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 The 2013 Dawsonville Moonshine Festival was fun and exciting! The crowd was large and everyone was having a great time. It was spread throughout historic Dawsonville in many streets. It started with a fabulous car show at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame. It felt like the good times looking at these cars while listening to oldies music. There were classic vehicles of all kinds. You saw 50's cars, race cars, hot rods, dune buggies, vintage trucks, V8 muscle cars, Ford model Ts and model As and even moonshine running cars. Dawsonville is notorius for its' passion for Fords, new and old. Fords were used for their moonshine running cars.
 While looking at these cars, the oldies music was playing in the background. It brought back fond memories from my childhood days. I love rock 'n roll especially 50s and 60s rock 'n roll. Songs included 'Red Rubber Ball', 'Dancing in the Street', 'Love Potion #9', 'Respect' by Aretha Franklin, 'A Little Bit of Soul', 'A Hard Days Night' and, of couse, Beach Boys music like 'My GTO'. I was singing to lots of these songs, but refrained from dancing. Didn't want to look too silly. For sure, everyone was feeling good and have a good time.
 It's amazing that this super huge event started years ago with one man. His name is Fred Goswick. Fred started the Moonshine Festival with just putting an old moonshine still in the middle of historic downtown Dawsonville one weekend. Other people did not take him seriously, but he did it anyway. Then over time, the festival grew big time. Tens of thousands of people attend this event now. I was really surprised how much it evolved into what it is today.
I met Fred Goswick years ago and found him to be super fun and nice. I really enjoyed getting to know him. Although he was older, I could tell he used to be a real ladies man. He used to be a moonshine runner who drove the moonshine from Dawsonville to Atlanta. When I talked to him, he had long retired from that and was making folksy wood carvings. He gave me two of them. One is a cute 'Pig Up Truck' carving. It features a vintage truck with pigs in it. On the side of the truck, it says 'Pig Up Truck'. It's precious and I cherish it. He also gave me an Elvis wood carving. I smile everytime I see these wood carvings. Fred passed away 2 years ago. However, I can see him smiling from heaven every October during this fantastic festival.
We certainly had tons of fun! See the video of this exciting event at the bottom of this page.  |
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 In addition to the wonderful car show, there were lots of other types of entertainment including a neat play area for children. There were also food vendors, clothes vendors, Georgia bull dog vendors, artist and even a moonshine vendor. I tasted the peach flavored moonshine and it was delicious! Was surprised at how good it tasted. Did you know you can buy moonshine in Dawsonville? Yes you can and it comes in many tasty flavors.
They also had great live music. My favorite was a band which played old time rock 'n roll. It was a 3-man band which featured a guitarist, drummer and bass chello. I think I have the right instrument name. There's a picture of them here. Please let me know if it's a different instrument name. Anyhow, they had the crowd moving and dancing because you just couldn't help it. If anyone knows the name of this band, please let me know. They reminded me of the 80's group called the Cool Cats. You could tell they were really getting into playing their cool music!
If you know the name of this band, please send it to info@n-georgia.com. My name is Sandy. |
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 In addition to all these fun things, there were some political vendors here. In general, Dawsonville is a conservative city. I had the pleasure of meeting Karen Armstrong. She is a candidate for Dawson County School Board's District 3. She is a native of North Georgia, has 2 children and has been married to Timothy Armstrong for 25 years. She was real nice has a great and enthusiastic smile. I could tell she's a good person.
Karen is a Republican candidate. Karen has lots of good qualifications. She has been a PTSO (Parent, Teacher, Student Organization) board member since 2006. She started Dawson County High School PTSO in 2009 and established a 501(c)3 and Indigenous Accoount for students in need. She has lots more qualifications. To learn more about her, you can even call her on her cell phone at 678-943-0516. |
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See video below. |
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Hope you enjoyed feeling the experience of this fun event. See you there next October. |
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