Jacqui McGuinness couldn’t plan a birthday party if she tried, she says. But, whoa, talk about showboating—she is full sail when it comes to showing boats . . . and selling, not sailing, them. A boatload of boats. For the past 23 years, McGuinness has produced and promoted boat shows, drawing as many as 12,000 water lovers to convention centers in Charleston; Columbia; Savannah, Georgia; and Wilmington, North Carolina.
“I am actually not a great party planner at all. It scares me to death planning any kind of party, a dinner party. That freaks me out,” says McGuinness, whose Greenville-based JBM & Associates and her three-woman crew are now stepping onto terra firma with their second Everything Outdoor Fest.
The two-day November festival will feature a winding trail filled with every kind of activity under the sun—think of pop-up outfitters with clinics and all kinds of gear for fishing and bicycling; learning about cuisine for camping and mountain-biking skills; archery, kayaking, and paddleboarding; food trucks, live music, you name it.
While she’s been keeping all these boat shows afloat all these years, McGuinness says she wanted to create something for like-minded landlubbers. “I thought, ‘You know what’s missing in Upstate South Carolina?’ We have all these incredible resources where we can get out and kayak and hike and cycle, or whatever it is that you want to do, but we don’t have an event celebrating that. We have here Artisphere, euphoria, the Scottish Games, all these phenomenal events—but nothing celebrating the outdoor recreation industry.”
Historic Hopkins Farm
She’s expecting 50-some vendors and exhibitors spread throughout Historic Hopkins Farm, site of a Revolutionary War battle in 1775. Oh, and for history buffs who prefer museums over mountain biking, the Main House, built in 1840, still stands. For nearly a century after John Hopkins bought the bosky 2,000-acre farm in 1834, three generations of women ran the cotton, corn, and livestock operation, according to the farm’s website. Now the property, primarily a wedding venue, hosts the second outdoor show, which McGuinness expects to draw some 8,000 festgoers.
In mid-July, JBM, which created a nonprofit company for this show, was busy gathering sponsors and exhibitors. BFGoodrich, for instance, will be introducing new tires for ATVs there, McGuinness says.
“I want the fest to be experiential—that is the key: to have cool experiences where people can come and try things, everywhere they turn. I want it to be something different,” she says. “I want it to be educational and inexpensive and just fun so people would walk away and go, ‘Wow, that was unique.’”
Plan your Everything Outdoor Fest Adventure
Where
Historic Hopkins Farm,
3717 Fork Shoals Rd., Simpsonville
When
Saturday, Nov. 2, 10am –6pm
Sunday, Nov. 3, 10am–5pm
Tickets
$12 for adults; $6 for children 4 to 12; $10 for military and seniors per day; $20 for a weekend pass
More information
