange, Sunglass Hut and Tiki Jim’s.¹

The mix covers a lot of ground. There is bamboo-fabric clothing at Cariloha, raw honey at Savannah Bee, spice blends to take home to your kitchen at Spice & Tea Exchange, and pet treats and gear at Faux Paws. Shoppers who want to keep going after the festival will find more ideas in our local’s guide to fall shopping in the North Myrtle Beach area.

Stilt Walkers, Photo Ops and Adoptable Dogs

Kids get plenty to do beyond the tubs. Costumed stilt walkers will roam the grounds tying balloon animals, and a photo station is set up for family pictures. With the playground right next to the stomp lawn, parents can let younger kids burn off energy without missing the action.²

The Humane Society of North Myrtle Beach is also coming, with adoptable dogs, merchandise and raffles.¹ Fair warning: families have gone to a festival for grapes and come home with a dog.

If your own dog is traveling with you, Barefoot Landing welcomes pets on a leash or in a pet stroller, and waste stations are set up around the property. Each merchant decides whether pets can come inside, so ask before you walk in.⁶ September is also a good month to bring a dog to the coast in general. The seasonal dog restrictions on the sand lifted after Labor Day, as we explained in our breakdown of how the beach rules change after Labor Day.

Barefoot Landing Beyond the Festival

Barefoot Landing sits on the Intracoastal Waterway along Highway 17 South, with more than 100 shops and restaurants spread across boardwalks and around a lake. It opened in its current form in 1988 and has been one of North Myrtle Beach’s main gathering places ever since.⁷

After the festival closes at 5, the complex keeps going. Crooked Hammock Brewery, right next to the stomp lawn, has a big backyard with firepits and lawn games, a good place to sit while the kids wind down. Blueberry’s Grill is a reliable choice for an early dinner. The House of Blues has its restaurant and outdoor deck by the water, and the Alabama Theatre is on the same property if you want to cap off the day with a show.

Wine lovers who liked the stomp can go back to Duplin on a quieter day for a tasting. Our feature on Duplin Winery in North Myrtle Beach covers what to expect, and our roundup of wineries and wine tasting on the Grand Strand lists other places to try.

Planning Your SeptemberFest Saturday

Timing the Day

If you want to stomp, be at the Duplin tent by 11 a.m. If you just want to watch, arrive around noon when Sunburst Radio starts, walk the sidewalk sales while the lots are still manageable, and be at the stomp lawn by 1:45 for the Celebrity Stomp Off. Then take a seat for 100 Grand Band and let the afternoon run until 5.

Getting There

Barefoot Landing is at 4898 Highway 17 South, a short drive from every section of North Myrtle Beach. Windy Hill and Crescent Beach are the closest beach neighborhoods, and Ocean Drive and Cherry Grove are only a few more minutes up the road. Highway 17 gets busy on festival Saturdays, so give yourself extra time, especially if you are after a day-of stomp ticket.

Building a Full Weekend

SeptemberFest opens a busy stretch of fall festivals in North Myrtle Beach. One week later, on Saturday, September 26, the city’s new NMB Live! festival brings three stages and more than 150 vendors to Main Street. Early October brings Little River ShrimpFest on the waterfront just north of town. Our guide to a fall vacation in North Myrtle Beach pulls the whole season together, and the complete guide to things to do in Myrtle Beach covers the rest of the Grand Strand.

Where to Stay for SeptemberFest

Barefoot Landing is inland, on the waterway side of Highway 17, so any North Myrtle Beach rental puts you close. The question is what kind of beach you want to come home to.

Windy Hill is the nearest section to the festival, and its wide, quiet beach is the easiest drive back after a long afternoon. Crescent Beach is a family favorite a few minutes farther up, with plenty of room on the sand. Ocean Drive puts you near Main Street and its shag clubs, which is handy if you plan to stay for NMB Live! the following weekend. Cherry Grove Beach, at the north end, has the pier, the marsh and quiet early mornings.

Groups traveling together for the festival weekends usually do best in one of our oceanfront home rentals, with enough bedrooms and kitchen space for everyone to spread out. Couples and smaller families often choose an oceanfront condo, with a balcony facing the ocean and a pool downstairs.

