Blue Oak's SC Pawpaw Festival

Honoring America's Largest Native Fruit

Blue Oak's SC Pawpaw Festival honors America’s largest native fruit during its peak harvest season in Upstate SC. Last year we saw an incredible turnout of over 650 people from our local community, and we’re excited to see how we continue to grow this year!

The Pawpaw, Asimina triloba, can be found across the eastern US and grows in forest understory in groves, but also thrives in full sun for edible landscapes. Pawpaws should be planted in pairs at 8-12 feet apart to aide pollination. It has a vibrant yellow fall color and is slow-growing in nature, taking about 5-7 years from seed before becoming mature enough to support fruit clusters. All attendees can taste this delicious fruit at our tasting station.

Calling All Plant Enthusiasts

We'll have native plant sales at our nursery during the festival, including both local ecotype and selected varieties of Pawpaws. We'll have a limited selection of grafted Pawpaw trees for sale.

Pawpaw fruit tastings will be available nearby the plant sale area, and we'll have knowledgeable, passionate plant people onsite to answer your questions about pawpaws and other native plants, including the folks from the South Carolina Native Plant Society.

We'll have several educational highlights during the day, gathering at the garden entrance for the beginning and we may wander through the green spaces while we follow and listen to our speakers. Meet us at the pawpaw sign!

3:30 - Pawpaw Natural History with Jon Storm, assistant professor of Biology at USC Upstate
4:30 - Pawpaw pruning and care with Craig Mauney, NC State Extension agent for commercial fruit and vegetables
5:30 - Pawpaw propagation and planting with Ryan Merck, Blue Oak's Horticulturist
6:30 - Medicinal plants walk with JE Bradley, artist and naturalist

Music for the soul

We'll be celebrating our traditional roots with live music at the upper lawn, featuring local artists including the Welldrinkers, Watts McCormick and CJ Brewer.

The Well Drinkers are a progressive, original bluegrass band based out of Western North Carolina, whose range extends to festivals and venues across the United States, Canada, and the UK. The Well Drinkers have shared the stage with the likes of Molly Tuttle, Ketch Secore (Old Crow Medicine Show), Town Mountain, Songs from the Road Band, Chatham County Line, Balsam Range, and many more.

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