Return of Soirée Set for April 2022
Wednesday, October 6, 2021 at 12:40PM Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
After an absence of more than a decade, the Anderson Soirée plans to return to downtown in 2022.
The two-day festival downtown will take place from 4-9 p.m. April 29 and from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. April 30.
“We’re kind of in the middle of the planning stages right now,” said Kimberly Spears, director of economic development for the City of Anderson. “We’ve got the greenlight from city council to move forward, and we’re putting a committee together and really assessing everything.”
Talks of reviving the festival have been ongoing for some time, Spears said, including encouragement from Caroline Gaddis, business education & events manager for the city who had fond memories of the downtown festival.
The Soirée, which ran from 1985-2009, with a gap during the construction of the new courthouse in the early 1990s, was Anderson's annual signature arts and entertainment event. The return of the festival is expected to be better funded and have more support from the city, which has been making improvements downtown which will make logistics much easier.
“The city upgrades around downtown will make it easier,” said Spears. “Since the last Soirée we’ve added Carolina Wren Park, Church Street Park and other improvements.”
The improvements include the availability of electrical connections throughout downtown which will facilitate having entertainment on multiple stages.
Spears said the arts center will again be a major player in the festival which showcases include the performing arts and culinary arts.
“It’s still a big undertaking, but the city has been putting things in place to engage and involve the public downtown for some time. This has been at the forefront and this will really help. We want to make sure it will be a partnership, a community-led festival that we are hosting.”