Frequently Asked Questions

The barricades go up before sunrise on a Main Street festival morning in North Myrtle Beach. Vendor tents unfold one by one in the half-light, and by the time the sun clears the pier at Ocean Drive, the smell of kettle corn and funnel cakes drifts all the way down to the Horseshoe. Locals know that morning well. This September, it gets a brand-new name.

NMB Live!, the City of North Myrtle Beach’s newest signature festival, debuts on Main Street on Saturday, September 26, 2026, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The tagline says it plainly: one street, three stages, endless vibes. Three stages of continuous live music, more than 150 vendors, a Kids’ Zone, food trucks, and every restaurant and shop along Main Street open and in on the action — all with free admission and free parking, rain or shine.

And the picture is now complete. The city has released the full entertainment lineup along with parking and shuttle details — five bands, fire dancers, live artists, and roaming street performers, plus a free shuttle and three free parking locations for festival day.

For a town that has been throwing street parties on this same stretch of pavement for generations — shag music pouring out of Fat Harold’s, parades rolling past the pastel storefronts, fall festival crowds fifteen thousand strong — NMB Live! is less a brand-new idea than a fresh coat of paint on something North Myrtle Beach has always done better than just about anyone on the Grand Strand: turn Main Street into the center of the world for a day. Here’s everything you need to know, and how to make a full beach weekend out of it.

What Is NMB Live!? The Basics at a Glance

NMB Live! is the City of North Myrtle Beach’s new signature street festival, produced by the city’s Parks & Recreation Department. The inaugural edition takes over Main Street in the Ocean Drive section of town for one big Saturday in late September — prime festival weather on the Grand Strand, when the summer crowds have thinned but the ocean is still warm and the afternoons still feel like beach season. The essentials, all in one place:

Three Stages, One Street: The Full Music Lineup

The heart of NMB Live! is exactly what the name promises — live music, all day, from one end of Main Street to the other. Three stages will run continuous entertainment from 10 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon, and the now-complete lineup covers a remarkable amount of musical ground.

Yacht Rock Radio featuring Carsen Webb

If you’ve ever wanted to hear smooth 70s and 80s soft rock — think Hall & Oates, Toto, Christopher Cross — while standing a block from the actual ocean, this is your moment. Yacht Rock Radio brings the captain’s-hat-and-blazer era back to life, and for this show the revue is fronted by American Idol alum Carsen Webb. It’s hard to picture a better setting for it than a sunny September Saturday at the beach.

Whiskey Run

A hard-touring country and classic rock cover band that plays rooms and festival stages across the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, Whiskey Run is a familiar name to anyone who follows the Grand Strand’s live music circuit. Expect boots-on-pavement country hits mixed with singalong rock staples.

Tokyo Joe

A South Carolina party-rock institution, Tokyo Joe has been filling dance floors around the state for years with high-energy rock and top-40 covers. They’re a regular draw at Myrtle Beach area venues, and they know how to work a festival crowd.

Spare Change

A Grand Strand party-band favorite, Spare Change rounds out the local contingent with the kind of crowd-pleasing set list that keeps a street festival dancing between funnel cake runs.

Trae Pierce & The T-Stones

The wildcard of the lineup and maybe its biggest coup: an award-winning funk and rock outfit led by four-time Grammy-winning bassist Trae Pierce. If you only plant yourself in front of one stage all day, the smart money says this is the set that stops foot traffic.

With three stages running continuously, there will always be something playing — so the right strategy is to wander. Catch a set, grab a bite, drift to the next stage, repeat.

Beyond the Bands: Fire, Art, and Street Performers

What separates NMB Live! from a standard concert-and-vendors fair is everything happening between the stages. The city’s entertainment slate includes performances by local dance teams, hula dance and fire demonstrations, live speed art demonstrations where painters work against the clock, and plein air artists set up along the street capturing the festival as it unfolds. Street performers will roam the length of Main Street, and organizers have promised surprise pop-up acts throughout the day — the kind of something-around-every-corner energy that rewards visitors who keep moving.

The city has also announced interactive contests and audience participation events, including People’s Choice competitions where festival-goers vote for their favorite vendors and performers — a nice nod to the friendly food competitions that made this street’s previous fall festival famous.

