Conway sits on the Waccamaw River about 15 miles inland from Myrtle Beach, and its historic downtown is built around oak trees rather than through them. The streets bend around the old live oaks, a decision that pays off a century later.
Then October arrives, and the mayor signs a proclamation. Since 2022, Conway has officially renamed itself the City of Halloween, South Carolina, for the month, and the whole downtown commits.
The signature installation is roughly 3,000 pumpkins hung in those oak canopies, glowing after dark. It’s the detail that puts Conway among towns that look like fiction and the reason people drive hours to walk five square blocks.
The scale is real. City figures put October 2024 attendance at around a quarter-million visitors, up by roughly 50,000 per year since the tradition began.
What to Expect in Fall
The pumpkin canopy is the thing to see, and dusk is when to see it. Nearly 3,000 pumpkins hang from the oak-lined downtown streets, and the whole district shifts character once the light goes…