"The Pavilion is already reserved every Saturday and Sunday through the end of November," Kate Mattison, director of Gainesville Parks & Recreation, told Lakeside News in early September. The pavilion she was talking about is the new Dogwood Pavilion at Longwood Park. It had been open for about six weeks, and its fall weekends were already gone.
That one quote sums up most of Gainesville's October this year. The city's newest public space and its three biggest fall outings sit near the water, on the Midland Greenway, or at the Gainesville garden. Each one runs on its own clock. The Kayak Shack closes in late October. The scarecrows come down November 1. The Chicken Festival is a single Saturday afternoon. Plan by date and you get the whole month. Treat it as a long, loose season and you'll miss a good share of it.
What Changed at Longwood Park
Longwood Park closed last November for a major overhaul. After eight months it reopened with a ribbon-cutting attended by City Council, the Parks and Recreation Board, and project partners. The park covers 36 acres on Lake Lanier, and Lakeside News calls it the most-reserved and most-used recreation facility in the city.
The work focused on a short list of changes:
- Dogwood Pavilion, rebuilt. The old pavilion was torn down and replaced with a 5,000-square-foot structure. It has new restrooms, outdoor grills, a separate modern kitchen building, seat walls, and an outdoor fireplace.
- A new playground near the pavilion. Mattison described it as "kind of like an obstacle course," where kids start at one end and work their way through.
- The Kayak Shack, moved closer to the water. Artist Mark Sundermeyer painted a mural on the front of the self-service rental building and made the Dogwood Pavilion sign.
- Easier access. New walking paths run from the parking lot to the pavilion. The ADA turnaround is larger, and the parking lots were repaved.
The rest of the park is still there: shoreline walking trails and the lake walk, a fishing pier, a courtesy boat dock, kayak rentals, playgrounds, and eight lighted tennis courts.
Why Weekends at the Pavilion Are Already Spoken For
The pavilion rents in blocks, and resident pricing is a real discount over nonresident rates.
| Dogwood Pavilion rental | City resident | Nonresident |
|---|---|---|
| Four hours | $125 | $180 |
| Eight hours | $200 | $280 |
| Electricity add-on | $25 | $25 |
A booking comes with 20 tables, boat access, and restrooms. The kitchen building isn't part of the basic pavilion rental. Electricity costs $25 extra unless it comes bundled with a kitchen rental. At $125 for an afternoon with grills, a fireplace, and a lake view, it makes sense that the fall weekends sold out quickly.
For October, this changes how you use the park. Weekends belong to people who reserved early. On a weekday, or for anyone just walking the shoreline, the rest of Longwood is open as usual. Questions about remaining dates, including weekdays and anything after November, go to Gainesville Parks & Recreation at 770-531-2680.
The kayaks run on a different clock. The Kayak Shack rents boats as long as water levels allow or until late October, whichever comes first. That makes the next few weeks the last stretch this year to paddle out from the newly moved shack.
The Calendar Around It
Longwood isn't the only thing on a deadline. Here's how the rest of the month lays out, using dates from each organizer:
| Date | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Oct. 3 to Nov. 1 | Scarecrows in the Gainesville Garden | Atlanta Botanical Garden, 1911 Sweetbay Drive |
| Oct. 6 | Yoga in the Garden, 4 to 5 p.m. | Gainesville garden |
| Oct. 9 to 11 | Mule Camp Market | Midland Greenway |
| Oct. 17 | Gainesville Chicken Festival, gates at 11 a.m. | Lake Lanier Olympic Park, 3105 Clarks Bridge Road |
| Oct. 17 | Fall Flower Arrangements, 10 a.m. to noon | Gainesville garden |
| Late October | Kayak Shack season ends | Longwood Park |
| Oct. 31 | Boo-tanical Seed Exchange, 2 to 4 p.m. | Gainesville garden |
October 17 is the busiest day on the list. The flower arranging workshop ends at noon, and the Chicken Festival keeps serving food until 3:45 p.m., so you can make both if you start in the morning.
Mule Camp, Back on the Greenway
Mule Camp Market is the oldest event on the list, and it's named for the town's beginnings. The name recalls Mule Camp Springs, a natural spring just south of the square where early travelers and traders stopped to water their livestock. The event began as a farmers' curb market near the square and grew into the Corn Tassel Festival. In 1993 the Gainesville Jaycees revamped it and renamed it Mule Camp. The Jaycees describe a three-day festival with craft vendors, children's activities, food vendors, and a community concert, drawing crowds of more than 75,000.
