Put 415 Highway 53 East into your phone once and you've covered most of Dawsonville's October. The Georgia Racing Hall of Fame is at that address. Grandaddy Mimm's Distilling Co. is in Suite 130 of the same complex. The Judy Harris Memorial Ghost Walk starts and ends there. And Destination Dawsonville lists the 59th Mountain Moonshine Festival at the same address.
It makes sense. The festival grew out of the county's moonshining history and its tie to early stock car racing. KARE for Kids, the nonprofit behind it, says the racing museum and the distillery are both in the City Municipal Complex. So when October comes, the town's fall calendar lands in the one building built around that history.
The month at one address
Dates | What's happening | Where it starts |
|---|---|---|
Any regular weekday or Saturday 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Sundays 1–5 p.m. | Georgia Racing Hall of Fame, free for Dawson County residents with ID | 415 Hwy 53 East |
Fri.–Sat., Oct. 9–10, evenings | Ghost Walk & Hayride, plus the "Justice Will Be Served" haunted house | 415 Hwy 53 East |
Fri., Oct. 9, 5–8 p.m. | Food Truck Friday | Farmers Market Pavilion, 86 Allen St. |
Sat., Oct. 10 | Sunflower 5K & Fun Run | Fausett Farms, 11336 Hwy 136 West |
Fri.–Sun., Oct. 23–25 | 59th Mountain Moonshine Festival | City of Dawsonville, 415 Hwy 53 East |
Daily through Nov. 10 | Burt's Pumpkin Farm and its new drive-through pumpkin | 5 Burts Pumpkin Farm Road |
Each event's sources and details are below. A few of these listings need a quick check before you go, and each one is noted where it comes up.
The Free Days Are the Ordinary Ones
This is the one perk that's easy to miss. The Hall of Fame lets Dawson County residents in free every day during normal hours with a valid driver's license or proof of residence. Regular hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. The doors lock at 4:30, so plan around that. Visitors pay $15 for adults ages 15 to 54, $10 for seniors 60 and older and military, $5 for ages 7 to 14, and nothing for children under 6.
The catch is that the Hall charges everyone, residents included, during special events. October's biggest nights are paid nights, so the free visit happens on the quiet days in between. The first week of October, before the Ghost Walk weekend, is an easy time to go.
The museum tour includes a replica of Red Byron's 1948 car, Gober Sosebee's Ford that won at Daytona, a Chase Elliott and Bill Elliott exhibit, displays on race suits and HANS devices, and interactive exhibits. The car list also includes the cars from Bill Elliott's first NASCAR Cup win and Chase Elliott's first Cup win. If you've only seen the building on festival day with crowds out front, a weekday visit lets you see what the festival is built around.
The distillery keeps later hours than the museum. Grandaddy Mimm's is open Wednesday and Thursday from 3 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from noon to 10 p.m., and Sunday from 1 to 7 p.m. Its site lists tastings that include corn, apple pie, and blackberry moonshine.
October 9 and 10: the building after dark
The second weekend of the month brings the first paid nights, and both events are inside or right outside the Hall.
The Judy Harris Memorial Ghost Walk & Hayride runs Friday and Saturday, Oct. 9 and 10. The Hall lists it from 7 to 9 p.m., with tickets at $20 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under. You pick your date and time when you buy. The city's tourism listing says the first tour leaves at 7 p.m. and the last one at 8:30. A hay wagon takes groups between the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame, Dawsonville City Cemetery, the Old Dawson County Jail, and the Dawson County Historic Courthouse. The Destination Dawsonville listing also includes the Dawsonville Pool Room. If it rains, other transportation is provided. The Hall notes that the old jail stop is not ADA compliant.
The "Justice Will Be Served" haunted house runs the same two nights from 7 to 10 p.m. It costs $20 and tickets are sold at the door. It's a fundraiser for the Dawson County Humane Society, which is calling this year's edition "Sentence 2." It takes place inside the Hall of Fame Museum and the Pirkle Room.
The rest of that weekend is close by:
- Food Truck Friday, Oct. 9, 5 to 8 p.m. at the Farmers Market Pavilion, 86 Allen St. The city's event calendar shows the Oct. 9 date, but the event's detail page lists a May start date for the recurring series, so check with the city before you go.
- Fausett Farms' Sunflower 5K & Fun Run, Saturday, Oct. 10, at 11336 Highway 136 West. The Destination Dawsonville listing gives the date without a year and suggests checking the farm's own site for bloom and operating updates, so confirm with Fausett Farms before you register.
