Upcoming Dates: September 5-October 27th 2024.

A short drive from Atlanta, the city of Helen, is a great escape for a weekend Octoberfest. This quaint mountain town has the Bavarian style builds and beers make you feel like it is Germany. This city celebrates every September/October with a Octoberfestival. Make sure to book a stay in advanced for hotel reservations, this is a busy time of year for Helen and the reservations will fill quickly. Locals from Atlanta make the trip in for the weekend, so aiming for a weekday stay may be preferred to help avoid the crowds.

Helen is surrounded by the Chattahoochee National Forest. There are many hiking trails to enjoy. The trail we decided to take was to Ravel Cliff Falls. If you get the AllTrails app it has directions to make of the trails in the area. The app will give you directions to the trail head parking. The trail in is fairly easy to moderate in difficulty. Dogs are welcome to the trail as well. Our little dog hiked most of the way on her own. The whole hike took us about 3-3.5 hours total.

We stayed outside the Helen city limits. The area we stayed had its own private lake in the middle of a community of homes. This time of year the leaves are changing to bright yellows, oranges and reds making it the perfect for fall photos.

The town of Helen is full of people looking to celebrate Octoberfest in true style. Many of the town-folk dress in Bavarian attire. There are plenty of bars offering drinks. If you buy a festival mug there are many drink discounts that are available.

Festihall is the main festival attraction with plenty of food, drinks and dancing. Festihall does require tickets for admission.

Helen starts the celebration with a Oktoberfest Parade will begin at 12:00 PM on Saturday, September 7, 2024. The tapping of the first keg of the Oktoberfest season is to follow the parade. The celebration continues throughout September and October. It is open Thursday through Sunday in September and daily in October.

I recommend getting downtown early in order to be able to find available parking. Most parking lots do require payment.