Conway rebranded for fall festivities

Conway has been renamed for the month of October to “Halloween” in time of the upcoming fall holiday season.

Located about 10 minutes from Coastal Carolina University’s campus, the historic downtown of Conway is home to a thriving art community of 25,000 people. Th e town houses dozens of unique shops and restaurants.

However, the city has recently gone through some various changes in preparation for the Halloween season season, primarily with the name “Conway” itself. Mayor Barbara BlainBellamy announced on Sept. 23 for the fi rst time the town is going through a seasonal marketing campaign, which involves changing the town’s name for the entire month of October from Conway to “Halloween,” South Carolina.

“It’s extremely great and brings new faces to the town since Conway always goes the extra mile,” Chris Smith, the owner and operator of Papa’s General Store, said.

Besides the name change, the town is also decorated with an assortment of plastic jack-o’-lanterns placed throughout the trees along Main Street. Buildings were also decorated with cobwebs and lights.

“Nice to see Conway get into the festive spirit,” CCU senior Kyle Yalch said.

The town has organized events that will happen throughout the days leading up to the Halloween celebration where all community members can participate in. There are numerous historic ghost walking tours along the Conway Riverwalk and pumpkin patch sales to choose from, aside from the traditional trick-or-treat.

If a night of frights is what people are looking for, then look no further than the Halloween Haunted Trail from 7–10 p.m. at Conway Parks and Recreation (1515 Millpond Rd), which runs October 27th, 28th, and 29th.

“I find it all very alluring,” student Kaylie Carpenter said.

Mayor Blain-Bellamy said the Halloween town will hopefully increase the number of visitors to the area. Residents still are left with the question if the renaming will become a regular seasonal occurrence.