Next up
Sorghum Festival parade
Sat, Oct 17, 2026
10 AM (moved from Oct 10 after the weather cancellation) · Downtown Blairsville
Source: Sorghum in the Mountains, checked 2026-10-16
Blairsville, Georgia · Union County seat
The courthouse square under Georgia's highest peak
Blairsville is the county seat of Union County, Georgia: a small courthouse town at about 1,890 feet, ringed by national forest, with Lake Nottely to the north and Brasstown Bald, the state's highest point, about 20 miles away. This guide covers the square, the calendar, the mountains, the lake and living here, with every date and fee checked against its source.
A Gold Peach Realty community guide Call Gold Peach Realty (770) 283-1223
Next up
Sorghum in the Mountains (the Blairsville sorghum festival)
Sat Oct 17 and Sun Oct 18, 2026 (the first weekend, Oct 10–11, was cancelled for weather)
9 AM–5 PM both days · Meeks Park
Source: Sorghum in the Mountains, checked 2026-10-16
Next up
Friday Night Mountain Music at the Old Courthouse
Fridays Oct 16, 23 and 30; Dec 4, 11 and 18, 2026
Start time is not on the Historical Society's schedule; call (706) 745-5493 · Old Union County Courthouse, on the square
Source: Union County Historical Society, checked 2026-10-16
The 1899 Old Union County Courthouse on the square in downtown Blairsville (Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0) Credits
On the calendar
What's next in Blairsville
Organizer-published dates only, each with its source and the day we checked it. Add any of them straight to your calendar.
Oct16Fri
Friday Night Mountain Music at the Old Courthouse
Organizer-published for 2026Mountain and bluegrass musicians in the restored courtroom of the 1899 courthouse. Remaining 2026 acts: Hickory Stands (Oct 16), Billy Kelley (Oct 23), Skillet Lickers (Oct 30), Roy Perren (Dec 4), North Georgia Chamber (Dec 11), John Cochran and the Cowhands (Dec 18).
Source: Union County Historical Society, checked 2026-10-16
Oct17Sat
Sorghum in the Mountains (the Blairsville sorghum festival)
Organizer-published for 2026Sorghum syrup made the old way, from pressing cane to boiling it down, plus old-time mountain games, a biscuit-eating contest, music and craft and food vendors. Admission for 2026 is not published.
Source: Sorghum in the Mountains, checked 2026-10-16
Oct17Sat
Sorghum Festival parade
Organizer-published for 2026The festival parade through downtown, theme 'Sweet Sorghum Goodness'.
Source: Sorghum in the Mountains, checked 2026-10-16
Oct30Fri
Blairsville Boo Bash 2026
Organizer-published for 2026Kids trick-or-treat at decorated business booths, with a costume contest by age group and food trucks.
Free Source: Blairsville-Union County Chamber, checked 2026-10-16
Oct31Sat
The Great Downtown Pumpkin Hunt + Family Glow Night
Organizer-published for 2026A daytime pumpkin hunt downtown, then glow-in-the-dark putt-putt, light-up cornhole, games and a DJ in the evening. The Glow Night is free; food trucks are extra.
Source: Downtown Development Authority, checked 2026-10-16
Dec1Tue
Tour of Trees 2026
Organizer-published for 2026More than 50 decorated trees and wreaths and a gingerbread village, with public voting Dec 1–11.
Free Source: Blairsville-Union County Chamber, checked 2026-10-16
Dec5Sat
Christmas Parade (Holiday on the Square)
Organizer-published for 2026Blairsville's Christmas parade, held downtown on the first Saturday of December.
Source: Union County Historical Society, checked 2026-10-16
Dec11Fri
Downtown Holiday Night Market (1st annual)
Date being confirmed: the DDA lists Dec 11 on one page and Dec 12 on anotherA first-year evening market downtown with Christmas music, late shopping, craft vendors, kids' activities and food trucks.
Free Source: Downtown Development Authority, checked 2026-10-16
Dec12Sat
Christmas Cookie Crawl (3rd annual)
Organizer-published for 2026Ticket holders collect gourmet cookies from more than 15 downtown shops, with a passport-stamp drawing.
$20 ticket (225 available) Source: Downtown Development Authority, checked 2026-10-16
Jun11Fri
Georgia Mountain Scottish Festival & Highland Games
Organizer-published for 2027The former Blairsville Scottish Festival & Highland Games, now held in Hiawassee about 17 miles east.
