One knows that

autumn has finally arrived when the Georgia Mountain Fall Festival and

the Cotton Pickin' Fair in Gay, Ga. start up again.

Both festivals

have an old timey, small-town feel to them. They seem synonymous with

the changing colors of the leaves and the annual harvest.

This is the

eighth year of the Georgia Mountain Fall Festival, which has added lots

of new acts, musicians and features. The festival is in Hiawassee, Ga.,

which is the self-proclaimed country music capital of Georgia. It is unique

in that there are no commercial exhibits and it is built almost entirely

around the theme of the old fashioned country fair.

The Georgia

Mountain Fall Festival runs Oct. 6-15. It is sponsored by the Towns County

Lions Club and will include the Official Georgia State Fiddlers Convention.

There will be a mountain village of yeateryear, where patrons can explore

a mercantile store, a blacksmith shop, a farm museum, a one-room school

and a log cabin with a corncrib and barn. There will be daily demonstrations

of mountain art. In fact, there will be more than 60 craftsmen present

daily.

One of the

main attractions of the festival, though, is the music. Dozens of talented

musicians will take the stage at the Anderson Music Hall. Some of the

best of the hill country's pickers and singers, Nashville talent, bluegrass

and gospel singing, will perform over the course of the festival.

There is also

a brand new exhibit this year, Dondi, the comedy performing elephant.

This 6,000-pound elephant travels across the country doing her tricks,

such as whistling, praying, standing on her head and playing baseball

with children in the audience.

Another part

of any great festival is the food, and the Georgia Mountain Fall Festival

is no different. There will be the traditional funnel cakes and barbecue,

but there will also be smoked rainbow trout to sink your teeth into. Admission

to the festival is $7 and children under 10 are admitted for free. For

a schedule of activities by the day, call 706-896-4191.

The Cotton

Pickin' Fair in Gay, Ga. is one of the top ten festivals in the United

States. This semiannual event was established in 1972 and offers a wonderful

day for the entire family. There will be music, dancers, performers, an

old time puppet show, booths and displays of arts and crafts, games for

the kids and pony rides.

The festival

will be Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 7 and 8, and runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults

and $2 for children ages 4-12. The fairgrounds are on Ga. Highway 85.

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