More Than 150 Vendors Along Main Street

Festival food and browsing are half the fun of any street festival, and NMB Live! is planning big: more than 150 arts, crafts, food, nonprofit, and commercial vendors lining Main Street, joined by food trucks and the street’s own restaurants and bars serving all day. That’s the kind of footprint that turns a stroll from Ocean Boulevard up toward Ash Street into a slow, happy, two-hour affair.

Based on North Myrtle Beach’s long festival track record on this street, expect handmade coastal art and jewelry, beach-house decor, boiled peanuts and kettle corn, local nonprofits you’ll actually want to chat with, and enough food options that lunch becomes a progressive meal rather than a single decision. Whether you’re craving festival classics, food truck finds, or a sit-down plate at a Main Street institution, the whole spectrum is a few steps away at any point in the day.

The Kids’ Zone and Family Fun

NMB Live! is built as a family event from the ground up. A dedicated Kids’ Zone will feature rides and games for all ages — the kind of setup that buys parents a full afternoon while the kids burn off energy between the funnel cake and the next ride.

The 10 AM to 4 PM schedule is quietly family-friendly, too. You can do the whole festival and still have the kids back at the beach house before dinner, with time left over for an evening walk on the sand. If your crew is staying in the Ocean Drive section, you’re already within walking distance — no parking required.

Main Street Itself: The Real Star of the Show

Here’s what first-time visitors sometimes miss: Main Street in North Myrtle Beach isn’t just a festival venue. It’s one of the most storied few blocks on the entire South Carolina coast — the birthplace-in-spirit of the shag, South Carolina’s official state dance, and the beating heart of the old Ocean Drive beach music scene. During NMB Live!, the street’s restaurants, shops, and businesses will be open and participating, which means the festival flows straight into the places that give Main Street its year-round personality.

Start with the legends. Fat Harold’s Beach Club at 212 Main Street has been keeping beach music alive since the days when jukeboxes did the DJing — if you hear classic shag tunes drifting out the door mid-festival, follow them. Duck’s Night Life has hosted live bands and shaggers on its double-sided dance floors since 1983, and OD Arcade & Lounge keeps one of the busiest dance floors in town just steps from the Horseshoe. Where Main Street meets the ocean, the OD Pavilion holds its billing as the last open-air dance pavilion on the East Coast.

The eating and drinking are just as storied. Pirate’s Cove Bar & Grill, a multi-decade Main Street staple, overlooks the action from its rooftop bar. Flynn’s Irish Tavern pours pints in a converted former jail with a proper beer garden out back. And at the Shops on Main, Dirty Don’s Oyster Bar and Main St. Taphouse serve fresh oysters and cold local pours a short stroll from the stages. Our full local’s guide to Main Street covers the shops, ice cream stops, and strolls in more detail — worth a read before festival day so you know exactly where you’re headed when the music breaks.

From the Irish Italian Festival to NMB Live!

Longtime visitors will notice the timing: late September on Main Street belonged to the Irish Italian International Festival for over two decades. That beloved event ran for 21 years, drawing around 15,000 people annually for cultural food, music, and a famously competitive spaghetti-eating contest.

NMB Live! steps into that slot as a bigger, broader evolution of the tradition. According to Angel Sylvester, Special Events Manager for the city’s Parks & Recreation Department, the new festival was created to deliver a larger, more dynamic event while carrying forward the community-gathering tradition that defined its predecessor — with music spanning yacht rock, country, funk, and party bands instead of a single cultural theme, a third stage added, and an expanded vendor footprint.

So if you’ve made the September pilgrimage to Main Street before, come see the next chapter. If you never caught the old festival, you’re arriving just in time for a new tradition’s very first year — and there’s something special about being able to say you were at the first one.

Parking, Shuttles, and Street Closures

The city has published the full festival-day logistics, and they’re refreshingly generous: both admission and parking are free. Main Street closes to vehicles from Ash Street to Ocean Boulevard from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM, so plan around the closure if your rental sits nearby.

Free event parking is available at three locations: the corner of 2nd Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard, the corner of 1st Avenue South and Ocean Boulevard, and McLean Park at 93 Oak Drive. A free shuttle runs from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM from Ocean Drive Elementary School at 901 11th Avenue North — the smart play for anyone arriving mid-day, when the closer lots fill with a 15,000-person crowd in town. Golf carts and bicycles, both beloved North Myrtle Beach transportation, work beautifully for anyone staying in the surrounding neighborhoods. And the 10 AM opening hour is genuinely pleasant — cooler temperatures, first pick of the vendor booths, and easy parking before the crowds build.

