This is the weekend to make a Christmas list and check it twice.
The Creative Arts Guild's 55th annual Festival!, a show of fine arts and craft, will be held Saturday and Sunday at the guild in Dalton, Ga. You'll find one-of-a-kind, gift-worthy pieces of art there to check off that list.
Festival! weekend begins Friday night, Sept. 14, with the Taste of Dalton Preview Party. During this ticketed event, guests may make purchases from the indoor gallery, sample specialties from some of Dalton's finest restaurants and shop the Outdoor Artist Market.
Tickets are $55, and will be sold at the door. For preview party tickets, call 706-217-6677.
Festival! opens to the public from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 16, at the guild, 520 W. Waugh St.
The free arts and crafts show will feature about 100 artists in an indoor exhibit as well as Outdoor Artist Market in the covered Spigel Pavilion.
Festival! is a showcase of visual, performance and spoken-word art.
Live music is scheduled throughout Saturday and Sunday featuring AmeriCalypso, Charlsey Etheridge and Jack Hitchens, Connor Priest, David Pierce and Cynthia Wilson, Joylene Kara, Matthew Paul Revere, Robert Thatcher with Tom Brown and John Shaw, Rome Area Flute Ensemble, Shamrock, Rose & Thistle, Sneary Family Band and Songbirds.
Festival! is also a chance for guild music students to show their talents. Pianists will perform on the pop-art piano in the lobby; students playing other instruments will be interspersed throughout the campus. A series of spoken-word performances will be given by members of the Dalton Area Writers Group.
Two shows not to be missed: Dalton Ballet presents selections from "The Snow Queen" at 2 p.m. Saturday, and guild gymnastic students will show off their skills at 2 p.m. Sunday.
While their parents shop, there is plenty to keep kids entertained. Event planners have put together a full schedule of games, cool arts-and-crafts projects, music and special performances. There will be yard games for all ages, a Children's Art Market for kids only, hourly story times hosted by the Dalton-Whitfield Regional Library and a Dogs of the World pet parade on Sunday at 4 p.m.
For more information: www.creativeartsguild.org.
MORE FESTIVALS THIS WEEKEND
SEPT. 14-16
Arts Festival at Rose Lawn: Rose Lawn Mansion, 234 W. Cherokee Ave., Cartersville, Ga., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday, free admission to festival, small fee to tour historic mansion. www.roselawnmuseum.com.
The beautiful antebellum Gordon-Lee Mansion is the site of the Blue & Gray Barbecue and Festival on Saturday in Chickamauga, Georgia.Blue & Gray Barbecue and Festival: Gordon-Lee Mansion, 217 Cove Road, Chickamauga, Ga., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, free admission, additional cost for barbecue, benefits Friends of the Mansion; heritage festival with show by Doug Carson on lighting before days of electricity, barbecue, crafts and food vendors. Tours of mansion 10 a.m.-4 p.m., $5 adults, $1 children. 423-488-0861
Boom Days Heritage Celebration: City Park, Fort Payne, Ala., 6:30-10 p.m. CDT Friday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. CDT Saturday, free day of community activities. Friday night concerts by Jake Castro and Eagles tribute band; Saturday headliners are Neal McCoy and Restless Heart. 256-845-1524
Celebrate Autumn: Towns County Recreation Center, 150 Foster Park Road, Young Harris, Ga., 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, 1-4 p.m. Sunday, free; juried arts and craft show sponsored by Mountain Regional Arts and Crafts Guild. www. artguildstore.com
Fall Festival: Alhambra Shrine Temple, 1000 Alhambra Drive, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, $10 ages 10 and up, $5 ages 9 and younger; games and prizes for children; bingo, craft show, silent auction and lunch for adults, photo-ops with Shrine Pirates unit for additional donation. TNSongbird@yahoo.com
Fall Festival: St. Mary Catholic Church, 1291 E. Madison Ave., Athens, Tenn., 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, $12 or $7 for lunch; ethnic food booths, silent auction and entertainment. 423-745-4277
Festival!: Creative Arts Guild, 520 W. Waugh St., Dalton, Ga., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, free; indoor and outdoor fine-art exhibits, children's activities. 706-217-6677
Jamboree: Center Post Community Center, 8125 Georgia Highway 337, Center Post community south of LaFayette, Ga., 1-5 p.m. Saturday, free admission; family fun with games, barbecue, antique tractor display and four bands. 706-638-1935
Guests take a tractor ride at a previous year's Old McDonald Farm. The Sale Creek farm will open for family fun Saturdays and Sundays from this weekend through Oct. 28.SEPT. 15-OCT.28
Old McDonald's Farm Fall Festival: Old McDonald's Farm, 16705 Coulterville Road, Sale Creek, 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturdays, noon-7 p.m. Sundays, open Tuesdays-Fridays for large groups by appointment; $12.50 ages 3 and older, additional charge for pumpkins; family fun with cow coaster, pumpkin slingshot, hay maze, hayrides, pony rodeo, Critter Barn, pedal tractor races. Oct. 11 is Homeschool Day. www.oldmcdonaldsfarm.net
SEPT. 15-NOV. 4
Sweet Corn Festival: Autumn Acres, 1096 Baier Road, Exit 311 off Interstate 40, Crossville, Tenn., open to public 2-10 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturdays, 1-6 p.m. Sundays; 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Tuesdays-Thursdays by appointment (all times Central), $10 ages 3 and up, $8 ages 65 and up, activity tickets 25 cents to $1. www.autumnacres.net