Festival Awards 2008

The NC Association of Festivals & Events and the South Carolina Festival & Event Association announced the Excellence Award Winners for the 2008 calendar year at the 2009 Carolina Showfest Conference. The Carolina Showfest was recently held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Greenville, SC and was attended by more than two hundred festival and event planners and supporting members throughout North and South Carolina. The excellence awards program honors and recognizes excellence within the festival industry.

The Carolina in the Fall Festival, held annually on the Shepherd Farm in North Wilkesboro, has been recognized as a multiple award recipient for the sixth consecutive year. As a winner of five awards, Carolina in the Fall was recognized more than any other festival in the states of North Carolina and South Carolina. No other festival in either state won as many awards as Carolina in the Fall. That is quite an accomplishment for a local festival held right here in North Wilkesboro! Festival Director, Brenda Shepherd, commented, Our festival attendees continue to compliment The Shepherd Family and The Kruger Brothers each year for producing such an intimate and relaxed family event. Receiving official accolades at the state and regional level is wonderful honor that we share with our dedicated festival staff and volunteers!

The five awards that were presented to Carolina in the Fall were:

Event of the Year for North Carolina - Event of the Year is the highest honor and the most coveted Excellence Award. Festivals and events are analyzed and evaluated based on the mission statement and festival goals, attendance, staff, volunteers, budget, promotional and communications campaign, merchandising program, and additional special programs. As a small, young festival, Carolina in the Fall faced stiff competition from festivals across the state, many of which have been established for several decades! Festival organizers were very pleased to accept the award for Event of the Year and consider it a distinquished honor.

Best Website for the festival website. Information about festival musicians, festival sponsors, special events, festival staff, history of the festival, as well as ticket, accommodations and travel information for festival attendees is provided on the website. The website is www.CarolinaInTheFall.com

Best Press Kit which includes Press Releases, all festival printed materials, and communication with various Media Representatives for promotional articles and/or interviews.

Best Sponsorship Packet for sponsor information provided for the cultivation of relationships with potential sponsors to ensure that both the festival and the individual or business mutually benefit from the sponsorship endeavor.

Associate of the Year, Dan Eller of Party Time Rentals, Inc. Dan Eller is a Wilkes County native who owns and operates Party Time Rentals in Charlotte, NC. An excerpt from the award recognition follows: Party Time Rentals, Inc provides an invaluable service to the festival industry. Party Time Rentals Inc has earned a reputation as a high-quality rental company with a tremendous inventory and experienced event planners for Charlotte and the Carolinas. Dan Eller, owner, has such expansive expertise in preparing festival grounds because Party Time Rentals, Inc is contracted to work at many venues including race tracks, stadiums, convention centers, downtown streets, parks, and, particularly, festivals. His outstanding knowledge of planning venues greatly influenced festival logistics for Carolina in the Fall such as planning for the increasing flow of pedestrian traffic, vendor area set-up, children's area layout, and the main stage and sound engineering control area.