The 17th Annual Southern Fried Festival in Downtown Columbia has been designated a Southeastern Tourism Society Top 20 Event for September 2012. Since 1985 the Southeast Tourism Society (STS) has published the Top 20 Events. The best events across the Southeast compete to receive the prestigious Top 20 designation. Through a nomination process, the Southeast Tourism Society chooses the Top 20 Events going on in the Southeast for each month of the year and publishes this list of winners quarterly. The Southern Fried Festival is honored to have been chosen.