Georgia Apple Festival questions, answered

The 2027 dates have not been announced yet. The organizer's FAQ says the festival is held on the second and third weekends in October. If that pattern holds, 2027 would fall on Oct. 9-10 and Oct. 16-17, but treat those as expected dates only and check georgiaapplefestival.org before you book a trip.

Source: Georgia Apple Festival (official site), FAQs

The 2026 festival, billed as the 55th annual, was scheduled for Oct. 10-11 and Oct. 17-18, 2026, at the Ellijay Lions Club Fairgrounds, Saturdays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Gilmer County Chamber says Saturday, Oct. 10 was canceled and events continued on Sunday, Oct. 11. The second weekend ended Sunday, Oct. 18.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber of Commerce, Fall in Ellijay page

It is two separate weekends. The festival runs Saturday and Sunday on the second and third weekends of October, four festival days in all, with no festival days during the week in between. In 2026 that meant Oct. 10-11 and Oct. 17-18 at the Lions Club Fairgrounds.

Source: Georgia Apple Festival (official site), FAQs

The festival opens at 9 a.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. It closes at 6 p.m. on Saturday and at 5 p.m. on Sunday, so Sunday is an hour shorter. These are the organizer's published hours for the 2026 festival; hours for 2027 have not been posted yet.

Source: Georgia Apple Festival (official site), FAQs

General admission is $10 per person, and the organizer says children 12 and under get in free. Tickets are always sold at the gate. For 2026 the festival also sold tickets online through SimpleTix from the Buy Tickets link on its website, and the ticket page says all sales are final.

Source: Georgia Apple Festival (official site), FAQs; SimpleTix, 2026 Georgia Apple Festival Tickets

Yes, for younger children. The festival FAQ says children 12 and under are free. Some Gilmer Chamber and Lions Club pages say "under 12" instead, so a family with a 12-year-old may want to confirm at the gate. Everyone else pays the $10 admission.

Source: Georgia Apple Festival (official site), FAQs; Ellijay Lions Club, Georgia Apple Festival

You can buy tickets at the festival gate; the organizer says tickets are always available there. Before the 2026 festival, the Buy Tickets button on georgiaapplefestival.org led to an online sale on SimpleTix, which has now ended. You do not need an online ticket to get in.

Source: Georgia Apple Festival (official site), Home; SimpleTix, 2026 Georgia Apple Festival Tickets

Some vendors do, but many take only cash. The Gilmer Chamber's Know Before You Go guide advises bringing cash for a smooth visit and says ATMs are available at the fairgrounds. The community groups that run the parking lots also prefer cash, so plan to carry enough for both.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber blog, Know Before You Go: Georgia Apple Festival; Gilmer County Chamber, Festival Parking

Yes. The organizer calls the Georgia Apple Festival a rain-or-shine event, and the ticket page adds that all sales are final. It is mainly an outdoor festival at the Ellijay Lions Club Fairgrounds, though the Chamber says indoor seating is available at the front building. The downtown Apple Arts Festival is also rain or shine.

Source: Georgia Apple Festival (official site), FAQs; Gilmer County Chamber, Apple Arts FAQs

Yes, for one day. The Gilmer County Chamber says the Georgia Apple Festival and the Apple Arts Festival were canceled for Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, and continued on Sunday, Oct. 11. A day earlier, FOX 5 Atlanta had reported the festival still scheduled, rain or shine. The Apple Festival 5K moved to Oct. 17 after the City of Ellijay required Oct. 10 events to be canceled or postponed.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber of Commerce, Fall in Ellijay page

No. Pets are not allowed at the Georgia Apple Festival, but service animals are. The organizer has offered kennel service in the past but said it could not provide it this year. If you want to bring a dog, the free Apple Arts Festival in downtown Ellijay welcomes well-behaved, leashed pets on the same weekends.

Source: Georgia Apple Festival (official site), Home and FAQs; Gilmer County Chamber, Apple Arts FAQs

Yes, service animals are allowed at the fairgrounds. They cannot ride the shuttle buses, which are school buses that must stay allergen-free, so the organizer asks you to be dropped off at the gate before parking. The Chamber also suggests using a lot within walking distance, such as the Ellijay Lions Club lot.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber, Festival Parking; Georgia Apple Festival (official site), FAQs

Parking at the fairgrounds is limited, so most visitors use paid lots around Ellijay served by a free shuttle. In 2026 the Chamber listed shuttle lots on Hipp Street downtown, at Gilmer County Head Start, Mountain View Elementary, Gilmer High School and the Larry Walker Education Center. Community groups run the lots, fees vary and cash is preferred.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber, Festival Parking

