The Georgia Apple Festival 5K

The 2026 race

• The 2026 Georgia Apple Festival 5K was the 50th annual race. It included a 5K, a 1-mile fun run/walk and a Tot Trot for small children. Gilmer County Chamber events calendar, 2026 Georgia Apple Festival 5K & Road Race
• The race's registration page says the 2026 race was moved from Saturday, Oct. 10 to Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, at the same place and time, after the City of Ellijay required events on Oct. 10 to be canceled or postponed. The Chamber's event page still lists Oct. 10 at the Gilmer Scout Hut, 75 McCutchen St. RunSignup, Apple Festival 5K (race registration page)
• On race day, registration was $40 per person and packet pickup began at 7 a.m. The 5K started at 8 a.m. and awards began at 9:15 a.m. The race page's schedule gives the fun run at 8:45 a.m., but its event list says 9:00 a.m. RunSignup, Apple Festival 5K (race registration page)
• The race page lists 32 McCutchen Street, Ellijay, and describes a double-loop course through downtown that finishes on McCutchen Street. It says there is free parking around Ellijay Elementary School. RunSignup, Apple Festival 5K (race registration page)
• The 5K goes on in rain, though the start can be delayed for severe weather. The race is not chip-timed: runners fill out a finish card handed to them at the finish. There are no refunds. RunSignup, Apple Festival 5K (race registration page)

A long-running race

• The race page calls the 5K a way to start the Georgia Apple Festival and one of the longest-running 5K events in Georgia. RunSignup, Apple Festival 5K (race registration page)

After the finish

The 5K starts at 8 a.m. in downtown Ellijay, an hour before the festival gates open at 9. The Apple Arts Festival is downtown on the same weekend, and the fairgrounds are on South Main Street; the parking planner shows the lots and the shuttle.

On the calendar

Questions

Dates, rules and hours can change. The organizers have the final word: Georgia Apple Festival (official site)