October 23 to 25: The Whole Complex Turns Into the Festival
Two weeks later, the municipal complex becomes the center of the 59th Mountain Moonshine Festival. KARE for Kids calls it one of the longest-running festivals in the country and its largest fundraiser. The proceeds pay for clothes, school supplies, medical needs, and Christmas gifts for children in Dawson County who need them. It goes on rain or shine.
Destination Dawsonville says admission is free and parking is a donation of $10 to $25, depending on the lot. The City of Dawsonville's calendar shows City Hall closed for all three festival days.
KARE's 2026 flyer sets up the weekend like this:
- Friday, Oct. 23. The car show opens, and the Moonshine Run checks in at 9 a.m. and leaves as a group from Bearden's Funeral Home at 10 a.m. The Run costs $100 per car plus $60 for each extra rider, with lunch and museum entry included. It's capped at 70 cars, and registration closed Sept. 1.
- Saturday, Oct. 24. Festival hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The parade starts at 10 a.m. Danny "Chocolate" Myers is grand marshal, and the band Don't Tell Danny plays at 3 p.m. Car show awards are also at 3 p.m.
- Sunday, Oct. 25. Sunday is People's Choice day at the car show, which runs 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. all three days.
Destination Dawsonville has posted a fuller stage lineup. Saturday opens with The Phoenix Dance Academy at 9 a.m., followed by Jay Walkers; Mark Mundy, Jody Abernathy & Wendell Cox; Anthony Hill; Georgia Fire; and Don't Tell Danny from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday has Jessie Evans, Suns of Thunder, Uncle Samsquatch, Oriental Rug Shop, and Music Authority: Eclipse and Beyond from 3 to 5 p.m. KARE's flyer gives only a 3 p.m. start for Don't Tell Danny and doesn't name the other acts. KARE's own entertainment page still shows an older schedule, so treat the set times as tentative.
Getting There without Fighting Allen Street
For residents, the useful festival information is about traffic. Allen Street is set aside for show cars, and KARE asks that no other traffic be sent that way. For general parking, KARE says to stay on Highway 53 East or Highway 9 and follow the signs. Coming from GA 400, it suggests Highway 136 West as the "less travelled road."
KARE lists these public lots on its parking page:
- Dawson County High School, 1665 Perimeter Road
- Robinson Elementary, 1150 Perimeter Road
- Dawson County Junior High, using the Bowen Arts Center, 334 GA-9, for GPS
- Head Start Pre-K, 409 Allen Street
- Bailey Tower, 32 Jack Heard Drive
- Dawson County Public Health, old building at 54 Hwy 53 East and new building at 751 Hwy 53, Suite 100
- Grace Presbyterian Church, 170 Hwy 9
- Dawson County Board of Education, 28 Main Street
- Dawson County Library, 342 Allen Street
Every lot has handicap parking. KARE says buses will run between the lots and the festival all day Saturday and Sunday, but it hasn't posted a timetable. The parking page also doesn't show a 2026 date, so confirm the list closer to the weekend. Last year's festival T-shirts are available from KARE's booths behind the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame and at the shuttle drop-off at Main Street and Memory Lane.
What Happens Away from Highway 53
The newest attraction in the county this fall isn't at the complex. On Aug. 26, Burt's Pumpkin Farm cut the ribbon on Autumn & Gordy's Harvest House, a 45-foot structure the farm calls the World's Largest Drive-Through Pumpkin. It's part of the hayride, and the inside teaches visitors how pumpkins grow.
Burt's fits the gaps in the calendar. Farm admission and parking are free. Hayrides cost $10 per person, tax included, and children under 2 ride free. The patch and store are open daily through October from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., then 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Nov. 10. The farm is at 5 Burts Pumpkin Farm Road, and pets and firearms aren't allowed. With Ghost Walk and Moonshine weekends taking up two of the month's Saturdays, the pumpkin farm is open on all the other days.
There's also a new breakfast option for an early start. First Watch at 215 Marketplace Boulevard, Suite 200, lists daily hours of 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. That's early enough to eat before the 10 a.m. parade on Oct. 24.
After that, downtown's next big date is the Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 2 p.m.
We pay attention to calendars like this one because we live and work along the GA 400 corridor too. If a festival weekend gets you thinking about a move in Dawson County, or you'd just like to know which shuttle lot is closest to your street, the family team at Mickey Hyams is glad to help. Contact Us anytime, and we'll see you on Highway 53.
