In 2026, Visit Myrtle Beach is celebrating a landmark moment in the destination’s history: the 40th anniversary of The Carolina Opry, the live theater that sparked Myrtle Beach’s evolution into one of the most dynamic entertainment destinations in the country. The “40 Years of Entertainment” campaign uses this milestone as a springboard to reinforce Myrtle Beach’s position as a national leader in live shows and performances — and to drive awareness and visitation to the destination’s theater and entertainment partners year-round.
Campaign Overview
When Calvin Gilmore opened The Carolina Opry on May 2, 1986, Myrtle Beach had never seen anything quite like it. The formula — Broadway production values, Vegas-style spectacle, Nashville soul, and a splash of beach energy — resonated immediately. The theater was named South Carolina’s Most Outstanding Attraction by the governor within its first year, and USA Today would later credit Gilmore with “starting the Myrtle Beach boom.”
Forty years on, that boom is evident across more than a dozen world-class theaters and thousands of live performances each year. The “40 Years of Entertainment” campaign tells that story — honoring the legacy of The Carolina Opry while showcasing the full breadth of what Myrtle Beach’s entertainment scene has become.
Campaign Objectives
Reinforce Myrtle Beach as a national entertainment leader. The campaign amplifies the “beach plus” narrative by positioning live entertainment as a core reason to visit — not just an add-on to the beach experience. With more than 25,000 live performances taking place across the destination each year, Myrtle Beach has a compelling, data-backed story to tell.
Uplift theater and entertainment partners. By shining a spotlight on the destination’s full lineup of shows and venues, the campaign drives direct awareness and ticket consideration for partner theaters including The Carolina Opry, Alabama Theatre, Greg Rowles Legacy Theatre, Broadway Theater, Charles Bach Wonders Theatre, GTS Theater, Legends in Concert, Pirate’s Voyage, Medieval Times, and Polynesian Fire Show.
Position entertainment as a year-round reason to visit. Live theater performances run well beyond peak summer months. This campaign strategically positions the destination’s entertainment calendar to drive consideration during shoulder and off-peak seasons — a key priority for extending visitor spend throughout the year.
Campaign Approach: Owned Media
Owned content anchors the effort. Visit Myrtle Beach published a longform editorial piece — “40 Years of Entertainment: How The Carolina Opry Shaped Shows in Myrtle Beach” — that traces the history of live entertainment at the destination from The Opry’s founding through today’s full theater ecosystem.
Video and archival content brings the nostalgia to life. Visit Myrtle Beach is producing video content that takes audiences back through The Opry’s greatest moments while connecting that history to the modern-day entertainment scene across the Grand Strand.
Partner content hub: Visitors can explore the full lineup of theaters and shows at visitmyrtlebeach.com/shows, which serves as the campaign’s central destination page.
The Video Series: A Summer-Long Theater Spotlight
The video component of this campaign is more than a single hero moment. Visit Myrtle Beach has produced 11 long-form videos in total — beginning with an 8-minute mini-documentary that launched May 26 on YouTube and across social channels, followed by a weekly series of individual theater vignettes rolling out through the summer. Each vignette tells the story of one partner theater, ordered chronologically from the oldest to the newest, building a week-by-week narrative of how Myrtle Beach’s entertainment scene grew over four decades.
Release Order
“40 Years of Entertainment” Mini-Documentary (Hero Video)
The Carolina Opry (est. 1986)
Alabama Theatre (est. 1993)
Legends in Concert (est. 1994)
Medieval Times (est. 1997)
Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show (est. 2011)
GTS Theater (est. 2016)
Polynesian Fire Show & Luau (est. 2019)
Broadway Theater (est. 2020–21)
Charles Bach Wonders Theater (est. 2021)
Greg Rowles Legacy Theatre (est. 2024)
All videos are published to Visit Myrtle Beach’s YouTube channel under a dedicated campaign playlist, shared across VMB’s social channels, and housed on the campaign landing page at VisitMyrtleBeach.com. Each full-length vignette is also paired with a social cutdown for additional reach across Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
Tying the series together is the “40 Years of Entertainment” Trip Giveaway, running through September. One winner will receive a 3-night stay in Myrtle Beach and tickets to the shows of their choice each night — a prize package that showcases the full depth of the destination’s entertainment lineup.
Why This Matters
The destination’s entertainment ecosystem is a genuine competitive differentiator. Few markets can point to the concentration of world-class live productions that Myrtle Beach offers — from variety shows and celebrity tribute artists to interactive dinner theaters, large-scale illusion acts, and hula . The campaign’s tone is celebratory and forward-looking: you don’t just watch the shows here, you become part of the story.
For theater and entertainment partners, this campaign represents coordinated destination-level investment in driving awareness to a category that benefits the full visitor economy — generating overnight stays, restaurant visits, and extended trips that ripple across the entire Grand Strand.
Beyond the Theaters
The campaign also acknowledges the wider entertainment ecosystem that makes Myrtle Beach exceptional: beachfront fire shows, oceanfront boardwalk performers, nightly fireworks, dueling piano bars, campground variety shows, and live music series at Broadway at the Beach, Barefoot Landing, and Plyler Park. The message is clear — this is not a one-show town. It is a destination where world-class entertainment is woven into the fabric of every visit.