Greenville’s biggest event of the year returns for 42nd year

That time of year has arrived where all senses are combined into one event on downtown Greenville’s Main Street.

After 42 years, the annual Fall for Greenville remains the city’s biggest event of the year.

Thousands of people flood Main Street for the ‘tastes, tunes and taps’ around the three-day festival. The Bank of America Fall for Greenville presented by Pepsi is kicking off on Friday and runs through Sunday.

For tastes, 60 restaurants will be featured with more than 250 menu items; for tunes, there will be six stages with more than 80 bands; and for taps, there will be more than 50 beer and wine vendors.

New highlights this year include “Beats on the Street” presented by Main Event, an interactive activation on Coffee Street featuring life-sized yard games, football games streaming on a large screen, and DJ sets.

“Fall for Greenville is the signature celebration of the people, food and culture of Greenville and the Upstate,” said Stacy Brandon, Bank of America president for Upstate South Carolina. “For five straight years, Bank of America has played a key role in supporting this important festival and all it brings to our community. We continue to explore creative ways to enhance the experience for families, business owners and nonprofits as they support our local economy and ultimately help grow impactful community initiatives.”

Throughout the three-day event, festival goers will be treated to a taste of Greenville with more than 250 menu offerings from local restaurants. Additional highlights of the weekend include:

• An interactive Bank of America Photo Experience, located in front of the bank’s 355 S. Main St. location, featuring a festival 360 photobooth.
• MAU Food Truck Row on W. McBee Street, featuring 14 food trucks and trailers from around the Upstate serving pizza, wings, desserts and more.
• GSP International Airport Wine Garden featuring more than 50 selections of multiple varieties for guests to enjoy from the United States, Italy, France, New Zealand, Spain and Australia to sample and enjoy. This area will be staffed with beverage professionals to assist in finding personal taste preferences.
• Spinx Beer Garden, serving up an assortment of more than 45 taps from 23 different breweries. This year’s selection will feature eight breweries from South Carolina, two of which are local to Greenville, including Liability Brewing Co. and New Realm Brewing Co.

The festival’s Thursday Night Kick-Off Concert will return to the CPI Security West End Stage, located at the intersection of Main Street and Augusta Street. The free pre-event concert will feature the musical artists The Abbey Elmore Band at 5 p.m., David Ramirez at 6:30 p.m., and CMT’s “Next Women of Country” award winner Madeline Edwards from 8:30 to 10 p.m. Food options from Mellow Mushroom, Universal Joint, Pound Cake Man, Smoke on the Water, Crazy Mason and Ji-Roz will be available for purchase onsite.

Continuing throughout the weekend, attendees can enjoy free concerts from more than 85 national, regional and local entertainers, with more than half of the performers represented from the Upstate. Before festival goers arrive at the event, they can listen to featured artists and more on the festival’s Spotify station, 2023 Fall for Greenville.

Additional festival highlights include the AAA Kids’ Area, which will feature an entire block filled with children’s rides and activities on Broad Street. In addition, a Silent Disco presented by Aloft Hotel will take place at the Live at Aloft Stage in One City Plaza on Friday evening. Finally, national journalists will judge participating restaurants on their best dish and award the top entrée and dessert dishes the Silver Spoon and Sugary Spoon Awards presented by Diamonds Direct.

“Bank of America Fall for Greenville is more than just a festival; it’s a vibrant celebration of everything that showcases the hospitality of Greenville,” said Ramon Nieves-Lugo, Fall for Greenville board chair. Ranging from delicious bites from diverse local restaurants to a variety of music from local and regional bands, it’s a chance to showcase the best of our town. Each year, we aim to make it even better. So, bring your friends and family, and join us in embracing all the wonders our community has to offer.”

Related article: Starting today — Fall for Greenville filling the streets with aromas and people

Festiva goers can park at city parking garages at an all-day event rate of $5. In addition, Greenville High School will offer free parking where guests can hop on a free downtown trolley, which will drop off and pick up patrons throughout the weekend at the intersection of S. Main Street and Augusta Street. The festival also is partnering with Greenville Bike Taxi and encourages attendees to call for a ride where they park for quick and easy drop-off at the event site. Greenlink will offer a Fare Free Friday on Oct. 13. For those who would like to bike into downtown Greenville for the festival, a Bike Valet sponsored by Bike Walk Greenville will be available on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. The Bike Valet will be located on the Swamp Rabbit Trail under the Main Street Bridge.

Festival Taste Tickets can be pre-purchased online through Wednesday, and in-person at Bank of America on Main Street in downtown Greenville and Diamonds Direct on Woodruff Road through Thursday. Tickets are $5 for a sheet of five and can be used throughout the festival weekend to purchase festival food and beverages, kids’ rides and merchandise. Festival goers who pre-purchase $50 worth of tickets (10 sheets of 5 tickets) will receive one free sheet of tickets. The promotion ends following the Thursday Night Kick-Off Concert. No refunds will be given for pre-purchased sales.

Bank of America Fall for Greenville is partnering with 11 local nonprofits this year. Since 2005, the festival has donated more than $850,000 to local charities through the Fall for Giving Grant Program and the Greenville Technical College Volunteer Program. In addition, the festival provides annual scholarships to students majoring in the culinary and hospitality fields at Greenville Technical College through the Chef Judy Balsizer Legacy Endowment Fund.

The festival relies on more than 2,000 volunteers to make the weekend possible, and a variety of shifts are still available for this year’s event — 200 volunteers were still needed Tuesday morning. All volunteers will receive an official Bank of America Fall for Greenville volunteer T-shirt, along with a sheet of Taste Tickets per shift. Volunteers that work four or more shifts will receive free parking and five sheets of Taste Tickets. To sign up for a volunteer shift, visit www.fallforgeenville.net/volunteer.

Festival hours on Friday are from noon-10 p.m., 11 a.m.-9 p.m. on Saturday, and noon-7 p.m. on Sunday.

Fall for Greenville is a 501c3 run by a board of trustees. The city of Greenville is contracted to manage the event. To learn more information about the event and to purchase taste tickets visit the event website at https://www.fallforgreenville.net/. On the event’s website, attendees can access the interactive map and customize their schedule for the weekend.

Attendees are encouraged to stay connected with this year’s event by following along on Facebook at and using the hashtag “#FallforGreenville” to join in the Bank of America Fall for Greenville conversation over Twitter and Instagram.

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