Events

The Palmetto Sportsmen’s Classic is a premiere regional outdoor event hosted by the Harry R. E. Hampton Memorial Wildlife Fund and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. It is an annual three-day event usually held that last weekend in March and centrally located in Columbia, South Carolina at the State Fairgrounds. The Classic is expected to draw over 40,000 participants.
The Classic attracts people of all ages, emphasizing the appreciation, wise use and stewardship of South Carolina’s diverse natural resources. The Classic seeks to increase public awareness of natural resources through interactive educational activities, seminar and exhibits as well as provide a forum for vendors to offer for sale the latest in hunting, fishing and a myriad of other outdoor-related products. A variety of activities and attractions encourages interaction, builds skills and generates enthusiasm for outdoor-related recreation and conservation.
While the Classic is the Department of Natural Resources’ principal public outreach program and provides staffing to run the show, other state agencies plus public and private organizations are encouraged to exhibit and get involved in helping ensure the viability of this unique outdoor event. The Harry R. E. Hampton Memorial Wildlife Fund, Inc. is the principal funding mechanism for the show, and all Classic proceeds are utilized by this organization for the enhancement and promotion of wildlife and marine resources conservation and education in South Carolina. Thus, the partnership of the Hampton Fund with the SCDNR helps make the Palmetto Sportsmen’s Classic a quality experience for the entire family while educating them about natural resource issues and opportunities.
The event began in 1985 at the State Fairgrounds as a 2-day show. The initial 1985 PSC only included about forty exhibitors in the Ellison Building at the S.C. State Fairgrounds, but surprisingly drew more than 10,000 people. With tremendous public interest in the outdoors and natural resources in South Carolina obvious, the show was modified in 1986 to become a 3-day event and attendance has grown each year. This unique family-oriented outdoor event as become second only to the State Fair itself as the largest annual event at the State Fairgrounds.
The Palmetto Sportsmen’s Classic has always emphasized education coupled with family values in promoting public awareness and goodwill in helping conserve the Palmetto State’s natural resources and quality of life. Notable focus areas of interest to the public at the Classic are the annual South Carolina Outdoor Writers Competition and Outdoor Photography Contest jointly sponsored by the Hampton Fund and the South Carolina Wildlife magazine, exhibits of live animals by the Carolina Raptor Center, Savannah River Ecology Laboratory and related organizations, turkey and duck calling contests, and deer rack scoring, seminars on hiking, backpacking, hunting and fishing, retriever demonstrations, hunter and boater safety demonstrations, air gun target shooting and other outdoor-related activities. For more information, contact Dan DuPre, (803) 734-4008 or email DupreD@dnr.sc.gov.