Yes. A free shuttle runs from paid parking lots around Ellijay to the fairgrounds. The Chamber says shuttle details are posted closer to each festival and warns that accessibility on the buses is limited. Remember which lot you used so you catch the right bus back, and note that no animals, including service animals, may ride.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber, Festival Parking; Know Before You Go

There is no single published price. The Chamber says the lots are run by local community organizations, fees vary by lot and cash is preferred. The City of Ellijay says parking donations go to local civic and school groups. The shuttle from those lots is free, but the parking fee is separate.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber, Festival Parking; City of Ellijay, Georgia Apple Festival page

Yes, but space is limited. The Chamber lists walking-distance lots at the Ellijay Lions Club, Gilmer County Parks & Rec on Old Hwy 5 and on South Main Street, the Gilmer County Civic Center and River Gate Parking on Soccer Field Road. It advises arriving early because the lots fill up quickly.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber, Festival Parking

Yes, on a first-come, first-served basis. The Chamber points visitors who need accessible parking to the Ellijay Lions Club lot, and it lists the Larry Walker Education Center lot at 1860 South Main Street as handicap parking with an accessible shuttle. Accessibility on the other shuttle buses is limited.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber, Festival Parking; Georgia Apple Festival (official site), FAQs

Partly. Handicap parking is available first come, first served, but the Chamber notes the fairgrounds have uneven outdoor terrain that may limit accessibility for some visitors. The festival does not rent wheelchairs or motorized scooters, so bring your own. The Larry Walker Education Center lot has an accessible shuttle; other buses have limited access.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber blog, Know Before You Go; Georgia Apple Festival (official site), FAQs; Festival Parking

The festival is at the Ellijay Lions Club Fairgrounds, 1729 South Main Street, Ellijay, GA 30540. The City of Ellijay describes the site as being on Old Highway 5 South. Parking at the fairgrounds is limited, so most visitors use the paid lots around Ellijay that run a free shuttle to the gate.

Source: Georgia Apple Festival (official site), Home; City of Ellijay; Eventeny listing

It is a juried arts and crafts festival held over two October weekends in Ellijay, in Gilmer County. The organizer describes hundreds of vendors with handmade items, on-site demonstrations, live music and fair food. It is named for the apples ripening at local orchards and is presented by the Ellijay Lions Club and the Gilmer County Chamber of Commerce.

Source: Georgia Apple Festival (official site), Home and FAQs; City of Ellijay

The fairgrounds hold over 250 vendors of handmade arts and crafts, plus live music, on-site demonstrations and food. The 2026 vendor list also had a petting zoo and pony rides, a kids train ride, a kids zone, blacksmith forging, chair caning and chainsaw carving. The organizer says the list is subject to change.

Source: Georgia Apple Festival (official site), 2026 Vendor List; Gilmer County Chamber, Georgia Apple Festival

Food vendors sell classic fair food, local apple treats, barbecue and more. The 2026 vendor list included sweet and savory fried pies, kettle corn, funnel cakes, hot apple cider, apple dumplings, caramel and candy apples and turkey legs. Picnic tables are spread around the grounds, and the front building has indoor seating.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber blog, Know Before You Go; Georgia Apple Festival (official site), 2026 Vendor List

You can buy apple treats there, but bags of fresh apples are not promised. Food vendors sell items such as apple dumplings, fried pies and hot cider, and the Chamber's 2026 listing mentioned "apple goodies," but organizer pages do not say whole apples are sold at the fairgrounds. For fresh apples, the Chamber points visitors to Gilmer County's orchards.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber events calendar, 2026 Georgia Apple Festival; Georgia Apple Festival 2026 Vendor List; Chamber, Apple Orchards

Yes. The Gilmer Chamber says the festival is family-friendly and often has face painting, inflatables and other activities for children. The 2026 vendor list included a petting zoo with pony rides, a kids train ride and a kids zone. Children 12 and under get in free, according to the organizer's FAQ.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber blog, Know Before You Go; Georgia Apple Festival (official site), 2026 Vendor List and FAQs

Yes. The Gilmer Chamber says portable restrooms are located throughout the festival grounds. Picnic tables are spread around the fairgrounds, though they can fill up during peak hours, and indoor seating is available in the front building. The Chamber also notes that the fairgrounds have uneven outdoor terrain, which may limit accessibility for some visitors.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber blog, Know Before You Go: Georgia Apple Festival

Pets, weapons and alcohol are not allowed, and smoking is not permitted. The organizer calls the festival a smoke-free event and says no weapons are allowed. The Ellijay Lions Club's festival page lists no alcohol, no firearms and no pets. Service animals are the exception to the pet rule.

