Bamboo festival comes to Furman

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The Southeast Chapter of the American Bamboo Society will hold its 8th annual Fall Bamboo Festival on the campus of Furman University Saturday, Sept. 20, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. in the Trone Student Center and the Asian Garden on campus.

The festival is free and open to the public.

Part of the festival is a tour of Furman’s Asian Garden where many species of bamboo are represented in addition to other Asian inspired plantings. The tour will be led by Dr. Mike Hotchkiss of Georgia Bamboo and Furman Senior Grounds Keeper Sheree Wright.

The Place of Peace, an authentic Japanese temple adjacent to the garden, will also be available for quiet reflection 1- 4 p.m., Saturday. Donated to Furman by the Tsuzuki family, the Place of Peace is the first Japanese temple ever to be dismantled and fully reconstructed in America.

Regional bamboo experts will lead a number of workshops covering topics from bamboo care and maintenance to bamboo farming. Craft and plant vendors are part of the festival, and an auction will be held benefitting the Southeast Chapter.

For more information about the event, contact event organizer Michelle Tkach at jtkach1@gmail.com. Or visit the chapter’s website at www.sec-bamboo.org, or Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SoutheastBamboo.