Bear on the Square Festival, April 16-18

Book your accommodation now at Cedar House Inn for the Bear on the Square Festival. We have already booked the rooms as of this date. Yurts are still available.

2010 BEAR ON THE SQUARE FESTIVAL SCHEDULED THIRD WEEKEND IN APRIL IN DOWNTOWN DAHLONEGA

The 14th annual Bear on the Square Mountain Festival will be an incredible weekend of music and art held around the Historic Public Square in Dahlonega, Ga. which is located in the foothills of the North Georgia mountains.

From April 16-18, old time and bluegrass music will fill the downtown square and nearby Hancock Park.The festival opens on Friday as the musicians for the street jams start gathering around the Historic Public Square around noon.There will be on-stage performances on Saturday and Sunday at the Main Stage Tent in Hancock Park by local, regional, and national musicians with headline acts including the Michael Cleveland & Flamekeeper, Jesse McReynolds & the Virginia Boys, and Ginny Hawkers & Tracy Schwarz with Kari Sickenberger.

The Mountain Marketplace around the square is being sponsored this year by John C. Campbell Folk School and will include a juried artists' market of traditional crafts, artists demonstrating their craft throughout the marketplace as well as a heritage folk life area featuring John C. Campbell Folk School artists demonstrating such crafts as blacksmithing, basketry and more.

Extensive music workshops, the Sunday morning Gospel Jam, a street dance, the Live Country Auction on Friday evening, family activities, and of course, food, complete the offerings during the festival. For more information about the festival, including event times and locations and a complete list of sponsors, visit web site.

Bear on the Square Mountain Festival, Inc., which stages the show each year, is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit cultural arts organization whose mission is to preserve and celebrate the culture of the Southern Appalachians through the presentation of music, traditional craft, and folkways. Tax deductible donations are welcome and can be sent to P.O. Box 338, Dahlonega, GA 30533.

Local & Regional Musicians Perform to Save Endangered Trees

The Fifth Annual Hemlockfest Music Festival will be held November 6-8 at
Starbridge Retreat near Dahlonega, Ga. Popular musical acts from around the region will entertain at this year’s benefit held to combat parasites which are killing the native hemlock trees of the Blueridge Mountains.

This year’s Hemlockfest promises to be a treat for music fans around the North Georgia region. Twenty bands from Georgia, North Carolina, and as far away as West Virginia will be performing over the course of three days at the beautiful Starbridge Retreat just east of Dahlonega, Georgia.

Friday night’s entertainment features 6 area bands, with Atlanta’s Soulhound, Mudcat, and the Dot Line Projekt highlighting the lineup.

Saturday’s all day music lineup will include bluegrass, blues, rock and funk from 9 bands including West Virginia’s David Lafleur, performing roots music on a variety of traditional instruments, and local folk and bluegrass acts The Family Honor and Gold Rush. Headlining the diverse lineup on Saturday night this year are Col. Bruce Hampton and the Quark Alliance, who will bring their unique blend of rock, rhythm and blues, and jazz to the stage. “As a GA band we're proud to be a part of this each year in as beautiful setting as anywhere in Georgia,” Col. Bruce says. Audience members will be mesmerized by the unique fire dancing of Unifire Dance Theater, a perennial festival favorite.

Sunday will feature Athens group The Solstice Sisters as well as Dahlonega’s own Celtic folk/rock band Emerald Rose as part of a varied morning to afternoon lineup.

Hemlockfest is a family-friendly three-day musical celebration held on a scenic 50-acre private resort in the foothills of the Appalachians. Visitors can come for a day, or camp out for the weekend, and enjoy unique food and beverages, demonstrations of traditional handicrafts and skills, and dozens of booths containing art and interesting merchandise from Georgia and all over the world as well as opportunities all weekend to learn more about the natural world of the Blueridge Mountains.

All proceeds from the event are used to help save the hemlock trees of the Southern Appalachian Mountains from the woolly adelgid parasite, which is rapidly infesting the region. Anyone interested learning more can visit the website of the Lumpkin Coalition, which organizes the festival, at http://www.lumpkincoalition.org/HemlockFest.htm. See the festival website for more information.

Dahlonega 4th of July Celebrations

Stay with us for the 4th of July weekend and attend the festivities below:

Stay with us and celebrate the Fourth in Dahlonega on the historic town square. An amazing day of activities, concerts and events are scheduled. The day will culminate with a spectacular fireworks show over the NGCSU Drill Field.

Schedule of Events

8:30 am - 9:45 am - Pet Show in Hancock Park
9:30 am - Dahlonega Baptist Church Choir on Courthouse Lawn
10:00 am - Patriotic Ceremony on the West Lawn of the Gold Museum
10:00 am - 5:00 pm - Community Service Corner in Hancock Park
11:00 am till finish - Community Reading of the U.S. Constitution on the West Lawn of the Gold Museum
12:00 - 6:00 pm - Gold City Classic Car Club, NGCSU Lot on South Chestatee Street (Lot 16, across from the Car Wash)
1:15 - 2:00 pm - Watermelon Cutting in Hancock Park, Cub Scouts
2:00 pm - 6:00 pm - Appalachian Jam at the Dahlonega Gold Museum
5:00 pm - Independence Day Parade, Downtown Dahlonega
6:00 - 9:00 pm - Music & Entertainment on NGCSU Drill Field
9:15 pm / 9:30 pm - Spectacular Fireworks Display from NGCSU Campus; Hamburgers and Hot Dogs will be for sale at the NGCSU Drill Field

Enjoy Live Music & Entertainment Around the Square All Day. Two night minimum NOT required.