Planning Your NMB Live! Weekend

Where to Stay

The festival sits in the Ocean Drive section, which makes the surrounding neighborhoods the natural home base. An oceanfront condo near Main Street puts you within strolling distance of the stages, while an oceanfront home rental gives bigger groups room to spread out for the whole weekend.

Each of North Myrtle Beach’s sections has its own festival-weekend personality: Cherry Grove Beach offers quiet mornings and the fishing pier just north of the action; Crescent Beach and Windy Hill sit a short drive south with wide, family-friendly stretches of sand — close enough for the festival, far enough for peace and quiet afterward.

Make It a Full Fall Weekend

Late September is one of the best-kept secrets on the Grand Strand — warm ocean, soft light, smaller crowds, and lower rental rates than midsummer. Build around festival Saturday with a look at our guide to a fall vacation in North Myrtle Beach, browse the wider Myrtle Beach events calendar for what else is happening that week, or go deep on the full list of things to do in Myrtle Beach across the Grand Strand.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources: City of North Myrtle Beach Parks & Recreation Department (nmb.us); Explore North Myrtle Beach; MyHorryNews. Event details current as of September 1, 2026, and subject to change — confirm on the city’s official NMB Live! page before attending.

Nestled Near Myrtle Beach Is a Charming Vineyard for Wine Lovers

Most people come to the Myrtle Beach area for the ocean. They come for the salt air and the flat stretch of white sand, for the SkyWheel spinning slowly above the Boardwalk and the soft clamor of a seaside city that never seems to sleep. And rightfully so — this is one of the most visited stretches of coastline on the East Coast, beloved for the kind of easy, affordable fun that is genuinely hard to find anywhere else.

But the Grand Strand has always held surprises for the traveler willing to look just a little farther. Head north along Highway 17, past the malls and mini-golf courses, past the tidy neighborhoods of Ocean Drive and Cherry Grove Beach, and the landscape gradually softens into something older and quieter. Spanish moss. Pine forests. The kind of South Carolina that feels a world away from the coast, even when the coast is only minutes behind you.

That is where you find La Belle Amie Vineyard — tucked into Little River, about 30 minutes north of Myrtle Beach, on 40 acres of land that was once a tobacco plantation and is now something altogether different and far more convivial. For visitors who love wine, live music, and a genuine sense of place, a stop here is worth every mile of the detour.

A Hidden Gem in Little River

La Belle Amie Vineyard opened in 2000, born from land that had been in the family of the late founder Vicki Weigle for generations. That history is embedded in the property itself — you feel it in the old trees that arch over the entrance, in the weathered farmhouse-style structure at the heart of the grounds, in the unhurried pace that sets the tone the moment you step out of your car.

The vineyard holds a 4.7-star rating on Google, where reviewers consistently comment on the warmth of the staff and the beauty of the setting. One visitor summed it up simply: they had been to hundreds of wineries across the country, and La Belle Amie ranked among the nicest venues they had ever seen. That is high praise for a family-run operation tucked just off a South Carolina highway, and it is the kind of praise that sticks — because it matches what you actually find when you arrive.

On Tripadvisor, the vineyard carries a 4.6 rating and is consistently ranked among Little River’s top attractions. The praise there mirrors what you hear in person: this is a place where the setting does the work, and the people who run it understand that getting out of the way is sometimes the best hospitality of all.

Twisted Sisters: The Vineyard’s Own Label

La Belle Amie produces its own wines under the Twisted Sisters label — and the lineup reflects the vineyard’s personality: a little cheeky, a lot approachable. Varieties include classic favorites like moscato and syrah, alongside bottles with names that are clearly designed to raise an eyebrow and prompt a conversation. You’ll find options labeled things like “You’re So Naughty” and “Babe Magnet” sharing shelf space with more traditionally named selections.

Reviewers note that the wines tend to lean sweet — a reflection of what sells well in this part of the South, where dessert-friendly bottles have always found a loyal following. If you prefer a dry, tannic red, you may want to temper your expectations or come with an open mind. But if you enjoy a wine that goes down easy on a warm afternoon with live music in the background, you are likely to find something here that suits you just fine.

