Bamberg County sets June 27 for free Ag + Art Tour

Bamberg County set its free Ag + Art Tour for Saturday, June 27, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., giving residents a self-guided route through farms, markets and local makers. The county said it was the third year Bamberg had taken part in the South Carolina Ag + Art Tour, and it posted a Google My Maps layer to help people follow the 2026 county route.

The county identified Jessica Bradshaw as the contact for the event and listed jbradshaw@scrha3.org for questions. It also said the tour was funded through grants and other sponsorships so it could stay free to the public, a key detail in a county where a no-cost, all-day event has to serve families spread across Bamberg, Denmark, Ehrhardt, Govan and Olar.

The county page had not yet named the participating farms or artisans, but it still gave residents the essentials needed to plan a stop-by-stop outing: the date, the hours, the free entry, volunteer opportunities and sponsorship options. That made the page a live public notice for local producers as much as a calendar listing, since the tour was built to send visitors directly to farm gates, market tables and handmade goods.

At the statewide level, the South Carolina Ag + Art Tour is a free, self-guided farm-and-market circuit with local artisans at every stop. Visitors can see where food comes from, watch artists in action, buy their work, hear local musicians and learn more about rural life. Clemson University Cooperative Extension served as the coordinating partner for the 2026 tour, tying Bamberg’s event to a broader Extension-backed network rather than a one-off festival.

Bamberg County’s place in that network matters because of its scale and economy. The county had 13,311 residents in the 2020 Census and covers 393 square miles, with Bamberg as the county seat and Denmark, Ehrhardt, Govan and Olar among its other towns. In a county that size, a countywide tour does more than fill a Saturday: it gives growers, artisans and other small sellers a public stage and keeps the spending tied to local hands.

Some third-party listings had shown Bamberg County’s tour for May 23, but the county page listed June 27. South Carolina Arts Hub has described the Ag + Art Tour as the nation’s largest free farm and art tour, with more than 85,000 visitors since 2012, putting Bamberg’s local stop inside a statewide program with proven draw and direct economic value for rural producers.