But Wait, Where are the Horses?: A Guide To Carolina Cup

College students often times joke about making certain events into college “holidays”.  For example, on the High Point University campus we tend to call Derby Day a holiday.  If you go to school in the Carolinas then you may know of another celebrated college holiday… the infamous Carolina Cup.  Carolina Cup is held on the last Saturday every March at the Springdale Racing Track in Camden, South Carolina.  While a fair share of adults do go to the event, it is notoriously popular with college kids drawing in students from all corners of North and South Carolina.

Carolina Cup is often called the college version of Kentucky Derby.  Essentially it is a horserace that has a tale gate beforehand and during.  People in attendance get dressed up just like you would for Kentucky Derby.  All things preppy, including Lilly Pulitzer, Vineyard Vines, Southern Tide, floppy sun hats with monogram, and every style of Jack Rogers sandals, are seen adorning people throughout the crowd.

So why exactly is Carolina Cup drawing in college students by the thousands? Believe is or not, it’s actually the tale gate. Even though it is a horserace and you would think that going to a horserace means you actually WATCH the race, that isn’t exactly the case with Carolina Cup.  It’s a running joke that many people go to Carolina Cup and don’t actually see a single horse because they never leave the tale gate.  If there is one thing that college students are great at, it’s finding an excuse to create a party like atmosphere and indulge in drinking.  Carolina Cup provides the perfect atmosphere to drink, have fun, and take a day trip away from campus.

With every event that has drinking involved there is always a way to get into trouble and be unsafe.  But for the most part college students that go to Carolina Cup have a fun, safe time, and celebrate this “holiday” the way that they wish to.  Personally, I experienced Carolina Cup for the first time this year, and I have to say that I had a blast.  One of my favorite parts was all of the people watching, and seeing all of the different tale gate tents.

Long story short, I highly recommend going to Carolina Cup at least once if you go to school in the Carolinas. Just have fun, be safe, and maybe try to see a horse.