Wine tastings are available on event days for an additional fee beyond the admission charge, allowing you to work through several varieties before committing to a bottle — or two — to take home.

Wednesday Wine on the Decks & Saturday Concerts

As of this writing, La Belle Amie is open twice a week, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday brings Wine on the Decks — a laid-back midweek gathering on the outdoor patio where guests settle in among the trees with a glass in hand and let the afternoon move at its own pace. Saturday is reserved for the full concert experience, with live music anchoring the afternoon and drawing larger crowds from across the Grand Strand.

Both events are family-friendly. The lineup of performers rotates every week, covering a wide swath of American music — you might encounter a funk band one Saturday, a classic oldies act the next, a solo acoustic set the one after that. There is no fixed formula, which keeps regulars coming back and gives first-timers something genuine to discover.

Vendors typically set up on event days, offering Southern fare and casual food options as the afternoon gets going. The property features patio seating and open lawn areas, and it is not unusual to see guests of all ages — grandparents, young couples, families with children — spread out across the grounds, some in chairs they brought from home, some on their feet dancing without any particular self-consciousness. As one Tripadvisor visitor put it, sitting among the trees in front of the stage during a beautiful day was, quite simply, pure joy.

The Gift Shop: More Than Just Wine

The farmhouse-style building at the center of the property houses a gift shop that draws visitors on its own merits. Beyond the Twisted Sisters bottles and wine accessories, the shop stocks home décor, household goods, and the kind of Southern-flavored keepsakes that have a way of following you home whether you planned on it or not.

If you are only interested in picking up a bottle of wine — no event ticket required — you can enter the gift shop during Wednesday Wine on the Decks and Saturday Concerts without purchasing admission. It is a nice option for visitors who want to take a bottle of something local back to their rental without committing to a full afternoon outing.

The shop is also where you will find wine glasses for purchase — which matters, because the vineyard does not provide disposable drinkware. More on that below.

Planning Your Visit: What to Know Before You Go

La Belle Amie Vineyard sits just off Highway 90 in Little River. Parking is free, though spaces tend to fill up quickly on busy event days — something that comes up regularly in reviews, alongside a simple recommendation: arrive early. The vineyard itself encourages guests to bring a lawn chair, and that is advice worth heeding. Between the patio seating and open lawn areas, the property is well-suited to an afternoon spent at your own pace, but having your own chair gives you flexibility to find the perfect spot beneath the trees.

Bring your own wine glass. This is one of the most consistent pieces of advice in visitor reviews, and the vineyard is clear about it — disposable drinkware is not available. If you forget or simply do not have one, glasses are sold in the gift shop, so you will not be stranded without a vessel for your Twisted Sisters pour.

Outside food and beverages — including water — are not permitted on the property, and reviewers note this policy is strictly enforced. That is worth knowing in advance, especially for visitors with dietary restrictions or families traveling with young children. Non-alcoholic beverages are available for purchase on site for non-drinkers and kids.

On pricing: as of this writing, Wednesday admission starts at $4 and Saturday admission starts at $12. Purchasing tickets online in advance is cheaper than buying at the gate, so it is worth a few minutes on the vineyard’s website before you head out. The vineyard typically closes for a portion of the winter season, so always check current hours and event schedules before making the drive.

A Perfect Day Trip from North Myrtle Beach

For guests staying in North Myrtle Beach, La Belle Amie is an easy and rewarding half-day excursion. Little River sits just north of the area, making the drive a short one — short enough that you can spend a long, easy afternoon at the vineyard and still make it back to your rental in time for sunset on the beach.

Whether you are based in Crescent Beach, Windy Hill, or any of the other distinct communities that make up this stretch of coastline, the vineyard offers a welcome change of scenery — the kind that reminds you that the Grand Strand has more layers than most visitors ever take the time to find. Pair the vineyard visit with lunch in Little River’s waterfront district, and you have got yourself a genuinely memorable day off the beach.

And if you find yourself inspired to round out the trip with something equally unhurried — a round of golf on one of the impeccably designed courses that line the Grand Strand, for instance — North Myrtle Beach has no shortage of options waiting for you when you return.

Frequently Asked Questions