So, it's 2023. Resolutions are set, vacations are being planned — and while you're already looking at your calendar — we recommend planning ahead for these local events.

🍀 St. Pat's in Five Points | Saturday, March 18 | Attend one of Columbia's biggest events. Enjoy the parade with your family, jam to live music with friends, and let the kids play on the Pot O' Gold Playland.

🎶 Columbia International Festival | Saturday, April 1-Sunday, April 2 | Learn about ~100 countries and taste exotic flavors of foreign cuisines. Pro tip — kids 18 and under can attend for free.

🍷 The Columbia Food and Wine Festival | Wednesday, April 19-Sunday, April 23 | Established in 2018 — via a collaboration between Free Times and the Five Points Foundation — this event showcases the Midlands’ growing culinary scene through several events.

Columbia Food and Wine Festival 2019 | Photo by Forrest Clonts

🌽 South Carolina State Fair | Wednesday, Oct. 11-Sunday, Oct. 22 | It's never too earlyto start planning for the SC State Fair.

🌈 Famously Hot SC Pride! | Friday, Oct. 20-Saturday, Oct. 21 | Don't forget about Outfest Columbia happening on Saturday, June 3 at 1 p.m. in the Vista.

It's Pride month, Cola. | Photo by @allenwallace72

It's fun to read about and plan for big events happening this year in the Soda City, but maybe you have a few of your own you want to share with us. Follow these three easy steps to add your events to our calendar:

Go to our Events page
Click “Add Event” in the top right-hand corner (or just click here.)
And voila! Pro tip — we comb through all of our events and mark our favorites as “Editor’s Pick” so you can easily spot the most relevant of the relevant events happening in Cola.