The annual Rock Around the Clock festival took place in downtown Winnsboro on Friday and Saturday with crowds of nearly 400 on both days.
The festival kicked off on Friday with the annual rocking chair parade at 7 p.m. with most of the entries joining in on the theme and combining rocking chairs in their floats.
The parade has become a great part of the history of the town and away to honor the beloved town clock.
A summary of the history of the longest running clock in the United States as found on the Fairfield County Website is as follows; “South Carolina’s General Assembly authorized Winnsboro’s town fathers to build a market house that ‘shall not be of greater width than 30 feet’ to allow 30 feet of wagon travel on either side. The narrow building was modeled after Independence Hall in Philadelphia and built on the site of a duck pond. A clock was added in 1837, and the building has since been known as the Town Clock. Residents boast the clock is the longest continuously running clock in the United States.”
Following the parade were stump speeches on the stage in front of the town clock.
Most candidates were in attendance and those who were also took part in the parade.
Many used their speech time to introduce themselves to the crowd and layout a brief platform.
Friday night wrapped up with a street dance and shagging contest.
Saturday morning the festivities began at 10 a.m. with vendors, games, children’s amusements, and food and craft exhibitors.
This year the chamber added a new booth that most attendees stopped by and that was the food ticket booth.
For the first time at Rock Around the Clock food was purchased by tickets only and this caused things to move a little slowly in food lines, but at the end of the day it seemed to have worked out for the best.
Whether persons came to eat, dance, or shop, Rock Around the Clock had them covered this year.















