Crowded Spartanburg streets: Thousands flock to downtown for Spring Fling, Billy Idol concert

Saturday was one of the busiest nights for downtown in recent memory, with music fans filling the front lot of Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium and more people packing Church Street to attend the Spring Fling festival.

Billy Idol played a sold-out concert Saturday, April 29, at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, and visitors from throughout the region began lining up at 5 p.m.

At the same time, crowds filled the streets attending Spring Fling, Spartanburg's largest downtown festival that began Friday and ran through Sunday evening.

Prior to the event, city officials said they didn’t anticipate any serious traffic issues, but cautioned people in advance to plan ahead. Many Billy Idol fans used the strategy of arriving early.

Kristina Wiley said she and her daughter Chloe left Greenville at 3 p.m. to come to the concert. They were among the first in line.

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"I happened to just be looking on my Google homepage on her birthday, and he’s on her bucket list and mine," Wiley said of finding out about the surprise performance.

Gary and Kathy Petrie of Spartanburg were also seeing Idol for the first time and were pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to get to the venue despite the many events happening Saturday evening, including the Dorman High prom which was also taking place at the auditorium.

"I expected a little bit more (traffic) because of Spring Fling and the art show, but nothing so far," Gary said.

Several concertgoers, like April and Andy Tester of Johnson City, Tennessee, said they originally had intended to go to the canceled Billy Idol show at the Cameo Theater in Bristol, Virginia. When they heard Idol would be performing in Spartanburg on the same day, they decided to make the drive down.

"They canceled the concert; we don't know why, and we were all bummed out. And then we heard that he was coming here, and we were like 'We've got to get tickets!'," said Andy Tester.

Fans waiting for doors to open were looking forward to rocking out to hits like "Dancing with Myself," "Rebel Yell," and "White Wedding."

"My parents listened to him and just turned me on to him," said Emmie Leigh of Greenville, who was seeing Idol for the first time. "There are so many (songs) I love. I love 'Rebel Yell,' of course; I love 'White Wedding;' I love 'Flesh for Fantasy.' I love it all."

Fun and food at downtown Spartanburg's Spring Fling

Meanwhile, downtown Spartanburg was packed for the second and longest night of Spring Fling. The downtown festival ran from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday.

The event featured multiple food courts and music stages as well as family-friendly fun like face painting, inflatables, and a local vendor market.

"It's nice to hang out with the music in the background and get to see the shows and everything," said Lakin Wildenstein of Spartanburg, who was listening to the band Shades of Brown on the Morgan Square stage with her family. "They have a lot of good stuff for the kids."

The food truck rodeo, a returning feature from last year, was bustling Saturday evening while cover band Vinyl Junkies played. Aspen Street Sweets, Bobalish LLC, Cool Hawgz BBQ, Sweet Touch, The Street Food & Boba, Vegan Shack House, Weezy’s, and Y’all Hungry Food Truck had perpetual lines filled with festival goers looking for tasty and Instagram-able treats.

Aspen Street Sweets owner Ryan Smith said he'd seen thousands of people over the weekend.

"It's been good. We look forward to Spring Fling every year. A lot of people, a lot of fun; we love it," said Smith. "We normally pick the spot that everybody comes to last, looking for dessert."

The festival was estimated to bring in upward of 100,000 people, and not all of them were locals. Matt and Kristen Yarbro of Shelby, North Carolina, ended up at the festival by chance while visiting the area.

"We just showed up on a whim, and it's the most awesome festival we've ever been to," said Matt Yarbro.

More summer concerts, events to come to downtown Spartanburg

Idol isn’t the last big-name act Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium will be hosting this summer. The venue’s lineup this month includes Grace Potter (May 13), Alice Cooper (May 14) and Sammy Kershaw (May 19).

Pop music shows like Who’s Bad: The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience and tribute bands Departure (Journey), Slippery When Wet (Bon Jovi), Zoso (Led Zeppelin), and The WannaBeatles will also be coming to the auditorium this summer.

More events are headed to downtown Spartanburg soon as well, including the 6th annual Sparkle City Rhythm and Ribs Festival on June 3 and Red, White and Boom on July 4.  Spring Fling will return next year.

While specific plans have not been made for next year’s Spring Fling, Spartanburg Communication Manager Christopher George said staff anticipates needing to change the festival’s footprint due to multiple construction projects, including the M Peters project and the planetarium by the library.

The redesign of Morgan Square, which may be approved this summer, could also be taking place this time next year. However, it’s too early to know exactly what changes may be made to the festival.

“It's possible that a Morgan Square construction project could be taking place at that time as well, but we don't have a timeline for that yet,” George said.

Samantha Swann covers city news, development and culture. She is a University of South Carolina Upstate and Greenville Technical College alumna. Contact her atsswann@shj.com or on Instagram at @sameatsspartanburg. Can't get enough food news?Subscribe to our weekly newsletter for foodies, Spartanburg Eats.

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Streets of Spartanburg packed for Billy Idol concert, Spring Fling