Georgia Marble Festival
by Don Martin ~ October 10th, 2008
Last weekend the North Georgia Marble Festival returned to Jasper for the 28th time and it was quite a show. If you missed it this year, you need to put it on your calendar for next year. It is normally the first weekend in October.
The Festival is centered in Lee Newton Park just west of downtown Jasper, but related events are held for days before and all over the Pickens County area. Just prior to the official opening the annual Marble Festival Parade filled Main Street for about an hour. This year a motorcycle ride (Rumble in the Mountains) actually began in the parade! The week before there a beauty pageant recognizing a bevy of beauties from the cradle right up Ms Georgia Marble. Early Saturday morning there was 10K Road Race and a 1 mile Fun Run. The Pickens County Citizen of the Year was recognized during the parade. Friday night there was Fine Arts reception - By Invitation Only and always a great evening. (Make a donation to the Marble Festival Fine Arts and you too can get one of those invitations!)
During the day on Saturday and Sunday there were Tours of the Marble Mines, Plants and historical sites. This is only time you get in most of these sites; if you haven’t gone before you need to make a reservation and take the 2 hour tour next year. (Unlike Gilligan’s3 Hour Tour, we normally get all our patrons back safely to the Festival in around 2 hours.) There is huge Children’s Play area with special rides and activities just for the kids. This year we over 75 arts and crafts vendors and more food vendors than any one family could visit in a week. There was everything from fried okra to Italian ice and hundreds of options in between. The Fine Arts display was located in the Chamber Building and is open to the public during the festival. There were a variety of styles and media including, of course, marble.
There was also a Business Expo and your intrepid blogger ( Life In North Georgia ) participated as part of our brokerage team from Torrey Mountain Properties, Inc. The Expo had 40 exhibitors and the tent was crowded most of the time on both Saturday and Sunday. Torrey Mountain Properties, Inc. gave away two $50 Gift Certificates to the Woodbridge Inn and the winners were: Frances Richard and Alison Kindred. Congratulations to both winners! I produced a short video about the Marble Festival. You can see it below.
Early attendance figures had the total over 10,000 visitors and everyone I spoke to had a great time, you should plan to attend next year!
Take care,
Don