Allendale, South Carolina -
Cooter Festival

This is a week-long festival held every spring in Allendale. There are arts and crafts, a small carnival, and a dance. Now you may ask, what is a cooter? Well, a cooter is a turtle. If you come to the Cooter Festival, you will see a contest for best dressed cooter. You definitely do not want to miss that.

The highlight of the festival is the cooter race. You can bring your own cooter from home or you can pay a small fee and "rent" one for the race. The races are held according to the size of the cooters. Cooters range from the size of a quarter to big alligator turtles, which will bite! This event is great for the kids. I know I enjoyed racing my cooter when I was younger. [Jessica, 09/03/2006]