Source: Georgia Apple Festival (official site), Home; Ellijay Lions Club, Georgia Apple Festival

Bring cash, because many vendors accept only cash and the parking lots prefer it, and bring your own tote or shopping bag, since not every vendor offers bags. If you use a wheelchair or scooter, bring your own; the festival does not rent them. Leave pets at home unless they are service animals.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber blog, Know Before You Go; Georgia Apple Festival (official site), FAQs

It is mainly an outdoor event at the Ellijay Lions Club Fairgrounds. The organizer's vendor FAQ describes booth spaces outdoors, inside an open pavilion and in indoor spaces, and the Chamber says indoor seating is available at the front building. Because it is rain or shine, dress for the day's weather.

Source: Georgia Apple Festival (official site), FAQs; Gilmer County Chamber, Know Before You Go

If you like handmade crafts, fair food and live music, it offers a lot in one place: the Chamber counted over 250 vendors in 2026, and the organizer calls it "a big show with a small-town feel." Expect company. FOX 5 Atlanta reported about 22,000 visitors on the first 2025 weekend, citing city leaders. Admission is $10.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber, Georgia Apple Festival; Georgia Apple Festival FAQs; FOX 5 Atlanta (Oct. 14, 2025)

The City of Ellijay suggests more than one day. Its festival page says there are too many exhibitors to see in a single-day visit and recommends staying the weekend, for example in a North Georgia cabin. Each festival day runs 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Source: City of Ellijay, Georgia Apple Festival page; Georgia Apple Festival (official site), FAQs

There is no official published count. FOX 5 Atlanta reported that about 22,000 people attended the first weekend of the 2025 festival, citing estimates from city leaders, and said a similar turnout was expected the following weekend. Treat that as an estimate for one weekend, not a total for the whole festival.

Source: FOX 5 Atlanta video, Georgia Apple Festival attracts thousands (Oct. 14, 2025)

The Gilmer Chamber said the 2026 festival had over 250 vendors of handmade arts and crafts. Older descriptions use a larger figure: the City of Ellijay's 2023 festival page and the New Georgia Encyclopedia both mention more than 300. The organizer posts a vendor list each year and says it is subject to change.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber, Georgia Apple Festival; City of Ellijay; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Ellijay

Apply through the organizer. The Chamber says applications open each year on January 1 and are due by March 31, and the FAQ says vendors are notified starting in May. Items must be handmade, handcrafted or grown by the artist, who must be on site. For 2026, craft booths cost $300 for one weekend or $500 for both, plus a $25 fee.

Source: Georgia Apple Festival (official site), FAQs; Gilmer County Chamber, Know Before You Go

The festival is presented by the Ellijay Lions Club and the Gilmer County Chamber of Commerce, according to the City of Ellijay, and the Lions Club calls it a joint venture of the two groups. It is held at the Lions Club Fairgrounds, and general questions go to (706) 635-7400 or info@gilmerchamber.com.

Source: Ellijay Lions Club, Georgia Apple Festival; City of Ellijay; Georgia Apple Festival (official site), Contact

The City of Ellijay says the community began celebrating the apple in the early 1970s, and the organizer counted 2026 as its 55th year. No official page gives a single founding year, so the safest wording is "early 1970s." The festival grew from a small arts and crafts show into a four-day event over two weekends.

Source: City of Ellijay, Georgia Apple Festival page; Georgia Apple Festival (official site), FAQs

The festival is named for the apples that ripen at local orchards each fall. The City of Ellijay says cotton was important to the area until the boll weevil hit in the 1920s, and apple orchards then sustained Gilmer County. The festival began in the early 1970s to celebrate what apples did for the local economy.

Source: City of Ellijay, Georgia Apple Festival page; Georgia Apple Festival (official site), Home

The Georgia Department of Agriculture says Ellijay, in Gilmer County, is known as the Apple Capital of Georgia. Georgia Grown says more than 85% of the state's apples come from Gilmer and Fannin counties, and the New Georgia Encyclopedia says Gilmer grows more than 600,000 bushels a year, more than any other Georgia county.

Source: Georgia Department of Agriculture press release (Sept. 1, 2026); Georgia Grown, Apples; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Ellijay

The Georgia Department of Agriculture estimates there are 360,000 apple-producing trees in the state, mostly in the North Georgia mountains. It says Georgia's apples are mainly sold fresh and that the industry's farm-gate value was more than $12 million in 2024. The state's apple season can run from July through December.

