Aiken’s Makin’, hosted by the Greater Aiken Chamber of Commerce, is a popular annual arts and crafts festival in downtown Aiken, South Carolina , which just celebrated its landmark 50th-anniversary event on September 11–12, 2026. We arrived around 9:00 a.m. and were challenged to find a free place to park. Many of the churches and businesses had paid parking as fund raisers for their organizations, but we were looking for the free option. Even at the early hour is was crowded and the size of the crowd grew as the morning progressed.
- Location: Park Avenue between Chesterfield and Union streets in historic downtown Aiken.
- Schedule: Typically a two-day weekend event held annually in September (Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.).
- Admission: Free to attend, and the event happens rain or shine.
- Highlights: A juried showcase featuring over 200 regional artisans offering handmade pottery, woodworking, jewelry, fine art, clothing, and custom home decor.
- Food: Local vendors selling classic festival foods, kettle corn, funnel cakes, and homemade treats.
- My Recommendations: Go first thing on Friday instead of Saturday because the crowd might be smaller with children in school and people at work.
I should have taken more photos. It doesn’t look very crowded, but that was when we first arrived. My 10 a.m. the street was filled with people and was much harder to move between booths.
