The Peach Beach concert was one of the most popular events held by the South Carolina Peach Festival prior to it being discontinued.

Discussions in recent planning workshops have centered on whether the festival can afford to bring back Peach Beach or stage a major event on a large county venue.

Economic concerns make it unlikely the festival will have a big production in 2009, board chairman Carlton Bridges said.

"We've had informal conversations with the (Gaffney) Board of Public Works about the possibility of being able to use the Lake Whelchel site," Bridges said. "We would like to be able to bring back the Peach Beach concert or stage another major event. At this point, we don't know if we can afford to take this risk with the way the economy is."

The festival used the Lake Whelchel site for concerts, tractor pulls and other events from 1987-2001. The Board of Public Works asked the festival to find another location so it could look into developing the site for a golf course.

Orchard Park replaced Lake Whelchel as the festival site for concerts, a tractor pull, mud bog and other special events. In 2007, Sunny Slope Farms paid $41,300 to buy out the festival's 20-year lease.

Site preparation costs are one reason the festival is taking a cautious approach when talking about major events. The festival spent more than $60,000 on site work at Orchard Park such as grading, seeding, electrical, lighting and fencing.

The board has focused on smaller events in planning next year's festival, scheduled for July 10-19. Current events include a barbecue competition, dessert contest, an arts and crafts show and a downtown Family Fun Fest.

The board plans to vote on the event schedule at its Dec. 9 board meeting.

While a major event appears unlikely, Bridges isn't ready to close the door on a 2009 Peach Beach.

"We are moving forward with next year's festival. There are some new events we are interested in," Bridges said. "As for Peach Beach, we are going to leave the door open."