Road trips of two hours or less lead to this weekend's four regional festivals.
The lone local festival, Back to the MACC, is a new fundraiser for the Mountain Arts Community Center being held Saturday at the center on Signal Mountain.
Back to the MACC will include performances by Colleen Laliberte, Jim Palmour, Dan Landrum and Stephen Seifert. Old-fashioned family fun such as a cake walk, water balloon toss, sack races, line dancing and kids craft activities offers something for all ages.
Raise your beer steins and toast the start of Helen, Ga.'s Oktoberfest. For five weeks, residents of the Bavarian-inspired North Georgia town will celebrate German culture with oom-pah bands, polkas and brats-- lederhosen optional.
The Franklin County Chamber of Commerce will hold its annual celebration honoring Mary "Polly" Crockett, wife of the famous frontiersman Davy Crockett, today through Sunday. Some consider her as much a legend as her husband, because history reveals she stayed home, alone in the wilderness, caring for two children while he was away fighting for his country.
The Crockett festival will take place along Tennessee Avenue in Cowan, Tenn. Events include Crockett's Car Show, Polly's Saturday Night Supper, buggy rides, storytelling and a free kids zone.
Lodge Cast Iron will provide prizes for youth and adult winners of a skillet toss. One toss is $5, three tries for $10.
FESTIVALS THIS WEEKEND
• Great Locomotive Chase Festival: Downtown Adairsville, Ga., 8 a.m.-11 p.m. today-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. Sunday. $3 ages 6 and older, free on Sunday. Exit 306 off I-75, then west on Highway 140 through traffic light, left onto Main Street to downtown square. 800-733-2280.
• Homesteads Apple Festival: Grounds of Homestead Tower Museum, junction of highways 127 and 68, four miles south of Crossville, Tenn., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, noon-4 p.m. Sunday (all times Central). $2 ages 7 and older. 931-456-9663.
• MACC Fall Festival: Mountain Arts Community Center, 809 Kentucky Ave., Signal Mountain, noon-3 p.m. Saturday. $25 families, $10 per adult, $5 children 12 and younger. Music, cake walk and auction, kids games, line dancing. Poppy's barbecue plates $8.
• Oktoberfest: Festhalle, 1074 Edelweiss Strasse, Helen, Ga., 6:30-10 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, 6-11:30 p.m. Fridays, 1-11:30 p.m. Saturdays, 1-7 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 18. $8 Monday-Friday, $9 Saturday, free on Sunday. Annual celebration of German food, music and dance. 706-878-1908.
• Polly Crockett Festival: Tennessee Avenue in Cowan, Tenn., 1-6 p.m. today, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday (all times Central), free admission but nominal charges to register for contests. 931-967-6788.