Irmo’s Okra Strut festival, other Columbia events alter their schedules due to Helene

IThe weekend Okra Strut festival in Irmo has been canceled in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which caused widespread flooding and damage to the Midlands.

Jam-y New Orleans roots rock band Cowboy Mouth, a frequent visitor to Columbia, canceled its scheduled Friday evening appearance at Irmo’s annual Okra Strut festival due to travel issues caused by the storm. Later, organizers canceled the remainder of the weekend festivities.

Other cancellations and schedule changes due to the storm include:

• The Richland Library closed all locations at 5:30 p.m. Thursday and won’t reopen them until noon on Friday.
  
  “All library events and meeting room reservations will be canceled,” a release states.
• The S.C. State Museum announced it will close Friday to “ensure the safety of our visitors and staff.”
• The South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center canceled its 45th Anniversary Celebration at Senate’s End, scheduled for Thursday night.
  
  “Due to road closures across Columbia and continued threat of rain through the evening, we’re unfortunately forced to cancel the event for this evening,” Appleseed said in a release.
• The Columbia Museum of Art closed at 5 p.m. Thursday and is set to reopen at noon Friday.

We will continue to monitor local events scheduled for this weekend and post storm-related updates as they occur. If you know of a cancellation, contact us at jlawrence@thestate.com or statenews@thestate.com.