Siblings Matthew, left, and Emma Parker play on tractors at last year's Prater's Mill Country Fair.FESTIVALS OPENING THIS WEEKENDOct. 9-12• Arts in the Park: Downtown City Park, Blue Ridge, Ga., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, $5 adults, children free, sponsored by Blue Ridge Mountains Arts Association. 706-632-2144.• Back to the Earth Handcrafts Fair: Unitarian Universalist Church, 324 Navajo Drive, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, admission is donation of nonperishable food for Chattanooga Area Food Bank, herbal soaps and creams, Waldorf dolls, jams and jellies and other handmade items for sale. 423-624-2985.• Craft Fair: Brainerd United Methodist Church, 4315 Brainerd Road, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, free. 423-698-2030.• Fall Bazaar: First United Methodist Church, 3425 Ocoee St., Cleveland, Tenn., 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, free admission, homemade soup and sandwich lunch available for purchase. 423-476-4504.• Fannie Moffitt Autumn Stomp: Downtown Altamont, Tenn., 10 a.m.-10 p.m. CDT Saturday, free, music, most elaborate hat contest, cruise-in and crafts. 931-692-3879.• Georgia Apple Festival: Ellijay Lions Fairgrounds, 1729 S. Main, Ellijay, Ga., 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, $5 ages 11 and up, $2 parking. georgiaapplefestival.org.• Holiday Craft Show: Community Complex at Cumberland County Fairgrounds, 1391 Livingston Road, Crossville, Tenn., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. CDT Thursday-Friday, free. 931-456-8590.• New Salem Mountain Festival: New Salem Community Center, 12477 Highway 136 between Trenton and LaFayette, Ga, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, $5 ages 12 and older. 706-398-1988.• Oktoberfest: Knights of Columbus Fairgrounds, 2892 Highway 70, Crossville, Tenn, 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Saturday (all times Central), $7.50 ages 15 and older, $10 German dinner. crossvilleoktoberfest.com.• Pottery/Craft Sale: John A. Patten Youth and Family Development Center, 3202 Kelly Ferry Road, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, free, sponsored by Scenic City Clay Arts. 423-260-0255.• Prater's Mill Country Fair: Prater's Mill, 5845 Georgia Highway 2, 10 miles northeast of Dalton, Ga., 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, $7 ages 13 and older. 706-694-MILL.• Pumpkinfest: Downtown Chickamauga, Ga., merchants, 9 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Saturday, free, children's games, pumpkin carving and decorating contests, music and silent auction to raise money for Al Millard's Stocking Full of Love children's Christmas fund. 423-605-6158.• Pumpkintown: Downtown Athens, Tenn., 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Saturday, free. pumpkintownfestival.com.• Taking It to the Streets: Bi-Lo, 6951 Lee Highway, 5-7 p.m. Sunday, free family event sponsored by Hickory Valley Christian Church with carnival games, inflatables, live band. 423-902-4585.Oct. 9-26• Gatlinburg Craftsmen's Fair: Gatlinburg Convention Center, 234 Historic Nature Trail, Gatlinburg, Tenn., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays, $6 ages 13 and up, showcase of almost 200 regional craftsmen. craftsmenfair.com.Oct. 10-18• Georgia Mountain Fall Festival: Georgia Mountain fairgrounds, Highway 76, Hiwassee, Ga., 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, $12 ages 13 and up, includes admission to music shows, free parking. georgiamountainfairgrounds.com.Oct. 15-19• Oktoberfest: Chattanooga Market, First Tennessee Pavilion, 1829 Reggie White Blvd. Annual Sunday market event expands to five days, Wednesday-Sunday, with ticketed dinner on Thursday night. chattanoogaoktoberfest.com.
The festival circuit peaks this weekend with a season-high 17 events opening between today, Oct. 9, and Wednesday, Oct. 15.
Whether you are looking for brats and beer at an Oktoberfest, the country charm of a rural mill or homespun fun in a small town's downtown, there is something on the list to suit every whim. Here are three top choices.
• If it's the second weekend of October, it's time for Prater's Mill Country Fair. This 40-year-old celebration of Southern culture and handmade crafts has been recognized as a Local Legacy of American Tradition by the Library of Congress.
Shuttle buses drop visitors off right at the entry gate, where entering the fair is like stepping back in time to an era when listening to pickers and fiddlers while cloggers danced was good family entertainment. Tour the historic grist mill, shop from more than 200 artists or admire the skill of Appalachian craftsmen demonstrating blacksmithing, chair-caning, weaving, woodcarving and hand-tufting.
Fair spokeswoman Sherry Sexton says members of Dalton Pike Church of God will be serving authentic Southern meals (chicken and dumplings with collards and cornbread, for example) cooked over a woodstove. To celebrate their 40th year exhibiting at Prater's Mill, members of Busy Bee Quilting Club are selling a hand-appliqued quilt featuring a repeating cardinal pattern.
• New Salem Mountain Festival is marking its 40th anniversary Saturday and Sunday. Its wooded outdoor setting on Lookout Mountain draws thousands of visitors each year to enjoy the original work of 100 craftsmen as well as autumn's beauty. Wear comfortable shoes because it's a lot of walking in the woods.
In the outdoor booths, visitors will find pottery, paintings, furniture, stained glass, woodworking, textiles, jellies, porch swings, rustic lighting and more. Organizer Faye Nichols says a special indoor exhibit, "The Mountain Gallery," showcases the best work of each exhibitor, plus one featured exhibit. This year's feature is a collection of new and old quilts.
The cooks from New Salem United Methodist Church will be serving their famous homemade chicken stew, and there will be plenty of festival concessions sold on the grounds as well. Best of all, all proceeds from this show go right back into the New Salem community to benefit the Fire and Rescue Department and the community center, she says.
• Picture this: a small-town courthouse square decorated in harvest colors of orange and gold with 195 food and crafts vendors lining the streets. Cornstalks are tied to lampposts and piles of pumpkins or stacks of hay bales decorate street corners. That charming scene is Athens, Tenn., this Saturday during its 11th Pumpkintown Festival.
This hometown event offers homespun fun like a Mutt Strutt parade at 10 a.m., pumpkin-carving contest at 11 a.m., three stages of music with continuous entertainment from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., carriage rides and water walkers (aka hamster bubbles) in which kids can roll.
Pumpkintown chairman Meredith Willson says new this year is Pumpkin Plinko, which is a fundraiser for United Way of McMinn County, and photos with Disney characters. There are two petting zoos, she says; one with the expected farm animals, the other a reptile petting zoo.
"The reptile petting zoo and science center has turtle races, a sand pit where kids can dig for fossils, a gila monster, a few snakes and chameleon or two," she says. There is a $3 charge for either petting zoo.
In Market Park, a two-block walk from the downtown square, the Scott Crisp Memorial Powwow will showcase dancers, drummers, storytellers and other performers throughout the day. Crisp, who passed away earlier this year, led Pumpkintown for many years, Willson says.
Contact Susan Pierce at spierce@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6284.
Vendors at the New Salem Mountain Festival set up their wares in the woods.