2022 Festival & Event Guide - September & October

SEPTEMBER

Sept. 1–4 – Front Porch Fest comes to Patrick County, Virginia, at Stuart.

Sept. 2–5 – Step into Hillsville, Virginia, for the annual Gun Show and Flea Market on US–58. On this same long weekend, the North Carolina Apple Festival honors Hendersonville’s place as the top apple producing area in North Carolina.

 Sept. 3 – Patsy Cline Music Festival and Block Party comes to Winchester, Virginia, and features a singing contest. Bloom into the Sunflower Festival at Luray, Virginia, featuring crafts, music and sunflower cuttings. Grape Stomp Fest comes to Paradise Hills Winery in Blairsville, Georgia.

 Sept. 3–4 – Soar with the Mile–High Kite Festival at Beech Mountain, North Carolina.

 Sept. 3–5 – Breaks Interstate Park Gospel Sing  comes to the Kentucky–Virginia border at Breaks.

Sept. 4 – Shenandoah Valley Music Festival in Orkney Springs, Virginia, hosts Hot Strings and Cool Breezes concert.

Sept. 8–10 – The Carolina Mountains Literary Festival brings together authors, readers of all ages, novice writers, listeners and learners in small settings throughout downtown Burnsville.

Sept. 8–11 – Skyline Indie Film Festival comes to Winchester, Virginia. The Culturefest World Music & Arts Festival comes to Appalachian South Folklife Center in Pipestem, West Virginia. Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Festival picks and sings its way through Beaverdam, Kentucky.

Sept. 8–Oct. 31 – Octoberfest begins at Helen, Georgia, and features German food and music.

Sept. 9–11 – Bristol’s Rhythm and Roots Reunion brings music to the Tennessee–Virginia border.

Westminster, South Carolina, hosts the South Carolina Apple Festival.

Sept. 10 – Rockbridge Beer and Wine Festival will be held at Lexington, Virginia, at the Lime Kiln Theatre. Olde Salem Days comes with crafts in downtown Salem, Virginia. For more: Foodies can unite at the WoodsTACO in Woodstock, Virginia. Autumn Jamboree breezes into Bluefield, Virginia.

 Sept.  10–18 – Look for the Beaver Dam Sunflower Festival running for a couple of weekends at Buchanan, Virginia.

Sept. 15–17 – American Made Music Fest tunes up at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds, Hiawassee.

 Sept. 15–17 – Black Gold Festival lands in Hazard, Kentucky. Dumplin Valley Bluegrass Festival comes to Dumplin Valley Farms in Kodak, Tennessee.

Sept. 15–18 – Euphoria hits Greenville, South Carolina.

Sept. 16–18 – Stop in Virginia along US–11 for the Edinburg Ole Time Festival.

Sept. 16–19 – Euphoria educates, entices, enlightens and entertains in Greenville, South Carolina.

Sept. 17 – Wilderness Trail Festival cruises into Christiansburg, Virginia, while a blues music and barbecue festival gets cooking at Blue Ridge, Georgia. Cedar Bluff Heritage Festival comes to Cedar Bluff, Virginia. The Cherokee Heritage Festival comes to Hayesville, North Carolina.

Sept. 17–18 – Smith Mountain Lake Wine Festival comes to Mariners Landing in Virginia. The Shenandoah Valley Apple Harvest Festival comes to Winchester, Virginia. The North Georgia Arts Guild Painted Fern Festival rolls into the Rabun County Civic Center.

Sept. 20–25 – Mayberry Days bring together fans of The Andy Griffith Show for a week of merriment in Griffith’s hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina.

Sept 22–25 – The World Chicken Festival sets down in London, Kentucky.

Sept. 23–Oct. 29 – Tweetsie Ghost Train comes to Tweetsie Railroad at Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

Sept. 23–24 – Townsend Fall Heritage Festival shows up at Townsend, Tennessee.

Sept. 23–25 – Queen City Mischief & Magic will capture your imagination in Staunton, Virginia.

Sept. 23– Oct. 29 – Dollywood’s Harvest Festival hits Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

 Sept. 24 – Autumnfest perks up Princeton, West Virginia.

Burke’s Garden Fall Festival at Burke’s Garden, Virginia, brings crafts and music to a hidden valley in Tazewell County. Up in Virginia, the International Festival unites all in Harrisonburg with games and food. Fiesta Hendersonville celebrates Latin American music, dance and cuisine in downtown Hendersonville, North Carolina. Fincastle Festival celebrates Fincastle, Virginia.

Sept. 24–25 – Grayson Highlands Fall Festival features crafters, music and a wild pony auction near Mouth of Wilson, Virginia, at Grayson Highlands Statue Park.

Sept. 30– Oct. 1 –  Second Bell Fest at Suttree Landing Park highlights the local and regional entertainment communities at Knoxville, Tennessee.