Source: Georgia Mountain Scottish Festival, checked 2026-10-16
A climb of about 2,900 feet
From the square to the summit
Downtown sits at about 1,890 feet. Within about half an hour you can stand at 4,784, the top of Georgia. Here is how the climb stacks up.
- 1,890 ftThe courthouse squareStart here · USGS point value at the square
- 2,500 ftVogel State Parkabout 11 mi south · Georgia State Parks: about 2,500 ft
- 4,461 ftBlood Mountainabout 13 mi south, then a hike · Highest point on Georgia's A.T.
- 4,784 ftBrasstown Baldabout 20 mi · Highest point in Georgia
Feet above sea level. Sources: USGS, Georgia State Parks, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, U.S. Forest Service. These places sit in different directions from town, so the line ranks them by height, not by road.
Walk the square
Five stops around the 1899 courthouse
Everything here is a few minutes' walk from the courthouse lawn. Hours come from the people who run each place, and we say when we checked.
Photo: Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0 011899 · 3 Town Square
The Old Courthouse Museum
Condemned in the 1970s and saved by the Union County Historical Society, the brick courthouse in the middle of the square is now the Society's museum, with free admission. It is open Monday to Friday, 10 to 4, and also Saturdays 11 to 3 from May through December.
Source: Union County Historical Society, checked 2026-10-16
The square, stop by stop
Photo: Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0 02Friday nights
Mountain music in the old courthouse
From May through October, and again in December, local bluegrass and mountain bands play Friday nights at the old courthouse. Still to come in 2026: October 23 and 30, then December 4, 11 and 18. The schedule does not list a start time, so call the Society at (706) 745-5493.
Source: Historical Society 2026 concert schedule, checked 2026-10-16
The full calendar
Photo: Gwringle, CC BY-SA 3.0 0362 Blue Ridge Street
City Hall, in the 1934 jail
Just off the square, City Hall works out of the old Union County Jail, built of stone in 1934 and on the National Register since 1985. The office is open weekdays, 8 to 4:30.
Source: National Park Service, checked 2026-10-16
Photo: Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0 04Around the square
Grits, books, chocolate and coffee
The chamber's directory lists a bookstore, a mill store selling stone-ground grits and cornmeal, antiques and gifts, a coffeehouse, an Italian café and a chocolate shop on the square itself, with more places to eat a block or two away.
Source: Blairsville-Union County Chamber directory, checked 2026-10-16
Where to eat and shop05One block south
The Mountain Life Museum
The Historical Society's second site keeps the 1906 Grapel Mock House and the 1861 Payne Cabin. The grounds are free to walk; building tours are $5 (12 and under free), Thursday to Saturday, May through December.
Source: Union County Historical Society, checked 2026-10-16
Sorghum in the Mountains
How cane becomes syrup
Blairsville has celebrated the fall sorghum harvest since 1969. The festival now runs as Sorghum in the Mountains at Meeks Park, and the syrup is still made the old way, in front of you.
Sat Oct 17 and Sun Oct 18, 2026 (the first weekend, Oct 10–11, was cancelled for weather) · 9 AM–5 PM both days, Meeks Park
Top and strip the cane
At harvest the seed heads come off, and the leaves are often stripped from the standing stalks.
Press out the juice
The cane goes through a roller mill. A mule walking in circles once turned the press; most mills today are electric.
Boil it down and skim
The green juice cooks in a wide, shallow pan over a fire, and the foam that rises is skimmed off again and again until the syrup clears.
Into the jar
Roughly 8 to 10 gallons of juice make one gallon of amber syrup. It is not molasses, though plenty of Southerners call it sorghum molasses.
UGA Extension: UGA Extension
University of Kentucky Extension: University of Kentucky Extension
Sweet sorghum producers' association: Sweet sorghum producers' association
Mountains & lake
Pick the right outing for today
Brasstown Bald on a cloudy day is a drive into a fog bank, and Vogel's lake is drained for dam repairs this fall. Tell us your time, your legs and the weather, and we'll point you to the better choice.
Which mountain day fits you?
Five quick questions. You get one pick and two backups, with drive, fee and trail facts from the Forest Service, Georgia State Parks and TVA.
The outings it chooses from
- Brasstown Bald summit: Georgia's highest point at 4,784 feet, with a 360-degree view from the summit observation deck.
- Helton Creek Falls: A short Forest Service walk to a waterfall and observation deck.
- Sosebee Cove Scenic Area: A 175-acre high-elevation cove forest of very large yellow poplars and buckeyes, best known for spring wildflowers.
