The Sun Fun Festival has quite a history in our beach town, with the inaugural event held in the summer of 1951 to welcome tourists back to Myrtle Beach for the summer season.

The early festivals featured family-friendly activities in and around the Myrtle Beach Pavilion, like parades and human checkerboard games. The first Miss SC pageant was held here in 1952, judged by bestselling author Mickey Spillane, who called Murrells Inlet home, followed by the Miss Sun Fun and Miss Bikini Wahine pageants sponsored by Hawaiian Tropic.

Back then, it’s said that there was even a “local law” enacted just during the festival that required everyone to wear shorts or a bathing suit. If not, they would be fined, which served as a fundraiser to help build the area’s first hospital, Ocean View Memorial Hospital.

Our event consistently named one of the Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 Events, would continue to thrive for 60 years, with parades, live music, sandcastle contests, and more. The event took a sabbatical for a few years in 2011, returned to the beach in 2016, and today continues a great tradition enjoyed by generations of beachgoers.