Floats, music and an All American Lumberjack Show mark the city’s milestone birthday
HELEN, GEORGIA –Abundant shopping, art galleries, wineries, traditional German dishes and international fare: This is Helen, White County and the surrounding villages of Sautee and Nacoochee, where Appalachia meets Alpine, a North Georgia beauty with a Bavarian sensibility, alongside the Chattahoochee River. Tap into the heritage of this one-of-a-kind North Georgia gem through an array of upcoming events, over the course of four weekends and extending into September, designed to immerse the visitor in culture and fun while commemorating the Helen’s centennial birthday.
Join the Helen Arts and Heritage Center for a Centennial Celebration at 6:30 p.m., August 13, at the Helendorf, for firsthand accounts of Helen’s birth as a Mill Town, the actual journey into an Alpine Village and details about the newly found promise of wine country. Local restaurants will serve “samples” of menu items. Cover charge: $10.
Put on your dancing shoes for Helen’s first-ever Music Fest, Saturday August 24, showcasing talent from the North Georgia Mountains. Featured bands include: Dahlonega’s Destitute Way, American’ Idol’s Clay Coley and his band, from Douglasville, Georgia. Headlining the concert, Dahlonega’s own, The Fiddle Heads, who have appeared on America’s Got Talent – walking away with the first runner up honors, played at the Grand Ole Opry, appeared in Las Vegas opening for Tim McGraw and released their first album “Goodbye L.A.,” will bring a toe-tapping crowd to their feet. Ticket cost: $10 per person.
A must for the whole family, get ready to celebrate Labor Day weekend with Helen’s Centennial Anniversary Floating River Parade, an old fashioned parade down the Chattahoochee River on August 31. Grab a tube and join the flotilla of vessels representing area businesses. Bring your decorated float or tube to the Riverbend Motel and float to the Festhalle. Stay the evening to see the largest fireworks show ever seen in Helen, beginning at dark.
The celebration continues September 6-7, at Helen Riverside Park, with The All American Lumberjack Show. Participate in educational demonstrations of sawmills and lumber jacking. Kick it up a notch with log boom racing, hot saw races, spring board contest, chain saw carving, ax throwing, giveaways and an autograph session.
River Street will close down September 7 for Street Dance to celebrate “Saw Mill Village Style.” Dress in your favorite time of history from the past 100 years and meet in the street to dance. Shop local businesses with extended hours, savor the sounds of live music and sip adult beverages – sold on the street for this one night.
For details on all of Helen’s Centennial celebrations, please visit www.HelenGA.org.