- Blood Mountain from the Byron Reece trailhead: The highest point on the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, at 4,461 feet, inside the Blood Mountain Wilderness.
- Neel Gap and the Walasi-Yi Center: The 1930s CCC stone building where the Appalachian Trail passes through a breezeway, now home to the Mountain Crossings outfitter.
- Vogel State Park: Georgia's second-oldest state park (1931), built largely by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
The view from the county
Nearly two-thirds of Union County lies inside the Chattahoochee National Forest.
Plan a Brasstown Bald tripPhoto: Thomson200, CC0
Living here
A small town in a growing county
The City of Blairsville covers about 1.1 square miles and is the only incorporated town in Union County, but the county around it grew by about 15 percent between the last two censuses. City water and sewer stop at the city limits, there is no natural gas (homes use propane), and the hospital, schools and county offices are all in town.
Living in Blairsville
Gold Peach Realty listings
Featured homes from Gold Peach Realty
Current listings from Gold Peach Realty, the local brokerage behind this guide. Photos, prices and details come straight from the MLS.
Selling a home near Blairsville? List with Gold Peach Realty and ask how your home can be featured on this guide. How Gold Peach Realty markets homes
Search homes around BlairsvilleListings open on goldpeachrealty.com, the website of our brokerage, Gold Peach Realty. Listing information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
For owners
Want your home featured on this guide? List with Gold Peach Realty.
This guide carries Gold Peach Realty's featured homes. If you own a home in Blairsville or elsewhere in Union County and are thinking about selling, see how the brokerage markets a listing, or call the office.
Quick answers
Blairsville questions, answered with sources
What visitors and newcomers ask most, each answer linked to the office or organizer it came from.
Where is Blairsville, Georgia?
Blairsville is the county seat of Union County in the North Georgia mountains, on US 19/129 about 98 miles north of downtown Atlanta and 21 miles south of Murphy, North Carolina. It is not Blairsville, Pennsylvania.
Source: City of Blairsville
How high is Blairsville?
Downtown sits at roughly 1,890 feet above sea level, by the USGS elevation service at the town's map coordinates. Brasstown Bald, about 20 miles away, is 4,784 feet.
Source: USGS
When is the Blairsville Sorghum Festival in 2026?
Sorghum in the Mountains runs Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18, 2026, 9 AM to 5 PM at Meeks Park. The first weekend, October 10–11, was cancelled for weather. The parade is downtown on Saturday at 10 AM.
Source: Sorghum in the Mountains
Is the Old Courthouse Museum free?
Yes. Admission to the Union County Historical Society's museum in the 1899 courthouse is free, and a small donation for upkeep is appreciated.
Source: Union County Historical Society
Is Lake Trahlyta at Vogel State Park open?
Not right now. Georgia State Parks says the lake is drained for dam repairs and maintenance, and the Lake Trahlyta Loop Trail and Trahlyta Falls are closed. No reopening date has been given.
Source: Georgia State Parks
How much does Brasstown Bald cost?
The Forest Service's page lists $10 per adult (16 and over) during open hours, free for children 15 and under, and $6 after hours. Some older pages still say $8.
Source: U.S. Forest Service
When is the Union County Farmers Market open?
Tuesdays and Saturdays, 8 AM to 1 PM, June through October, at 290 Farmers Market Way. The county runs it; the office number is 706-439-6043.
Source: Union County Farmers Market
Journal
Notes from the square
Friday Night Mountain Music at the Old Courthouse: the rest of the 2026 schedule
The Union County Historical Society's Friday Night Mountain Music concerts at the Old Courthouse on the Blairsville square have six 2026 dates left as…
Living in Blairsville, GA: practical things newcomers learn in the first month
Most people around Blairsville live outside the city limits: the city counted 616 residents in the 2020 Census, Union County 24,632. That line decides…
The cloudy-day rule for Brasstown Bald (and what to do instead)
Brasstown Bald is Georgia's highest point at 4,784 feet, and the reason to go is the 360-degree view. If the summit is inside a…
From the square to the summit
Like it here? Ask about living here.
Gold Peach Realty is the North Georgia brokerage behind this guide. If a Saturday at the farmers market or a clear afternoon on Brasstown Bald has you wondering what a house in Blairsville or elsewhere in Union County would look like, the team can walk you through what is on the market and how the mountain towns differ.
Visit Gold Peach Realty Call Gold Peach Realty (770) 283-1223