The event isn't moving this year. Gainesville Times coverage shows it on the downtown square in 2011 and on the greenway in both 2024 and 2025. The 2026 dates are Friday, Oct. 9, through Sunday, Oct. 11. Friday and Saturday run 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Sunday is less clear. The Jaycees' own page prints Sunday hours as "11PM until 4PM," which looks like a typo, and a separate paragraph on the same page says vendors reopen at noon. Check with the organizer before planning a Sunday visit. Names and addresses vary by listing too. The Jaycees' page calls the venue Midtown Greenway. The event page on Eventeny calls it Midland Greenway and puts the market at 422 Banks St., and the Jaycees put the food court in the parking lot at Banks Street and Gordon Avenue. To get there, visitors are directed to park in the downtown Gainesville parking decks and ride the City's trolley to and from the market.
The Chicken Festival Moves to the Lake
The Chicken Festival's history ties back to the water. The City traces Gainesville's "Poultry Capital of the World" identity to the rise of the poultry industry after World War II, led by Jesse Jewell. The first Spring Chicken Festival took place in April 2004. It eventually outgrew Roosevelt Square and moved to Lake Lanier Olympic Park. The City's 2021 history describes a spring event, but the 2025 and 2026 festivals both fall in October.
The organizers bill it as Georgia's Official Chicken Cook-Off. More than a dozen backyard and professional teams cook upwards of 7,000 pounds of chicken, festival-goers vote for a People's Choice winner, and JB Jams provides the music. The tentative schedule for Saturday, Oct. 17, runs like this:
- 11 a.m.: gates open
- 12:15 p.m.: third annual wing-eating contest
- 1:45 p.m.: second annual egg-and-spoon race
- 2:45 p.m.: "What Came First?" race
- 3 p.m.: wristband sales end
- 3:45 p.m.: food service ends
- 4 p.m.: awards
Tasting works by wristband. Each $6 wristband covers 10 samples, or you can buy five for $25. Online orders add fees, so the totals come to $6.71 and $26.90. Prepaid wristbands can be picked up at the City Finance Office, 300 Henry Ward Way, until noon on Oct. 16, or at Will-Call on the day using your purchase QR code.
Parking is free, but there isn't much of it. Organizers warn that on-site spaces are limited. Overflow parking is across Clarks Bridge Road, connected to the park by a pedestrian tunnel. The shuttle details on the event page are still the 2025 plan, with the lot at New Horizons Lanier Park, so confirm before you count on them. If you're coming by water, the courtesy dock holds about 15 boats. Leashed pets are welcome, but they aren't allowed on the shuttle. Working service animals are the exception.
Scarecrows at the Gainesville Garden, Through Nov. 1
Over the summer, the Atlanta Botanical Garden's Gainesville location showed Alfred Glover's work. Glover is a Cape Cod artist who builds outdoor folk-art sculptures from wood and recycled aluminum, often animals set among bright foliage. That show ran May 16 to Aug. 30. This fall's scarecrow exhibit builds on it with the theme "Wild & Wonderful: Folk Art by Alfred Glover." The scarecrows are made by community groups, and visitors can vote for a favorite online.
The scarecrows come with regular daytime admission, with no separate ticket needed. Members get in free. Nonmember admission is $14.95 for adults and $12.95 for children ages 3 to 12. The garden is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and parking on site is free.
The October program calendar is fuller than usual. Yoga in the Garden on Oct. 6 is led by Gainesville instructor Emilie Cook and is new to the Gainesville location. It's open to ages 12 and up and costs $25 for nonmembers or $20 for members. On Oct. 12, Member Morning brings live music by Ben Bostick. The Oct. 24 natural perfume blending workshop costs $110 for nonmembers or $100 for members. On Oct. 31, the Boo-tanical Seed Exchange runs from 2 to 4 p.m. and is free with admission.
After that, the exhibit has one day left before it closes on Nov. 1. Around the same time, the Kayak Shack at Longwood wraps up its season. The Dogwood Pavilion has no open weekends until December.
Whether your home is a few minutes from the Longwood shoreline or within walking distance of the Midland Greenway, that access affects what it's worth. If you'd like a clear local read on your property's value, Chad Williams and Julie are glad to talk it through. Request a Free Home Valuation, and we'll give you a number based on what's actually near your front door.
