Sorghum in the Mountains Festival Blairsville 2026: Who Runs It?

Blairsville's sorghum festival opens its second season under a new name and new management on Saturday, October 10. That is less of a break than it sounds. The 2026 Sorghum in the Mountains Festival still runs on two October weekends at Meeks Park. It still opens with a parade on the downtown square, and it still has syrup pressed and cooked on site. The difference is who carries it. For decades one founding group ran the festival. Today the load is split between a volunteer committee and Union County government, which built the stage the bands will play on.

A Festival That Started With A Funeral Tent

The Blairsville Sorghum Festival began in 1969 with a few motivated people and a funeral tent on the town square. Junior Bridges, one of the founders, remembered wearing "old-timey" clothes and selling syrup he and his parents had helped make. The early success on the square led local government to give the Blairsville Jaycees, who later became the Blairsville Sorghum Syrup Makers, a piece of land. The group built a cooker there in 1971 and then Fort Sorghum in 1973. Fort Sorghum was torn down in 2018.

The festival moved to Meeks Park in 2008. In 2024 it was still described as organized by the Blairsville Sorghum Syrup Makers. According to the festival's own history, it changed leadership only a few times over those years, including a short stretch when Enotah CASA for Children co-organized it with the Syrup Makers.

What The 2025 Handoff Actually Involved

In September 2025, Blairsville-Union County Chamber President Steve Rowe wrote in North Georgia News that the festival was still on for the second and third weekends of October. He said it would be run going forward by the Sorghum in the Mountains Committee, a nonprofit made up of volunteers from Union County. He also said the concession stand and some of the sorghum-making equipment had been removed, and that the County replaced the concession stand and made major upgrades to the stage. Rowe described the Commissioner as "instrumental" in keeping the festival going.

None of the published sources explain why management changed. What they do show is how the festival kept going. The festival history notes that Meeks Park used the old fort's stage from 2008 through 2024. In his column this fall, Union County Commissioner Harold Collins describes the stage acts will play on in 2026 as "designed and built by Union County Government."

The listing for the event on Eventeny names the Blairsville Downtown Development Authority as host for both the 2025 and 2026 festivals. Local reporting describes the volunteer committee as the operator. The festival's current site says Sorghum in the Mountains, Inc. was created to celebrate the area's heritage and that its board was formed by local community leaders. None of these sources spell out how the duties are divided. Together they show a festival now backed by the county, the downtown authority and a volunteer board.

The first parade under the new name made a point of continuity. North Georgia News reported that Junior Bridges, who helped found the festival in 1969, led the inaugural Sorghum in the Mountains parade as Grand Marshal. The paper said the event "returned under new management in 2025."

The Syrup Still Starts In A Union County Field

The center of the festival is the same as it was. Collins calls the syrup-making facility "the main event." Visitors watch sorghum go through the press and down a trough into a large copper vat, where it is heated to the right consistency. The syrup is then bottled and sold as genuine sorghum syrup grown and made in Union County, Georgia. The festival history notes that Meeks Park still has a wood-fired continuous evaporator pan for syrup making. It describes that pan as one of the things that carries over the feel of the old fort.

Collins also says the Sorghum in the Mountains organization will bake and sell sorghum syrup biscuits near the back of the park, "so you can get'em till they're gone."

The games on what the history calls the Sorghum Field have not changed much either. "Baccor" spittin' was dropped years ago. The 2026 lineup:

• Pole climbing, a timed race up a debarked pole that is usually about 20 feet tall
• Log sawing with a two-person crosscut saw
• Rock throwing, scored mostly on distance
• Sack races for the kids
• Biscuit eating, with or without sorghum syrup
• Horseshoes, listed in the Commissioner's column

Collins says these games are free. The vendor-run extras cost money: pony rides, a train ride and a new bounce house area.

The 2026 Calendar

The festival runs 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday of both weekends, rain or shine.

Collins advises getting to the square early for a good seat at the parade, since floats roll at 10 a.m. If you are entering a float, the parade page lists 371 School Circle as the staging area, with entries arriving between 8:30 and 9 a.m.

The festival's entertainment page names Riverbend Band, Davy Henderson Gospel and the Campbell Folk School Cloggers. Sets are scheduled in morning and afternoon blocks on all four days. Saturday music starts at 9 a.m. and Sunday music at 9:30 a.m. That page was last updated September 8, 2026, so set times could still change.

Getting Into Meeks Park

Entry to the park works the way it has in past years, and it is the part of the day most likely to trip up someone driving in from the other side of town. From the Commissioner's column:

1. Enter the park heading east on Highway 515. No crossover traffic is allowed.
2. Follow staff and volunteers to a parking spot inside the park. Accessible parking is closest to the festival area.
3. Take a shuttle from the parking areas to the main festival field.
4. Pay $5 at the entrance if you are over 12. Cash and credit cards are both accepted.

The eastbound-only rule means that if you are coming from the east side of town, plan your route so you are heading east on 515 when you reach the park entrance.

Who Fills The Booths

The 2026 vendor list shows how many local groups take part. Food vendors include the Appalachian Shrine Club, the Diamondback Club, Young's Famous Funnel Cakes, Serenity Coffee Camper and Southern Sips Lemonade & More. Nonprofit tables include Appalachian Veterans Memorial Park, the Blairsville Gideons, Disabled American Veterans Chapter 11, Joshua's Warriors, S.A.F.E. and the Whiskers Project. Craft and goods vendors include Berry's Honey Farm, Benches by Caskey, Low Creek Leather, Appalachian Roots, Scary Jerry's Mountain Fire Hot Sauce and Marine Corps League Det. 783.

This mix goes back to the festival's founding. According to its history, the festival has historically been the biggest fundraiser in Union County. It was founded so that all profits would help local families in need and fund local scholarships, and booths have long served as fundraisers for groups such as the Diamond Club, Kiwanis and 4-H. The vendor list ties to the handoff, too. Food vendors had to sign up for both weekends, and the application warns that power is limited and recommends bringing a generator. With a volunteer committee running the festival and county-built facilities at the park, every booth that fills both weekends helps make the case for the new arrangement.

Collins calls the festival "another incredible display of Union County community support and determination when it comes to preserving the Appalachian way of life." The festival opens at 9 a.m. on Saturday, October 10. The parade starts on the square at 10 a.m., and the evaporator at Meeks Park will be cooking that day's Union County syrup.

The sorghum festival is one of the traditions that make Union County feel like home. If your fall plans have you thinking about a place near Meeks Park, or about what your current home is worth, Karyn Woody is glad to help with a free home valuation or a no-pressure consultation, ideally after you've had a sorghum biscuit.