Source: Georgia Department of Agriculture press release (Sept. 1, 2026), Georgia Grown Apple Season

The Georgia Department of Agriculture says the state's apple season can run from July through December, and it proclaimed September 2026 the start of Georgia Grown Apple Season. The Gilmer Chamber says local orchards harvest more than 22 varieties from June to November. Picking dates vary by orchard and by variety, so check with each farm.

Source: Georgia Department of Agriculture press release (Sept. 1, 2026); Gilmer County Chamber, Fall: Apple Orchards

Orchards differ in hours, U-pick and activities, so check each farm before you go. The Chamber says Gilmer orchards sell fresh apples, pies, jams and ciders, and Explore Georgia says most sit along State Highway 52. In 2026, Hillcrest Orchards on Highway 52 East held Apple Pickin' Jubilee weekends. Our sister site, ellijayapplepicking.com, covers orchards in detail.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber, Apple Orchards; Explore Georgia, Apple Orchard Alley; Hillcrest Orchards, Weekends

It is a weekend fall festival at Hillcrest Orchards, 9696 Highway 52 East. In 2026 the Jubilee ran on weekends from Sept. 5 to Nov. 1, with admission of $22 per person for walking age and up. The Chamber says it includes picking your own apples, cow milking, swimming pig races, mini golf, live bands and cloggers.

Source: Hillcrest Orchards, Weekends; Gilmer County Chamber, Apple Orchards

It is a free sister festival to the Georgia Apple Festival, held in downtown Ellijay on the same weekends. The Gilmer Chamber organizes it, with more than 65 juried vendors of handcrafted and specialty goods, plus food. The Chamber describes it as pet-friendly and accessible, and it is held rain or shine.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber, Apple Arts Festival: Vendors; 2026 Apple Arts Festival; Apple Arts FAQs

The Apple Arts Festival is in downtown Ellijay, in the parking area behind the Downtown Ellijay Welcome Center at 10 Broad Street. That is a separate site from the main festival at the Lions Club Fairgrounds on South Main Street. In 2026 the Chamber also listed a downtown lot on Hipp Street among the main festival's shuttle lots.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber blog, The Apple Arts Festival Returns To Ellijay This Fall; Festival Parking

In 2026 the Chamber listed Apple Arts hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays, on Oct. 10-11 and 17-18. Some Chamber pages say it keeps the same times as the main festival, which opens at 9 a.m., so check the current year's schedule before you go.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber blog, The Apple Arts Festival Returns To Ellijay This Fall; 2026 Apple Arts Festival

Yes. Admission to the Apple Arts Festival is free. Its FAQ says free public parking is available throughout downtown Ellijay, though the Chamber's Eventeny listing calls downtown parking limited. The main Georgia Apple Festival at the Lions Club Fairgrounds is a separate event and charges $10 per person.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber, 2026 Apple Arts Festival; Apple Arts FAQs

Yes. The Apple Arts Festival in downtown Ellijay is pet-friendly, and its FAQ welcomes well-behaved, leashed pets. That makes it the choice for dog owners on festival weekends, since pets are not allowed at the main Georgia Apple Festival at the Lions Club Fairgrounds. The Chamber says service dogs are welcome.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber, Apple Arts FAQs; 2026 Georgia Apple Festival event listing

Yes. The 2026 race was the 50th annual Georgia Apple Festival 5K, with a 5K, a 1-mile fun run/walk and a Tot Trot. It was first scheduled for Oct. 10, but its race page says it moved to Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026, after the City of Ellijay required Oct. 10 events to be canceled or postponed.

Source: RunSignup, Apple Festival 5K; Gilmer County Chamber, 2026 Georgia Apple Festival 5K & Road Race

The race page lists 32 McCutchen Street in Ellijay and describes a double-loop course through downtown that finishes on McCutchen Street. The Chamber's 2026 listing named the Gilmer Scout Hut at 75 McCutchen Street instead. The race page says there is free parking around Ellijay Elementary School.

Source: RunSignup, Apple Festival 5K; Gilmer County Chamber, 2026 Georgia Apple Festival 5K & Road Race

The 5K starts at 8 a.m. and awards at 9:15 a.m., according to the 2026 race page. Its schedule gives the 1-mile fun run at 8:45 a.m., but its event list says 9:00 a.m. Packet pickup starts at 7 a.m., and race-day registration was $40 per person. The race goes on in rain, is not chip-timed (runners fill out a finish card) and offers no refunds.

