Spring is Festival Time in the Lake Marion region.

While many of the visitors we have right now are golfers, we are also seeing folks who come to Clark's Inn and Restaurant to enjoy all the Santee Lakes area events going on all around us. On the 17th of April, the Purple Martin Festival begins in St. Matthews, with a parade, fun, and food. Our own Santee Birding and Nature Festival features guided walks and tours of several nearby refuges and parks, wildlfe photography classes, canoe and kayak trips, and much more. People travel here from all over the US to attend this festival in hopes of seeing painted buntings, the stars of the show. Find out about the Festival by going to the Fish and Wildlife Service website, and then search for Santee Wildlife Refuge. Then click on the icon with the bunting as shown here, and go to the information about the Santee Festival. The Striped Bass Festival in Manning, which celebrates Lake Marion's prized fish, begins on April 17th and goes through the 25th. April 30th through May 2nd, you can attend the African American Cultural Festival in Rembert, or the Orangeburg Festival of Roses at Edisto Memorial Gardens. Google each town's website to find festival information. All of our Lake Marion area festivals feature food, crafts, and entertainment.

And of course, whether fishing on Lake Marion, golfing in the Santee Cooper area, or festival hopping in our nearby towns and villages, we can recommend a wonderful play to stay -- Clark's Inn and Restaurant in Santee, SC.