SALLEY, S.C. — Officials say that a decades-old South Carolina tradition in one town will not move forward for 2024 but should return the following year.
On Thursday, the Town of Salley announced on its Facebook page that the annual Chitlin Strut had been canceled for 2024 as the town works to reorganize the event for 2025. Mayor LaDonna Hall said the council voted 4-1 on May 20 to cancel the event for 2024 after holding two meetings to get public comment. The Chitlin Strut is held the first Saturday after Thanksgiving and celebrates the namesake dish made of cooked pig intestines.
Hall said that some residents had expressed concern about the large size of the event and the need for additional security to keep attendees safe. However, she said that she didn't believe there had been many significant incidents in the two years she had helped organize it and that crowd sizes had been large for many years prior.
Thursday's announcement said the event was canceled to "allow the council to restructure and properly strategize for the 2025 Chitlin Strut."
Mayor Hall said the first meeting regarding the event had 30 to 40 attendees, and the next one had about 10 to 15. However, she said the impact will be felt beyond the town's residents, with attendees and vendors coming from around the region each time the town holds the event. The mayor said some of those vendors paid ahead for this year while attending last year's event. She said the town will need to refund those people.
The message posted by the town apologized for the cancellation and asked the community to be patient as it worked to make the event "safer and profitable for the Town of Salley as well as bring the best entertainment and food choices ever."
Mayor Hall said the town, with a population of a few hundred, will likely feel the financial impact of the event's absence unless another event comes in to fill the gap for 2024. However, she added that it was not the first time the town had gone without the popular gathering.
She said coronavirus concerns shut it down in 2020 and 2021. However, in the years since those cancellations, the event has seen significant crowds.
In the hours since the announcement, the post had garnered over 130 posts and nearly 400 shares.
