A FALL FULL OF FUN

Every year, as the leaves change color and begin to fall, Main Street Toccoa welcomes in the season with the annual Harvest Festival, a 14,000-person event that brings hundreds of food and craft vendors, children’s activities, an arts show, and more to Historic Downtown Toccoa.

Well, things didn’t go quite according to plan this season, and due to the governor’s guidelines, as well as recommendations from the CDC, the Downtown Development Authority made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Harvest Festival.

But Main Street Toccoa is all about economic development. And part of the Main Street Approach is Promotions; along with Promotions, staff must have the ability to pivot and adapt to changing circumstances. So, we couldn’t hold an event with 14,000 people confined to several blocks? That’s okay. We decided to do two things in its place. The first was to have an adult-oriented event to make up for the cancellation of the 2020 Toast of Toccoa. The second was to have a family-oriented event to make up for the cancellation of the 2020 Harvest Festival.

And with that, we killed two birds with one stone, as the saying goes.

The Inaugural Downtown Toccoa Sip-n-Stroll, which took place in early October, was a huge success. Several hundred people walked downtown, enjoyed samples of specialty cocktails, listened to live music, and most importantly, shopped local in Downtown Toccoa. The Sip-n-Stroll provided an opportunity for strollers to walk directly into and interact with our great downtown businesses. The night ended with a great concert by nationally-renowned Bluegrass singer Edgar Loudermilk as part of the 2020 – 2021 season of Night at the Ritz.

Our second event, Pumpkin Daze, was also successful. Almost like a mini Harvest Festival, the event featured a select number of food and craft vendors, live entertainment, children’s activities, and more. But unlike the Harvest Festival, this event was not only familyfriendly, but family-oriented. Visitors got to participate in a pumpkin derby, decorate pumpkins, and spend time with family members. Who knows if Pumpkin Daze will return for 2021, but if it doesn’t, we really enjoyed the opportunity to promote our downtown as fun and familyfriendly, albeit in a smaller manner than the Harvest Festival. By the time this magazine comes out, it will be a little colder. We may see some Christmas lights and hear Christmas music playing on the radio. December 4th is our annual ChristmasFest. It may look a little different, too, this year, but like our Fall events, it’s not something you’re going to want to miss!