One knows that autumn has finally arrived when the Georgia Mountain Fall Festival and the Cotton Pickin' Fair in Gay, Ga. start up again.

Both festivals have an old timey, small-town feel to them. They seem synonymous with the changing colors of the leaves and the annual harvest.

This is the eighth year of the Georgia Mountain Fall Festival, which has added lots of new acts, musicians and features. The festival is in Hiawassee, Ga., which is the self-proclaimed country music capital of Georgia. It is unique in that there are no commercial exhibits and it is built almost entirely around the theme of the old fashioned country fair.

The Georgia Mountain Fall Festival runs Oct. 6-15. It is sponsored by the Towns County Lions Club and will include the Official Georgia State Fiddlers Convention. There will be a mountain village of yeateryear, where patrons can explore a mercantile store, a blacksmith shop, a farm museum, a one-room school and a log cabin with a corncrib and barn. There will be daily demonstrations of mountain art. In fact, there will be more than 60 craftsmen present daily.

One of the main attractions of the festival, though, is the music. Dozens of talented musicians will take the stage at the Anderson Music Hall. Some of the best of the hill country's pickers and singers, Nashville talent, bluegrass and gospel singing, will perform over the course of the festival.

There is also a brand new exhibit this year, Dondi, the comedy performing elephant. This 6,000-pound elephant travels across the country doing her tricks, such as whistling, praying, standing on her head and playing baseball with children in the audience.

Another part of any great festival is the food, and the Georgia Mountain Fall Festival is no different. There will be the traditional funnel cakes and barbecue, but there will also be smoked rainbow trout to sink your teeth into. Admission to the festival is $7 and children under 10 are admitted for free. For a schedule of activities by the day, call 706-896-4191.

The Cotton Pickin' Fair in Gay, Ga. is one of the top ten festivals in the United States. This semiannual event was established in 1972 and offers a wonderful day for the entire family. There will be music, dancers, performers, an old time puppet show, booths and displays of arts and crafts, games for the kids and pony rides.