OCTOBER

Oct. 1 – Steins & Wine Around the Square enlivens Hayesville, North Carolina. In the legendary mountain of Rabun County, Georgia, the Foxfire Mountaineer Festival brings music and crafts to the Rabun County Civic Center at Clayton. Also, the International Festival flies into the Barnet Park of Spartanburg, South Carolina, with all kinds of cuisine from counties around the world. Near the West Virginia border, the Pocahontas Pumpkin Festival lights up downtown Pocahontas, Virginia. Art in the Park spotlights regional artists at Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Boones Mill Apple Festival simmers on Main Street in Boones Mill, Virginia, while Dayton Days is being held at Dayton, Virginia, near Harrisonburg. For dessert: The Sonker Festival in Mount Airy, North Carolina, celebrates sinker, a heritage dessert that is best described as a mix between cobbler and pie.

 Oct. 7 – The First Annual Blue Highway Fest hits the stage at  Big Stone Gap, Virginia, with bluegrass and roots music, food and a performance by acclaimed old–time and bluegrass act Blue Highway.

 Oct. 7–8 – National Storytelling Festival promises a good time at Jonesborough, Tennessee.

 Oct. 7–9 – Within a day’s walk of the famous Cumberland Gap, look for action at Martin’s station inside the Wilderness Trail State Park at Ewing, Virginia, where the Fall Engagement takes place, alongside the annual fall festival along US–58.

 Oct. 7–15 – Georgia Mountain Fall Festival heads into Hiawassee’s Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds.

 Oct. 8–9 – The Wise Fall Fling lands in the college town called Wise, Virginia.

The scenic town called Blue Ridge, Georgia, celebrates Fall Arts in the Park.

Oct. 8–9 – The Fall Foliage Art Show arrives in Waynesboro, Virginia.

 Oct. 8–9, 15–16 – Come to Georgia. Blairsville Sorghum Festival shares two weekends with the Apple Festival of nearby Ellijay, Georgia.

Oct. 9 – Molasses Festival sweetens Whitetop, Virginia.

Oct. 13–16 – Mountain State Apple Harvest Festival celebrates the season in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

Oct. 13–30 – Gatlinburg Craftmen’s Fair unfolds in the Tennessee Mountains.

Oct. 14–16 – Fall for Greenville in South Carolina transforms downtown into a foodie’s paradise, as more than 49 locally owned restaurants showcase their best tastes. Roanoke’s GO Fest in Virginia offers everything outdoor enthusiasts love. Heritage Days comes to Rogersville, Tennessee.

 Oct. 15 – Wade’s Mill Apple Butter Festival sweetens the air at Raphine, Virginia, near Lexington. Over in West Virginia, meanwhile, look for the famous Bridge Day at the New River Gorge near Oak Hill.

Oct. 14–16 –  Fall Foliage Festival celebrates the season in Clifton Forge, Virginia.

Oct. 15–16 – Punkin’ Chunkin brings big fun to Hayesville, North Carolina. Pan for local history and fun with the Gold Rush Days at Dahlonega, Georgia. Racing woolly bear caterpillars vie for the right to forecast the upcoming winter weather in the North Carolina High Country during the Woolly Worm Festival in downtown Banner Elk.

Oct. 15–17 – Wallhalla, South Carolina celebrates its German heritage with the long–running Oktoberfest.

Oct. 21–23 – Home Craft Days offers crafts and mountain music on the scenic captures of Mountain Empire Community College in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. On the other side of Wise County, brave the Red Fox Storytelling Festival –  salute to a local character dramatized by writer John Fox, Jr., and memorialized by Pound’s Red Fox Trail.

Oct. 22 – Blue Ridge Folklife Festival is at Blue Ridge Institute & Museum, Ferrum, Virginia. You can also check out the Boo Bash in Wise, Virginia. The laid–back, lakeside resort town of Hiawassee, Georgia, presents the Appalachian Brew, Stew and Cue Festival. Downtown Pilot Mountain hosts Let’s Glow Crazy in North Carlina.

Oct. 29 – The Shenandoah Valley town called Mount Jackson, Virginia, hosts Apple Harvest Festival.

Blowing Rock Halloween Festival comes to North Carolina.

Smoky Mountains Bluegrass Festival is held at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds in Waynesville, North Carolina.

Oct 31 – Tallulah Gorge State Park Trunk or Treat gives kids a safe Halloween alternative at Rabun County, Georgia. Just off the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Stuart Spectacular on Main Street in Stuart, Virginia, salutes the spooky season. Look for Blue Ridge Nightmares at Roanoke, Virginia.

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The story above first appeared in our May / June 2022 issue. For more like it subscribe today or log in with your active BRC+ Membership. Thank you for your support!