Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds Events in Hiawassee: Fall 2026 Guide

Which Saturday this fall has the most events booked at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds, 1311 Music Hall Rd? On Saturday, Oct. 24, one week after the festival closes, the grounds host a beer festival, a tailgate and a headline concert, one after another, from 11 a.m. into the night. Two weeks later, on Nov. 7, the grounds again book three events into one day.

The festival is one big event spread over six days. What comes after it is a run of shorter events packed into single days, and that's where the remaining fall calendar in Hiawassee gets crowded.

The Second Festival Weekend Is A Different Festival

The festival itself shows the pattern starting. The official schedule lists the 2026 Georgia Mountain Fall Festival as "October 9 - 11 & 15 - 17." The two weekends aren't copies of each other, though. The carnival midway is listed as "Open Daily October 9-11," so the rides end tonight, Sunday, Oct. 11.

In their place, the second weekend gets its own act. On the fairgrounds attractions page, Danny Grant's Cowboy Circus is billed as "the world's funniest rodeo" for "October 15-17 (2nd Weekend Only)." It plays at 12:30 and 4:40 on Thursday and Friday and at 11:30, 2:30 and 5:30 on Saturday, free with admission. The Off Axis High Dive carries over from the first weekend with three shows a day in Eller Holler. The Bear Factory's chainsaw carving runs at 11 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Admission stays at $10, with free entry for children 12 and under and free parking. A concert ticket includes festival admission. Gates are listed at 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. for each day of the second weekend.

The second weekend's music schedule:

The Hootenanny sets are scheduled at noon, 2 and 4:30 each day. The Towns County Herald's Oct. 7 front page also lists a pumpkin contest in the Exhibit Hall and a decorated hay bale contest. Fairgrounds General Manager Hilda Thomason previewed some of the hay bale designs, including one honoring Dolly Parton. The paper doesn't say whether either contest stays up through the second weekend.

Even the festival's last day has more than one thing booked. Before Tanya Tucker takes the stage, the fourth Trent Whidden Memorial Car Show runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17, under the motto "Always Giving, Always Forgiving." The fairgrounds lists admission as free and the location as the parking lot near Hamilton Gardens. That puts a morning car show, an afternoon of rodeo comedy and an evening concert at one address on one Saturday.

October 24: Three Events On One Ticket-Window Saturday

The next Saturday builds on that. Here is how Oct. 24 runs on the official fairgrounds calendar:

• 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Appalachian Brew and Music Festival, billed as "Beer and Music. Any Questions? Be there!" Admission is listed at $55 in advance through Oct. 23 and $60 at the gate.
• 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.: Blackberry Smoke Tailgate Party.
• 7 p.m.: Blackberry Smoke, with Ben Chapman, at Anderson Music Hall. Reserved seats are $35, $45 or $55 plus taxes and fees.

Each event hands off to the next with no gap. The brew festival closes at 5, the tailgate opens at 5, and the concert starts when the tailgate ends. During the Fall Festival, one $10 admission covered a whole day on the grounds. On Oct. 24, the day is split into separately ticketed blocks, and someone who books all three spends about 10 hours at Music Hall Rd.

A few house rules apply to every event on the calendar. Pets aren't allowed inside the gates, the clear bag policy is "strictly enforced," and all tickets are non-refundable.

Halloween Week Gets Its Own Stack

The last week of October repeats the pattern over three nights. The Haunted Village runs Thursday, Oct. 29, through Saturday, Oct. 31, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., "Rain or Moonlight." Tickets are $5 per person for ages 6 and up.

The free "Fangtastic" Halloween at the Fairgrounds is the family event of the week. The fairgrounds calendar lists it for Friday, Oct. 30, from 5 to 8 p.m. The linked ticket page labels the same free event "Friday, October 31st." Oct. 31 falls on a Saturday this year, so one of those two listings is wrong. Check with the fairgrounds before you plan around either date.

Then on Saturday night, Oct. 31, comedian Rodney Carrington plays at 7 p.m. The calendar adds "(yes, Halloween!)" to the listing. If the Haunted Village is running its final night on the grounds while that show fills the hall, Halloween night will mean two separate crowds at one address.

November 6 And 7: Town Square And Fairgrounds Share The Weekend

The first weekend of November is when the fairgrounds calendar runs into downtown's. The Hiawassee Downtown Development Authority holds its First Friday Night Market on the Hiawassee Town Square from 5 to 9 p.m. on the first Friday of each month, June through November. The final 2026 market is Nov. 6, and its theme is "Holiday." The DDA describes the market's original purpose this way:

"The Night Market, one of the first projects of our organization, was conceived to show that life after 5 PM was possible in downtown."

The same Friday, the fairgrounds opens Rats, Rust, & Horse Power, a two-day show of hot rods from 1979 and earlier. It runs Nov. 6 and 7 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with general admission listed at $10 per day and children under 12 free. The car show closes at 4 and the Night Market opens at 5, so Friday moves from Music Hall Rd to the square.

Saturday, Nov. 7, gets the third three-event day of the season:

1. Rats, Rust, & Horse Power, day two, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
2. The Tin Can Tourists Vintage Trailer Show, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tin Can Tourists of Georgia presents nearly 100 vintage trailers and RVs, and admission is $3 per person, free for children 12 and under.
3. The Oak Ridge Boys in concert at 7 p.m.

For $13 in daytime admission, someone can see pre-1980 hot rods and trailers from the 1940s through the 1980s on one visit, before the evening concert crowd arrives.

The Calendar Through Early December

Here is every date on the remaining 2026 calendar, from the festival's second weekend through Residents Night:

Mountain Country Christmas in Lights runs Nov. 26 through Dec. 31. It's a walk-through light show with Christmas music, arts and crafts, train rides, and visits with the Grinch, Mrs. Claus and Santa. It opens 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from Nov. 26 through Dec. 12. It's open every night from Dec. 17 through 24, closed Christmas Day, and drive-through only Dec. 26 through 31.

The two official pages list different prices. The fairgrounds Christmas page lists regular admission at $12 per person, free for children 12 and under, and drive-through admission at $25 per car. The ThunderTix checkout lists a "Good Any Day 11/26 - 12/23" ticket at $10. Both pages list a special $25 Christmas Eve drive-through, but the details don't match. The ticket page calls it cash only, and its regular schedule shows Christmas Eve as closed. The fairgrounds page accepts cash or card.

Thursday, Dec. 3, from 6 to 9 p.m., is listed as Towns County Residents Night. The official pages don't yet list a special price, proof-of-residency rules or other terms for that night. It's the only date on the 2026 calendar labeled for the county's own residents.

If you live near Music Hall Rd, keep Oct. 24 and Nov. 7 in mind, along with the overlapping Halloween and Nov. 6 evenings. Those are the days when events change over through the afternoon and evening. Our team at Lucretia Collins lives and works in these mountain towns, and we're happy to tell you which weekends around Lake Chatuge are quiet and which ones fill up. If you have questions about Hiawassee, this season or any other, Let's Connect.