Sporting Classics is heading to SEWE to bring you all the fun, but there’s still time to get tickets to several events which sell out every year.
The Southeastern Wildlife Exposition began to help fill the calendar of Charleston’s low season while promoting wildlife and nature conservation, but 37 years on, SEWE now welcomes 40,000 visitors and exhibitors from around the world. It would be fair to feel like once you’ve been to one year you’ve been to them all, and that has often been my sentiment living in Charleston, but it just isn’t true to 2019. This year brings new energy worth dusting off the Dubarrys for a see-and-be-seen good time.
The old standbys will be there, with Barbour serving for the first time as a corporate partner. Along with other vendors, they will be selling again at Brittlebank Park this year. It might be time put a feather in that cap, with fashion as one of the new events set to make 2019 unique. Charleston’s new Hotel Bennett will host the inaugural Fashion for Feathers by Audubon South Carolina on Friday, February 15. Attendees will enjoy wine and food prepared by renowned culinary master and “Top Chef” alum Michael Sichel.
SEWE has also partnered with Treasury Wine Estates and Sterling Vineyards to produce a limited edition SEWE bottle that will be available for sale at Charleston Place, Brittlebank Park and Marion Square. Also in Marion Square, Matt and Ted Lee are once again leading the South Carolina Department of Agriculture’s demo line up, so attendees can expect a thorough look at new field-and-fish to table ideas (and admission is free).
On Saturday, Norton + Hodges will sponsor the second annual Birds of a Feather Ladies Brunch Benefit. The event is all-inclusive of food, champagne, live entertainment, and silent auction. Proceeds from this event will directly support Tall Timbers Research Station. Based in Tallahassee, Florida, Tall Timbers’ research, conservation, and education promote exemplary land stewardship.
Don’t miss Ocean Mysteries host Jeff Corwin, wildlife artists Ryan Kirby and Chad Poppleton at the Live Action Auction with YETI®, or the much anticipated (by this angler, at least) expansion into fishing and on-water sportsmanship at the Marine Village.
New this year, the team from Search Tactics and Rescue Recovery (S.T.A.R.R.), who will demonstrate efficient and organized search and rescue skills. These specially trained K-9s will display training and small-scale demonstrations similar to their urban and rural search and recovery missions in the Carolinas and surrounding states. The S.T.A.R.R. Team is made up of an all-volunteer, highly trained group of professionals who help bring home missing persons.
For a full schedule of general admission, special events, and VIP opportunities, plan your weekend at sewe.com. Children 10 and under are free. No matter what they bring us next, DockDogs® is worth every year’s admission. Don’t forget half the fun is in the shopping, and check out the long list of 2019 exhibitors. I might add a feathered number to the Barbour this year, and see you at SEWE.