Myrtle Beach, South Carolina continues to rank as one of the fastest-growing family and vacation destinations in the nation attracting annually more than 17 million visitors. Myrtle Beach also continues to prove that it’s worthy of the moniker “The Grand Strand,” receiving several recent accolades including being named one of the Best East Coast Beaches by TravelChannel.com, a Top 10 East Coast Beach Making a Splash by Tripadvisor and one of the Top 10 Beach Destinations in the U.S. for Honeymooners by Tripping.com.
This year visitors to the Myrtle Beach area will see additional events, new restaurants and hotels. The following are a just a few of the latest tourism developments in the region.
Attractions:
Brookgreen Gardens Gets New LEGOS ® Bricks Sculpture Exhibit
Brookgreen Gardens will host 12 larger-than-life LEGO® brick sculpture installations in its Native Wildlife Zoo from April 8 – September 5, 2016. Created by Sean Kenney, renowned artist and children’s author, “Nature Connects” is an award-winning exhibit currently touring the country. Made from almost 400,000 LEGO® bricks, the sculptures bring nature to life with a 6-foot tall hummingbird hovering over a trumpet flower, a deer family made from 48,000 bricks, a giant tortoise, a 7-foot long giant dragonfly, and more. The exhibit will be open daily and is included in garden admission. For more information, visit www.Brookgreen.org.
Extreme Trampoline Sports Center is Myrtle Beach’s first indoor trampoline park, opening in February 2016. It will feature 20,000 square-feet of bouncy canvas designed to host numerous sports and fitness activities. It will include a traditional open trampoline field, a trampoline dodge ball stadium, slack lines, basketball hoops, flying trapeze, a ninja warrior aerial obstacle course and Olympic size foam pits with 50,000 cubes of foam. It will join the XGym facility at the sports mall on George Bishop Parkway in Myrtle Beach. For more information, visit www.circustrix.com.
Events:
The Carolina Country Music Festival is returning for a second year to Myrtle Beach with new acts June 10-12, 2016. Artists that have so far been announced are Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Florida Georgia Line, Jake Owen, Cole Swindell, Katie Ballerini and many others. This three-day festival typically features over 30 of the industry’s biggest stars, including national recording artists. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.carolinacountrymusicfest.com.
The inaugural Myrtle Beach Highland Games & Heritage Festival will take place March 18-19, 2016 at the Grand Park inside the Market Common District in Myrtle Beach. The games will feature displays of strength through a caber throw, hammer throw, weight throw and more. It will also feature Irish, Scottish and American whiskey tasting, ales, authentic food, a Celtic Marketplace, Clan Village, live Scottish entertainment and Southeast champion bagpipe and drum bands. One element that will set these games apart from others is they will allow patrons to play eight different events, only at a lower weight level. For more information, visit www.myrtlebeachhighlandgames.com.
Surfside Beach First Official Autism Friendly Destination
Located just south of Myrtle Beach, the town of Surfside Beach signed a proclamation in January making them the first autism-friendly travel destination with support of the Champion Autism Network. The town is working to raise awareness with restaurants and other hospitality businesses to be understanding and accepting of families with autistic children. Also, other weekend events are being planned throughout the year like barbecues, play dates, fishing from the pier and movie nights for those with autism. For more information, visit http://championautismnetwork.com/autism-friendly-travel.
The Myrtle Beach area, popularly known as the Grand Strand, stretches from Little River to Pawleys Island, comprising 12 distinct cities along the South Carolina coast. Home to 60 miles of sandy beaches, an assortment of entertainment and family attractions, Southern hospitality and world-class golf, the Myrtle Beach area presents the quintessential vacation experience.
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