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On Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, the weather was perfect for the 2022 Scuppernong River Festival.

An estimated 8,000 people attended the all-day event running from an opening parade to the closing concert.

The festival, sponsored by Tyrrell County and the Town of Columbia, drew 60 vendors to Main Street places. A car show took up two blocks of N. Broad Street to show off antique and muscle cars and two very rare vehicles.

The parade sported the most entries ever and went on for 30 minutes. Miss North Carolina Karolyn Martin and Miss North Carolina Outstanding Teen Kerrigan Brown were in the parade and participated in the festivities.

Music happened on the waterfront and in front of the courthouse. The Bear Grass Charter School Band gave a concert on the courthouse steps at 11 a.m. The Carolina Moon Dogs wrapped up the courthouse venue with an evening concert with oldies, beach, country, R&B and soul music.

In the waterfront tent, the Screaming Bridge Bluegrass Band from Martin County played in the early afternoon. Another music act at this venue was Clint Freeman and Unity.

Epic fireworks were displayed from the waterfront. The display was sponsored by Tyrrell County Tourism Development Authority.

Festival goers could take a helicopter ride over the festival.

Broad Street also hosted food vendors. A culinary arts contest was held in the Columbia Theater Cultural Resources Center.

From noon to 4 p.m., Down to Earth Aerials performed across from the courthouse. When the aerial performance was happening, it was time for Miss North Carolina to sing. Karolyn Martin took the stage and the aerial performers timed their act to Martin’s music.

A BMX stunt show from Chain Reaction Action Sports held forth in the old bank parking lot.

ECU Health came with the Chowan Hospital Wellness Van and the Martin-Tyrrell-Washington Health Department offered free AC-1 and blood pressure screenings. ECU Health sponsored children’s amusements and rides.

The Scuppernong River Festival was truly a harvest festival with the Annual Food Preservation Contest arranged by Tyrrell County Cooperative Extension.

And it’s a homecoming time. Columbia High School classes of 1953 and 1992 had reunions, as did families and churches.

The festival takes place the second Saturday in October each year.

On Friday, Ken Cherry with Cherry Farms was tapped as Outstanding Citizen for Tyrrell County.

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