A Mountainside Destination
Despite the varied nature of the festivals, there is one festival that regularly draws the biggest crowd: The Jaycee’s Gold Rush Days Festival. “It’s the oldest of the mountain festivals,” says Hal Williams, director of the Dahlonega Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It started 53 years ago.”
The Dahlonega Chamber of Commerce—the original founders of the festival—set the stage for the festival to blossom into the major attraction it is today. Festooning the public square with facades, bunting and other decorations, the Chamber created the look of the festival, which is now as much a part of the event as the activities themselves. “It recalled the saloons and the buildings that were here during the Gold Rush era,” Williams explains. “Now, there are also craft booths, food, parades, games and music—and it’s all on the square so people can go to all of it.”
Williams says the two-day-long Gold Rush Days Festival, held every third weekend in October, attracts “between 300,000 and 400,000” festival-goers every year.
“It really celebrates the gold heritage of Dahlonega,” Williams says. “This festival is one of the most popular in all of Georgia!”
Other annual festivals attract a variety of attendees, who enjoy a range of unique activities.
Six Gap Century and Three Gap Fifty
September 25, 2011
www.dahlonega.org
For nearly 20 years, the biggest bike race in the state has taken place in Dahlonega, during the Six Gap Century and the Three Gap Fifty. During the Six Gap Century, cyclists take on nearly 100 miles of steep inclines, with the largest elevation topping out at nearly 3,500 feet. The Three Gap Fifty is half as long, but still challenges with elevations at 3,280 feet.
Dahlonega Rock & Mineral Show
Ocotber 15 - 16, 2011
Hemlock Fest
November 4 - 6, 2011
Dahlonega Literary Festival & Writer’s Conference
November 10 - 13, 2011
www.literaryfestival.org
Launched in 2004, this intriguing event celebrates literature by bringing authors, panelists and readers together—and bringing literary characters to life. At the upcoming festival, thousands of visitors will attend dinners, listen to seminars touching on aspects of the literary life such as publishing, writing and storytelling, and attend readings and book signings.
Northeast Georgia Arts Tour
November 11 - 13, 2011
Old Fashioned Christmas
November 25, 2011
Bear on the Square Mountain Festival
April 21-22, 2012
www.bearonthesquare.org
A mountain tradition, the Bear on the Square Festival brings Dahlonega alive with the sounds of bluegrass, folk music and storytellers, the sights of artisans and merchants displaying crafts, and the smell of food cooking. Held in tribute to a baby bear that wandered into the town in 1996, the festival has become an annual rite of spring.
The Mountain Flower Art Festival
Third Weekend in May
www.dahlonegaarts.org
A celebration of the wildflowers that dot the Dahlonega mountainside, the Mountain Flower Art Festival features fine art exhibitions, crafts, a Garden Expo, a plant sale and workshops.
Georgia Fine Wine Festival
www.dahlonega.org
Established by the Georgia Winegrowers Association, this festival celebrates the best of Georgia’s Wine Country. Held at BlackStock Winery, the event features wine tastings and food from a variety of local vineyards.
If you will be in Dahlonega during these festivals and would like to take a tour of Achasta, please let us know.