The Fall Conway Runs on Its Own Clock: Pumpkins, Ghost Walks, and the Riverwalk Buildings Being Decided Right Now

Two things happen in downtown Conway between Labor Day and New Year's Eve, and only one of them shows up on the event flyers. The visible one is the transformation into what the city officially calls itself every October: Since 2022, the City of Conway has officially renamed itself each October to "The City of Halloween, South Carolina," and the mayor even signs a proclamation. The other, quieter shift is happening a block off Main Street, along the Waccamaw, where the buildings that will define the next decade of Conway's dining scene are being drawn, elevated, and argued over in front of the Community Appearance Board.

If you already live here, you know the pumpkins. What most residents miss is that the same season doubling as the town's biggest party is also the audition period for its next chapter along the river.

The clock that starts in September

The fall rhythm downtown begins earlier than most people expect. Burger Week runs September 11–20, the annual downtown competition where chefs on Main Street and Laurel put outlandish creations up against each other for what past reporting described as the coveted "Giant Cheeseburger" trophy that stands about 18 inches high, awarded to the establishment whose burger is voted best in a multi-square-block area of downtown Conway, with no prize money because "it's just for bragging rights, but that's big in a small town."

Then October arrives and the streetscape changes overnight. If you have lived here more than a year, you already know the drill: streets in downtown Conway lined with oak trees are decorated with about 3,000 pumpkins suspended overhead, glowing at night. The alley installations rotate each year, and the giant skeletons return, some of them 12-plus feet tall looming along side streets and by the water tower, one decked out in disco tiles serving as a haunted DJ.

The dated ticket events, the ones that sell out and are worth putting on the fridge:

Two things stand out on that list once you have lived through a season. The Ghost Walk is not a haunted house, and it is not for tourists in a hurry. Professional storytellers weave tales of lowcountry haints through the shadowy streets, traveling beneath the stately oaks of the Historic Conwayborough Residential District with stories that are always spooky, sometimes humorous and guaranteed to become part of your family's Halloween tradition. The tour is roughly a mile long, tickets are advance-only, and it sells out. The 2025 walk sold out entirely. If you have not bought yours by early October, plan on next year.

Witches, Wizards & Wine is the grown-up counterweight. It is an evening of wine tasting through downtown, with witches and wizards visiting participating businesses to sample eight wines, and all tickets are advance purchase with no walk-up tickets sold on the day of the event. Two dates this year instead of one, which is the town quietly acknowledging how quickly the first one goes.

The Riverwalk decision most residents haven't noticed

Now the part that matters more for what downtown will actually look like when the pumpkins come down.

For most of the past year, the walls of the old Lower Warehouse have still been standing next to Bonfire on the Riverwalk, the same rough boards where generations of Conway kids took prom photos and carved initials. Developer Tripp Nealy has owned the site since 2017, and this winter he finally moved the project in front of the Community Appearance Board.

Two new restaurants could be coming to Conway's Riverwalk next to Bonfire Taqueria, with a nearly 10,000-square-foot building that would house roughly 300 people between the two. The design detail that tells you Nealy has been paying attention to what actually happens along this stretch of the Waccamaw: the building will be elevated eight to nine feet above the Riverwalk with roll-up garage doors at the back, allowing customers to dine while enjoying views of the Waccamaw River, raised specifically to guard against flooding. That number moved after the fact. Nealy and engineer Steven Strickland of The Earthworks Group said major flooding on the Waccamaw River led them to build 4 feet higher than they had initially planned.

The tenants are not locked in yet, and Nealy has been public about wanting local operators. In his own words to the board: "I'm going to be selective about it, I'm going to try and have the Conway people involved in it. I think there's a lot of people who would love to have that location and I just want to make sure we get somebody that fits Conway."

And Nealy is not the only one. Darren Smith, who owns neighboring Bonfire and the Rivertown Bistro on Third Avenue, is pursuing a project on the other side of Bonfire, and city records released last year indicated he and his wife planned to build a new restaurant, an event facility and up to 15 apartments there.

If both projects move forward, the block of Riverwalk that currently anchors on Bonfire alone will have three restaurant addresses, an event venue, and residents living above them within a few years. That is a different downtown than the one most Conway homeowners bought into.

Where residents actually eat while all of this gets built

The current lineup is worth naming, because visitors get sent to the same two places and residents know there are more. Bonfire sits on the Waccamaw River and combines Southern barbecue with a Tex-Mex sensibility. Rivertown Bistro has long been the upscale anchor of the downtown dining scene. The Trestle Bakery and Cafe is the morning call, with homemade bread and breakfast sandwiches. HopnWich handles the casual end with craft burgers and a solid beer list. The Crafty Rooster has made a name for itself as a gastropub-style option.

The newer one worth knowing about sits at the marina. Conway Outpost took over the longtime marina store, and the building now houses a restaurant with plans to eventually add an outdoor bar and music venue. The bigger picture behind that opening is the one Conway residents should be tracking most closely. The city is turning a former power plant site into a recreational area after state lawmakers agreed to transfer more than 800 acres from Santee Cooper to the city, with officials saying they intend to build "the equivalent of a small state park," including extending the Riverwalk about 3.5 miles, adding a new marina and carving out an inland beach for swimming.

A 3.5-mile Riverwalk extension is not a decorative project. It is the largest single change to how downtown Conway connects to its river since the original boardwalk was built. The ribbon cutting on the most recent extension already happened in early 2025, when the Waccamaw Riverwalk extension in downtown Conway was celebrated, connecting the 4th Avenue bridge over the old railroad trestle to the broader boardwalk at the Bonfire Restaurant, connecting the Riverwalk to the heart of downtown for the first time.

The handoff nobody talks about

Around the CCU Homecoming Parade on November 6, the town shifts gears without any announcement. The pumpkins come down. String lights go up. By December 3, the Christmas tree at the downtown corner is lit, and one week later on December 10, Rivertown Christmas Celebration and Living Windows fills Main Street from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., storefronts running the same block that carried the Ghost Walk stories six weeks earlier.

The Chamber Christmas Parade lands on the 12th, and then the season closes out with New Year's Eve fireworks over the river.

If you have lived in Conway for more than a year, none of that is news. What is worth watching this fall is not any single event. It is the fact that the town is throwing its biggest party of the year while simultaneously deciding, on a Wednesday evening in front of a five-person board, what the Riverwalk will look like when the party ends. The people showing up to those Community Appearance Board meetings are the ones with a say in that answer.

A note for neighbors thinking about their own timing

Homeowners who have been watching the Riverwalk projects, the 800-acre Santee Cooper transfer, or the steady drip of new operators like Conway Outpost sometimes ask what all of this means for their own house on Elm Street or their acre on the outskirts of town. That is a longer conversation, and one worth having with someone who lives it. If you want a straightforward read on how the downtown story connects to values on your street, Larisa Esmat is glad to sit down for coffee at Trestle or a walk along the river. Let's Connect — Book a Consultation.