Dahlonega Events Calendar for Sweets Lovers

These are the Dahlonega events with a sweet side, from this Halloween through next October. Each date comes from the organizer’s own page, checked Oct 19, 2026. Where next year’s date is not posted, we say so and show the last edition’s date instead. Use the finder to filter by month and add any event to your calendar.

This fall

Scares on the Square, Oct 31, 2026

The Dahlonega DDA lists Scares on the Square for Saturday, October 31, 2026, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on the Square; the Visitors Bureau describes it as trick-or-treating around the Historic Downtown Square on Halloween night. On a regular Saturday, Kilwins, The Dahlonega Fudge Factory, Paul Thomas Chocolates, Connie’s Ice Cream & Sandwich Shop and Dahlonega General Store list closing times of 9 p.m. on their own sites. None publishes Halloween hours, so check before you count on a late stop.

The holiday season, Nov 26, 2026 to early January

The season starts with Thanksgiving pie at The Smith House on November 26 and the Lighting of the Square on November 27, 2026 (3 p.m. to 8 p.m.). It continues with the Christmas Market in Hancock Park from December 5 to December 13, with homemade sweets, and the parade on December 12. The Visitors Bureau says downtown keeps extended merchant hours every evening of December. Every date and ordering window is on holiday sweets.

Late winter and spring

The Chocolate Crawl

The Visitors Bureau launched its Chocolate Crawl in 2021. The 6th annual crawl ran March 5 to March 8, 2026: visitors picked up a passport at the Visitor Center and sampled chocolate at downtown shops and restaurants. The 2027 dates are not posted yet.

The Visitors Bureau's 6th annual Chocolate Crawl ran March 5-8, 2026, with a passport from the Visitor Center and chocolate samples (hot chocolate, pies, fudge, cookies and more) at downtown shops; 2027 dates are not yet posted. (Visitors Bureau, checked Oct 19, 2026)

You can walk your own version any weekend; see our Chocolate Crawl guide and the sweet walk planner.

Bear on the Square, Apr 17 to Apr 18, 2027

The Bear on the Square Mountain Festival has posted its 2027 dates: Saturday, April 17, and Sunday, April 18. It is a free Appalachian music festival with jams around the Historic Square, free MainStage concerts and a juried artist marketplace of more than 70 booths.

Arts & Wine Festival, third weekend in May

The Dahlonega Arts & Wine Festival is held on the third weekend in May on the Public Square, with regional arts and crafts, live jazz in Hancock Park and a Wine & Beer Garden. The 2026 festival was May 16 to May 17. The 2027 dates are not posted; the pattern points to the third weekend of May 2027.

Summer and fall

Farmers market, Saturdays May through October

The city says the Dahlonega Farmers Market runs in Hancock Park every year from May through October. In 2026 it ran Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the last market was October 10, 2026. The 2027 dates are not published. Several home bakers sold there in 2026; see farmers market bakers.

Gold Rush Days, Oct 16 to Oct 17, 2027

Gold Rush Days, Dahlonega’s largest festival, is held on the third full weekend in October with more than 300 art, craft and food vendors around the Public Square, per the Visitors Bureau. The festival’s own site lists October 16 and 17, 2027; the 2026 edition was October 17 to 18.

What is not on this calendar

We looked for a 2026 cookie walk, gingerbread contest, bake sale, pie contest or chili-and-pie event from any organizer and found none, so none is listed. We also found no Dahlonega wine-and-food weekend between now and spring 2027 beyond the Arts & Wine Festival in May. If an organizer posts one, tell us and we will add it with the organizer’s link.

How we date events

We take each date from the organizer’s own page and show the day we checked it. When the next edition is not announced, we show the last edition’s date and say that the new one is not posted, rather than guessing. Sweets-shop hours on event days are not published by any shop in this guide, so treat their regular hours as a starting point and call ahead. For opening times on a normal day, see bakery hours, and for parking on festival weekends, see parking and getting here.