These 8 Georgia Towns Have The Most Unique Festivals

When Georgia became a state in 1788, its founding fathers probably never imagined the Peach State would one day celebrate with possum drops, rattlesnake roundups, and marigold parades. Yet here we are. These eight Georgia towns have turned quirky traditions into the most unique festivals that draw crowds from near and far. From pigs and peanuts to possums and pageants, Georgia knows how to have fun. Whether it’s barbecue battles, a chalk art explosion, or angling for hornyhead fish, these celebrations showcase the state’s flair for turning local traditions into unforgettable experiences.

BIG PIG JIG, Vienna

Recently inducted into the Georgia Barbecue Hall of Fame (GBHoF), the BIG PIG JIG in Vienna is the state’s largest and oldest barbecue contest, bringing teams from all over the U.S. to compete for the top prize. BBQ is a big business in the Peach State, and it is governed by the Georgia Barbecue Association (GBA). The festival began in 1982 when a group of friends made a bet on who could roast the most succulent pig. To attract a bigger crowd, they combined the cooking competition with an established arts and crafts fair and the county’s livestock association annual hog show. In 1982, 18 teams competed by cooking whole hogs with $1,000 in prize money awarded to the top cooks. Today, the massively popular event attracts about 100 teams cooking 400 entries of hogs, shoulders, ribs, and various stews, and awards more than $17,000 in prizes. Despite imitation BIG PIG JIG events trying to hog the limelight over the years, there is only one official BIG PIG JIG contest, and it takes place on November 7 to 8, 2025.

Fire Ant Festival, Ashburn

Originally called the Wiregrass Festival, the event started as a community fundraiser in the 1990s in Ashburn with the wacky theme of “Flame the Fire Ant.” By 1999, the event became known as the Fire Ant Festival, but rest assured, no ants are harmed during the festival. Now an annual themed weekend event, it provides the community of Ashburn with three days of fun-filled, family-oriented activities, like a Fire Ant 5k, a Fire Ant Pageant, a BBQ bash (sanctioned by the GBA), arts and crafts vendors, food trucks, live music, and much more. The Fire Ant Festival is held the fourth weekend of March, with the next quirky event kicking off on Friday night, March 27th, and marching on all day Saturday, March 28th, 2026.

Claxton Rattlesnake & Wildlife Festival, Claxton

Formerly called the Claxton Rattlesnake Roundup, the Claxton Rattlesnake & Wildlife Festival began in 1967 after a local Evans County kid named David Wiggins was bitten by an Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake, one of the venomous snakes of Georgia, while picking vegetables at a farm. After discovering that the county had a large population of rattlesnakes, the first roundup was organized in 1968, resulting in 48 snakes.

With a name change in 2012, the event began to slowly shift away from catching rattlesnakes for sport to focusing on wildlife conservation. The event features captive rattlesnakes, snake handling demos, and wildlife education, as well as a Miss Rattlesnake and Wildlife Pageant, arts and crafts vendors, a parade, and more. The annual event attracts more than 12,000 locals and tourists, and is a nice economic boost for the Evans County community. The event is typically held the second weekend every March.

Brooklet Peanut Festival, Brooklet

The Brooklet Peanut Festival initially started humbly in 1990 as a way to raise money to buy downtown Christmas decorations. Over the years, it has become a popular one-day festival promoting the region’s agricultural heritage, with peanuts playing an essential role in the local economy. The 2025 Brooklet Peanut Pageant was held on Saturday, September 13. It featured 71 contestants vying for titles, sashes, and crowns in categories from Young Miss and Toddler Miss to Teen Miss and Miss, who will no doubt be part of the 36th Annual Brooklet Peanut Festival on Saturday, September 20, 2025.

The festival kicks off with the peanut parade featuring local farmers on tractors, followed by arts and crafts, food vendors selling bags of boiled peanuts, live music, and one of the most-anticipated competitions of the peanut festival, the Tractor Race. The festival attracts upwards of 20,000 people every year.

Hornyhead Fish Festival, Car Show & Tournament, Newborn

The oddly-named Hornyhead Fish Festival began in 1988 when a local mail carrier in Newborn, Georgia, Albert Ozburn Jr., founded the Newborn Hornyhead Association. According to legend, as he delivered mail to rural Newborn, he routinely checked streams on the lookout for ideal fishing spots. The event has grown from a regular Saturday activity to an annual event held on April 26th, 2025, at the Newborn Schoolhouse.

The all-day event includes arts and crafts, food vendors, a classic car show, live music, and the fishing tournament. The rules are simple: anglers simply register online, find a creek or a stream, go fishing, and then turn in their live fish for judging. Judging is by the length of the fish and then by the number of horns. For the uninitiated, hornyhead fish are a type of freshwater minnow found in North America that gets its unusual name from the small, hard bumps called tubercles that appear on the males’ heads during spawning season.

Possum Drop, Tallapoosa

In New York City, they drop a glittering ball on New Year’s Eve, but in Tallapoosa, Georgia, the locals ring in the new year by lowering a taxidermied possum named Spencer from a disco-lit cage. The possum is named after Ralph L. Spencer, a businessman credited with creating a late 19th-century boom in Tallapoosa, which was known as Possum Snout in its early days. The event started in the late 1990s and attracted about 40 curious partygoers. In 2024, over 13,000 people from around Georgia and across the state line in Alabama saw the possum drop from the circa 1891 Cain Law Office Building at midnight. The party starts on December 31, 2025, at 2:00 PM with a Kids’ Zone, carnival rides, a Possum Drop Pageant, live music by Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute band, Skyn Folks, and a fireworks display to ring in 2026.

Chalktoberfest, Marietta

Chalktoberfest began in 2013 as a fundraiser for the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art (MCMA). Over the years, the festival has grown to attract over 80,000 people to Marietta Square, a historic district built around Glover Park, where you’ll find benches, a fountain, and a pretty gazebo in downtown Marietta. This year’s Chalk and Beer Festival takes place on October 10 and 11, 2025, featuring food trucks, crafts for children, both professional and amateur chalk artists, contests, antique cars, arts and crafts vendors, a children’s play area, live concerts, and a craft beer and wine festival. The event is free, though there is a fee to participate in the Craft Beer Festival, which will feature over 100 craft beers and 25 wines.

Marigold Festival, Winterville

The Marigold Festival was first conceived of in 1970 by the residents of Winterville as a way of rejuvenating community spirit and raising funds to beautify the small town’s decaying historic train depot. Then in 1971, the marigold, a symbol of hardiness, was chosen as the town’s symbol. The 2026 Marigold Festival takes place on May 9, 2026, with the event’s signature parade, a Kids’ Area, vendors from all over southeast Georgia, and a classic car show featuring antique automobiles, street rods, hot rods, and more.

Live music has always been a big part of the festival, and this year’s lineup includes popular kids’ entertainer Sir Crazy Pants, Women in STEM, Kimberly Morgan York, and the headlining Randall Bramblett Band. The event is free, but funds raised during the all-day event have contributed to the Winterville Train Depot, the Winterville branch of the Athens Regional Library, a playscape in Pittard Park, and many other projects.

Discover Georgia’s Small-Town Spirit in Every Festival

Georgia’s unique festivals are more than just events on a calendar. They are reminders of what makes small towns so special. Each celebration, whether it’s a barbecue cook-off, a flower parade, or a quirky nod to local wildlife, carries the spirit of its community. Neighbors gather, families return home, and visitors are welcomed like old friends. These traditions keep the stories of Georgia’s small towns alive. If you want to feel the warmth of true community, there’s no better place to find it than a small-town festival.