Blairsville Sorghum Festival 2026: Sorghum in the Mountains, Oct 17–18

Saturday, October 17

From the organizer’s 2026 schedule, checked October 16:

Sunday, October 18

The festival is open 9 AM to 5 PM at Meeks Park. The organizer has not published a separate Sunday program.

What you’ll see

• Sorghum syrup made from start to finish: cane pressed in the mill, juice boiled down to syrup.
• Old-time games: pole climbing, log sawing, rock throwing, and sack races for the kids.
• Live music from the Riverbend Band, Davy Henderson Gospel and the Campbell Folk School Cloggers.
• Food and craft vendors.

All of that is from the organizer’s festival page.

Getting there, parking and pets

Meeks Park is at 490 Meeks Park Road, about two miles west of the square, roughly five minutes by car with no traffic (OpenStreetMap routing). The organizer’s own site doesn’t cover parking. The festival’s Eventeny listing says parking is throughout the park and volunteers direct you to it; we haven’t seen a shuttle announced.

Leave the dog at home. The county does not allow pets in Meeks Park, and there is a dog park across the street (per the Butternut Creek Festival’s notice of county rules). The old 2024 sorghum festival FAQ called the event dog-friendly, so if you see that, it predates the current rule.

Why other pages show different dates

The Blairsville Sorghum Festival began in 1969 on the town square, started by the Blairsville Jaycees (later the Blairsville Sorghum Syrup Makers), and moved to Meeks Park in 2008. (Sorghum in the Mountains history page) The 2026 festival is run by Sorghum in the Mountains, Inc., a volunteer board. That’s why older pages disagree: the county’s festivals page still shows 2024 dates, and the chamber’s festival page still lists 2025’s weekends. The organizer’s schedule is the one to trust, and it says the first 2026 weekend was cancelled for weather and the parade moved to October 17.

Admission for 2026 isn’t published anywhere we could find. The old festival charged an entry fee in 2024; don’t assume the same this year. Questions go to the organizer: sorghuminthemountains@gmail.com or (706) 400-0720.

How sorghum syrup is made

• Sorghum syrup is made by cooking down the juice pressed from sweet sorghum cane. It is not molasses, which is a byproduct of making table sugar from sugarcane or sugar beets, though many Southerners call it 'sorghum molasses.' Sweet sorghum producers' association
• Sweet sorghum, a member of the grass family, is the type grown for syrup, and making it each fall is part of the culture and history of the North Georgia mountains. UGA Extension
• At harvest the seed heads are cut off and the leaves are often stripped from the standing stalks. The cane is then pressed in a roller mill to squeeze out the juice, a job historically done by a mule walking circles to turn the press, while most mills today are electric. UGA Extension
• The green juice is boiled in a wide, shallow evaporator pan over a fire. As it heats, proteins and other impurities rise as a green foam that must be skimmed off continuously, until the juice thickens into a clear, amber syrup. University of Kentucky Extension
• It takes roughly 8 to 10 gallons of sorghum juice to make one gallon of syrup. UGA Extension

Sorghum festival questions

Dates, hours and fees change. For anything official, the city has the final word: City of Blairsville official site