Oktoberfest in the North Georgia Mountains
By Garth Bandell
Helen, GA -The fall season is a great time of year to visit Atlanta. The overabundance of majestic trees put on quite a show, and if your timing is just right, you’ll find many of Atlanta’s neighborhoods ablaze with color. Piedmont Park also makes quite a show of it with a steady flow of leaves tumbling to the ground. But it’s the mountains that put on the most spectacular show of all. The air is fresh and clean…the humidity of summer a thing of the past and it’s Oktoberfest in Helen, Georgia…a mere 90 minutes from Atlanta…in the mountains!
The north Georgia Mountains make a great vacation spot year-round, because of their unparalleled beauty and mild weather…but during Oktoberfest, Mother Nature kicks it up a notch with deep azure skies and splashes of color on the mountains. Helen is right at home in the mountains, a recreation of an Alpine village with cobblestone alleys and old world towers nestled on the Chattahoochee River. For anyone who's been in the Bavarian Alps, the sight of south German buildings lining cobblestone streets alongside a quick mountain river evokes an odd and instant sense of deja vu. There's even a Hofbrauhaus on the riverbank where thirsty visitors drink hearty German beer while soaking up the beautiful vista. For the past 30+ years, Helen has staged an Oktoberfest replete with lederhosen-clad bands, dancing ladies in dirndl skirts, and beer, beer, beer!
Sounds
too good to be true but it’s a guaranteed
good time for the entire family...
This is not one of those one-week festivals…this celebration lasts two months! The FUN begins on September 13th and the last pitcher of beer won’t be served…nor the final OOM PAH PAH heard until November 4th. The festival has become such a festival-circuit staple that hotels and guest houses fill quickly, so you'd better start booking a hotel now.
You’ll never have a better opportunity
to get into the spirit of Bavaria without ever leaving the charm of
the good ole south! Sounds too good to be true but it’s a guaranteed
good time for the entire family. Prost! 
