Dahlonega has announced upcoming wine and chamber music festivals and First Friday concerts, and the availability of fine and casual restaurants offer indoor and alfresco musical attractions all summer.
The getaway at North Georgia hosts more than eight annual festivals featuring almost as many musical genres. The Georgia Wine Country Festival, held every weekend in June at Three Sisters Vineyards, offers free admission, and tastings and food for a fee. Performers offer a variety of styles, from Americana to jazz. The artistic director is Cecylia Arzewski, violinist and former concertmaster of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
North Georgia’s mountain music pickers and singers flock to the Dahlonega Gold Museum State Historic Site and around the historic square for an Appalachian Jam every Saturday. Musicians are welcome to play or learn acoustic bluegrass and old-time string music. A free “Music in the Park” series showcases the diversity of local talent and their music on the first Friday of each month. Held in Hancock Park, one block north of the Public Square. Picnics, dancing and socializing are encouraged. The Fiddleheads and Bluebilly Grit are among the lineup.
Dahlonega has been a destination for musicians and their fans since the early 1900s. Dahlonega has been known as home to several musicians and bands, including Shawn Mullins, Zac Brown, Amy Ray (The Indigo Girls), The Fiddleheads (America's Got Talent) and Bluebilly Grit (2012 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Winners).
Dahlonega is also home to the Southeast’s oldest and most intimate music venue, The Crimson Moon Café. As part of the New York – New Orleans – Nashville entertainment circuit, the club presents live acoustic performances from the nation’s touring songwriters and solo artists and bands playing bluegrass, Celtic, contemporary/world folk, blues, pop, folk-rock, country, rockabilly and acoustic-alternative.
Several Dahlonega dining establishments offer music on weekends and during the week. The Oar House offers contemporary acoustic and vocals music on Saturdays and Sundays. Shenanigans Irish Pub hosts Monday Open Mic Night, Wednesday Karaoke, and live music on Fridays and Saturdays. Meanwhile, the Bourbon Street Grille serves Cajun-oriented cuisine and offers Thursday night jam sessions open to all musicians.
Dahlonega’s musical arts extend to the main stage as well, with the Historic Holly Theater, is home to one of Georgia's top theater companies and the Mountain Music and Medicine show radio production.
