A Fall Weekend on South Carolina’s Coast
Each October, wooden boats take over the streets and waterfront of historic Georgetown, South Carolina.
On October 17–18, 2026, the Georgetown Wooden Boat Show returns for its 37th year, bringing together wooden boats, skilled builders, longtime boat owners and thousands of visitors for a weekend celebrating the craftsmanship and traditions of life on the water. For boat enthusiasts, the show offers something increasingly rare: the opportunity to experience an entire historic waterfront town transformed by boats.
Wooden Boats on the Waterfront Front Street and the Harborwalk become the heart of the show, with wooden boats displayed both on land and along the Sampit River. Handcrafted canoes and skiffs share the waterfront with sailboats, restored classics, working boats and vintage powerboats. But the boats themselves are only part of the experience.
Owners and builders are there with them, giving visitors the opportunity to get close to the craftsmanship, ask questions and hear the stories behind individual boats. Some have been painstakingly restored. Others were built by hand. Together, they represent generations of boatbuilding knowledge and a shared passion for keeping traditional skills alive.
Watch a Wooden Boat Built in a Day One of Saturday’s signature events begins not with a finished boat, but with lumber. During the Wooden Boat Challenge, two-person teams race against the clock to construct a seaworthy wooden boat in just four hours. Visitors can watch the process unfold throughout the day as builders measure, cut, fasten and fit their boats together.
Then comes the real test: the newly built boats are launched into the Sampit River and raced. The competition brings traditional boatbuilding out of the workshop and puts the process on display, giving spectators an unusually close look at the skill, ingenuity and occasional improvisation required to turn a stack of materials into something that floats.
Sunday brings a considerably less traditional form of boatbuilding with the Corrugated Cardboard Boat Race, a Georgetown favorite that proves craftsmanship comes in many forms, and seaworthiness is sometimes negotiable.
More Than a Boat Show The weekend extends beyond the boat exhibits and competitions. Visitors can explore maritime exhibits, watch demonstrations, enjoy live music and browse vendors while families can try hands-on activities such as model boatbuilding and knot tying.
The South Carolina Maritime Museum, located directly on the waterfront, provides another connection to the region’s maritime history and the people, vessels and waterways that shaped it. And then there is Georgetown itself.
Founded in 1729, the historic port city provides a setting that feels particularly appropriate for a wooden boat show. The event unfolds along Front Street and the Harborwalk, with the Sampit River on one side and downtown’s shops, restaurants and historic streets on the other. Rather than leaving the showgrounds at the end of the day, visitors are already in the middle of Georgetown.
Make a Weekend of It For visitors traveling to the show, the Georgetown Wooden Boat Show can easily become the centerpiece of a fall weekend on the South Carolina coast. Arrive Friday and settle into Georgetown before spending the evening downtown. Saturday can be devoted to the wooden boat exhibits, Wooden Boat Challenge, museum and waterfront, with time to explore downtown between events. Return Sunday for another look at the boats, maritime activities and the always unpredictable Cardboard Boat Race.
Beyond the show, Georgetown offers visitors the opportunity to explore a historic coastal community shaped for centuries by its relationship with the water.
Plan Your Visit The 37th annual Georgetown Wooden Boat Show takes place October 17–18, 2026. Admission to the Wooden Boat Show and South Carolina Maritime Museum is free. Whether you’re restoring a classic, building your own boat, interested in maritime history or simply looking for a memorable fall weekend on the South Carolina coast, come experience a place where wooden boats aren’t separated from the town around them. For one weekend, they’re part of it.
Plan your Georgetown Wooden Boat Show weekend → Georgetown Wooden Boat Show | Georgetown, SC
Supported by Discover South Carolina and South Carolina’s Hammock Coast