Coastal Carolina’s Festival of Steel Drums Up Excitement
Conway, South Carolina
It was a day to celebrate percussion instruments over at Coastal Carolina University. The Festival of Steel welcomed two hundred performers representing seven schools who performed a range of musical genres. This was the largest gathering at the festival since 2020.
ABC 15 News spoke with CCU’s Director of Percussion Studies about what it means to see so much excitement surrounding the festival and the instruments themselves.
“It’s been great to see the instrument grow not only throughout the United States, but in particular, here in South Carolina there’s been a lot of support. It’s just a great tool to get students involved and appreciate music, in addition to develop their musicianship,” said Jesse Willis, the CCU Director of Percussion Studies.
This was the third year of the festival. It concluded with a performance by the Coastal Carolina Street Drum Band that featured several guest musicians.
