hy is this festival named The Festival at the Friars' Gate?
The Festival is hosted in the magical Moore Park which is surrounded by a neighborhood named "Old Friarsgate."
Built in the '70's and '80's, Old and New Friarsgate were an ambitious project to build a lot of family-focused housing fast; at one point it was one of the fastest-growing subdivisions in America.
The actual neighborhoods? Not medieval. Not fantasy. Pretty standard.
But the street names? Lyrical. Castles and lords and maidens. Over the years, I would make up little stories about the places and characters inspired by the road names. Parlock and Pennyboy. Lord Howe. London Pride. Just a little fun in the mundane world.
When a small group of vendors decided we wanted a Spring/Early Summer festival and we wanted to bring the joy of Ren Faires to the Midlands, the inspiration for the theme was already there, just waiting to be brought to life.
The Friars' Gate!
We wanted to feature Irmo and Irmese artisans and food vendors while appealing to the greater Southeast region. We want to give Irmo a fabulous event to look forward to while drawing in visitors from around the state and neighboring states.
We also want to give merchants and performers a venue to shine at a time of year when the weather is mild. (Fingers crossed for fair weather.)
Wait, street names?
Yes! Street names.
Peruse the Festival map, read the Festival Lore and you'll find most places and characters are named after the streets in Irmo. A lot of them are in Friarsgate but you'll also find street names incorporated from Coldstream, Quail Valley, Heatherstone and more.
A regional festival with local flair. We hope you love it as much as we do!