time to shine

Dawsonville Mountain Moonshine Festival
October 24-25, 2015

Mountain Moonshine Festival  |  Dawsonville

Kare for Kids comes though again with a spectacular fall festival, bringing vintage cars, bootleggers and old timers to the downtown area of Dawsonville. Celebrating the city's being one of the major hubs for moonshine distribution in the 20th century, visitors roamed the streets under cloudy conditions scooping up funnel cakes and turkey legs. It's also the birthplace of NASCAR, and if only for nostalgia's sake, you can't miss a trip to Bill Elliott's famous Pool Room. The thrill of the chase takes you downtown where cars have taken over every empty space possible. Some are there to gaze out, while others sport a "For Sale" sign. Always the 4th weekend in October; never a disappointment. 
All proceeds benefit Kare of Kids in Dawsonville.

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Dwight Bearden once called Dawsonville home. Now he's the brain behind the mash at Thunder Road Distillery in Sevierville, TN.

A parade of cars downtown.

A bootlegger car mid-century.

There's always jumpy things!

There's always rocks.

It's no festival without balloons.

The parade through downtown opens up the event first thing Saturday morning.

Non-stop entertainment on two stages during the two-day event.

Bearden (overalls) and Lloyd Seay (second from right) get ready for the Moonshine Hall of Fame inductions.

My favorite moonshiner - Carlos Lovell - is inducted into the Moonshine Hall of Fame.

John Friedman and TVs moonshiner Roy Grooms cut loose outside of the pool hall. My booth was in the middle; they kept our section hopping.

Hubert Platt being inducted into the NASCAR Racing Hall of Fame.

And from our friends at Georgia Hooch Moonshine, see you next year!