October 3 @ 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Save the date for a full day of fall fun in Clayton
Join us in Clayton for Foxfire’s Mountaineer Festival on Saturday, October 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Spend the day with live music, heritage demonstrations, handmade work, food, and activities for children. Meet the people behind the skills and crafts, try an old-fashioned contest, and enjoy a fall Saturday together.
Plan Your Visit
Saturday, October 3, 2026
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Rabun County Civic Center Pavilions
201 West Savannah Street, Clayton, GA 30525
Admission: $10 for adults ages 16 and older; $5 for ages 6–15; free for children 5 and under.
Mountaineer is Foxfire’s biggest fundraiser of the year. Your visit supports our museum, magazine, archive, classes, and community programs.
Music & Stage Schedule
10:45 a.m. — Prayer and National Anthem
11 a.m. — Welborn Family
Noon — Ivy Hill Baptist Church
12:45 p.m. — Foxfire Boys
2 p.m. — Blackwell Tradition II
3 p.m. — Jake McCrackin and Blue Ridge Lonesome
Heritage Demonstrations
Come watch skilled people at work and ask them about what they do. This year’s lineup includes:
- David Banks of Backwoods Distillery XXX: moonshine
- Les Barnett of Mountain Man Music: handmade instruments
- Kelly Coldren: spinning
- Jim Enloe: flintknapping and primitive tools
- Georgann Lanich: pottery
- Brian Ledford: wood carving
- Andrew Lee: bark baskets
- Cleto Montelongo and Becky Watty: basket weaving
- Mountain Laurel Quilters Guild: quilting
- William Ramey of Turned Wood Products: turned woodwork
- John Scroggin: blacksmithing
- Joe Williams: blacksmithing
Contests & Children’s Activities
Crosscut Saw Contest: 11:30 a.m.
Hollerin’ Contest: 1:15 p.m. at the stage. Give us your best animal call! The winner receives a $25 cash prize.
Children can join the Pig Chase, Shiner’s Dash, three-legged races, and sack races. Corn shuckin’ and making traditional toys will be available throughout the day.
Activity Times
- Three-legged races: 11 a.m., noon, 1 p.m., and 2 p.m.
- Shiner’s Dash: 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.; winners announced at 2 p.m.
- Sack races: 11:15 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 1:15 p.m., and 2:15 p.m.
Pig Chase:
- 11 a.m. — ages 1–4
- 11:45 a.m. — ages 11–13
- 12:30 p.m. — ages 5–7
- 1:15 p.m. — ages 8–10
- 3 p.m. — ages 1–4
- 3:45 p.m. — ages 5–7
Food, Vendors & Community Booths
Come hungry for Blue Hound BBQ, food from the Rabun County Boy Scouts, and snowballs and lemonade from Chillville. Browse the other booths for baked goods, honey, syrup, juices, pottery, woodwork, fiber arts, jewelry, paintings, and handmade goods.
- 2 Simps LLC
- A Meaningful Jewelry Co.
- Andrew Lee
- Backwoods Distillery XXX
- Bert Carpenter
- Bimbo Carver Gass
- Blue Hound BBQ
- Brian Ledford
- Chillville
- Cleto Montelongo and Becky Watty
- Country Charm Permanent Jewelry
- Deeply Rooted Juice
- Delilah & Friends Farm, LLC
- Designs By Julie
- Domestakait
- Dorothy Knight
- Ferst Readers
- Foxfire
- Friends of Black Rock Mountain
- Georgann Lanich
- Gloria Weiss
- GreenLeaf Creations
- Hangers Plus Boutique
- Hank and Lisa Carpenter
- Horse Hair Threads
- Jewell Holt
- Jim Enloe
- Jim Rhodes
- Joe Williams
- John Roper
- Jordyn Swann
- JW Woodend Boxes & Gifts
- Kelly Coldren
- Kim Coley
- Lilacs & Lillies Crafts
- Luxuries by Lynna
- Mountain Laurel Quilters Guild
- Mountain Man Music
- Nancy Moore
- Of These Mountains
- Pens & Things by Larry
- PJ’s Woodland Soaps, LLC
- Rabun County Boy Scouts
- Rabun Historical Society
- REtold
- Save Georgia’s Hemlocks
- Sue’s Arts & Crafts
- Sugartopia Bakery
- Sutton Mill Creek Syrups
- Tammi Mullen
- The Country Scrapbasket
- The Crow’s Trinkets
- Trillium Creek Farm
- Turned Wood Products
- Under the Reign Lemonade
- Wade’s Workbench
- Whimsical Housing, Ltd.
- Willow Creek Creations
- Yours by Grace
Make a Weekend of It
Coming from out of town? Plan your trip now, stay in Clayton, and enjoy a full fall weekend in Rabun County.
Spend time downtown, visit local shops and restaurants, explore the surrounding mountains, and make Mountaineer part of a longer North Georgia getaway.
For local lodging, dining, and trip-planning information, visit Visit Smokies, Visit Clayton and Explore Rabun.