Source: RunSignup, Apple Festival 5K

The New Georgia Encyclopedia places Ellijay 75 miles north of Atlanta. Ellijay sits at the junction of Georgia 515, Georgia 52 and U.S. 76, and Georgia 515, the Zell Miller Mountain Parkway, was completed in 1991, making the trip from metro Atlanta easier. On festival weekends, the Chamber warns that traffic patterns can change.

Source: New Georgia Encyclopedia, Ellijay; Gilmer County Chamber, Festival Parking

In 2026 the free Apple Arts Festival was scheduled downtown on the same weekends, Hillcrest Orchards held Apple Pickin' Jubilee weekends from Sept. 5 to Nov. 1, Cress Creeks Farm ran a fall corn maze through Nov. 1, and the Chamber listed a weekend fall festival at Cartecay Vineyards. The Chamber's community calendar lists other local events.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber; Hillcrest Orchards; Cress Creeks Farm

The Ellijay Lions Club holds a free trick-or-treat at its fairgrounds on Oct. 31, 2026, from 6 to 9 p.m. The second annual Merry Mountain Town Festival comes to downtown Ellijay on Friday, Nov. 27, 2026, and Cress Creeks Farm hosts Breakfast with Santa on Dec. 12. Gilmer Arts lists concerts through December.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber events calendar; Ellijay Lions Club, Calendar; Cress Creeks Farm; Gilmer Arts

Yes. The Ellijay Lions Club holds a free trick-or-treat at the Lions Club, 1729 South Main Street, on Oct. 31, 2026, from 6 to 9 p.m. The club calls it its 7th annual Halloween trick-or-treat and says about 1,500 children come through each year looking for a safe place to trick-or-treat.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber events calendar, Trick or Treat with Ellijay Lions Club; Ellijay Lions Club, Calendar

The Ellijay Lions Club, chartered in 1934, is a volunteer service club that presents the Georgia Apple Festival with the Gilmer County Chamber of Commerce. It also hosts the Gilmer County Fair each August and lists vision and hearing screenings and scholarships among its programs. Its fairgrounds are at 1729 South Main Street.

Source: Ellijay Lions Club, About, Home and Gilmer County Fair pages

For general questions, the festival lists (706) 635-7400 and info@gilmerchamber.com. Vendors are asked to send questions through the Eventeny app. Questions about the downtown Apple Arts Festival go to applearts@gilmerchamber.com. The festival's mailing address is PO Box 1225, Ellijay, GA 30540.

Source: Georgia Apple Festival (official site), Contact; Gilmer County Chamber, Apple Arts FAQs

The Gilmer Downtown Welcome Center is at 10 Broad Street, Ellijay, and is open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; its phone is (706) 635-7401. The Gilmer Chamber office is at 696 First Avenue in East Ellijay, open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., phone (706) 635-7400.

Source: Gilmer County Chamber, Contact

The 2020 Census counted 1,862 people in the city of Ellijay and 650 in neighboring East Ellijay, which is a separate city. Gilmer County as a whole had 31,353 residents in 2020, up from 28,292 in 2010, according to the New Georgia Encyclopedia. Ellijay is the Gilmer County seat.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census Table P1; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Gilmer County

Gilmer County Schools, overseen by the Gilmer County Board of Education, is the county's public school district. Its website lists schools including Ellijay Elementary, Mountain View Elementary, Clear Creek Elementary, Clear Creek Middle and Gilmer High School. In fall 2026 the board was searching for a new superintendent.

Source: Gilmer County Schools, Home

The 2020 Census counted 17,717 housing units in Gilmer County. Of those, 4,885 were vacant, and 3,336 of the vacant units were held for seasonal, recreational or occasional use. The New Georgia Encyclopedia says Ellijay has become a hub for visitors and for a growing number of second-home owners.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2020 Census Tables H1 and H5 (Gilmer County); New Georgia Encyclopedia, Ellijay

Downtown Ellijay grew around a public square laid out in 1833. The City of Ellijay says all the buildings on the square were brick by 1900, a 1912 fire destroyed 23 buildings, and the old courthouse in the center of the square was later removed and replaced with a park. The current courthouse was built to resemble the old one.

Source: City of Ellijay, Historic Ellijay

Yes. Ellijay was incorporated on Dec. 29, 1834, and designated the county seat of Gilmer County, which was formed in 1832. East Ellijay, next door, is the county's only other incorporated city. Ellijay sits where the Ellijay and Cartecay rivers join to form the Coosawattee River.

Source: City of Ellijay, Historic Ellijay; New Georgia Encyclopedia, Gilmer County