Highlands Historical Society’s Dazzling Dahlia Festival will be held Thursday Sept. 7, and Saturday, Sept. 9, and visitors should prepare to be dazzled. Festivities begin with a poster party on Thursday, Sept. 7 at The Bascom.
Come by and meet this year’s poster artist, Megan Gaillour, sample a dahlia cocktail, and learn next year’s dahlia theme. Then on Saturday, there will be more than 50 floral vignettes all over town, and there will be storytelling, bluegrass music, food, and art at the historical village from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The concert in the park that night is going to be a dahlia dance party, with the fabulous 10-piece Steel Toe Stilettos lighting up the evening with music that will get you out of your chair, from 6-9 p.m.
For a more in depth look at the dazzling dahlia in her endless sizes, colors and categories, The Bascom will host the single bloom, or cut dahlia show. Amateur gardeners and professional growers are both invited to bring dahlia specimen blooms to The Bascom patio between 8–10 a.m. to enter blooms in the judging. There is a $20 charge to enter up to eight blooms.
Garden club of America judges will then judge and award ribbons in both professional and amateur divisions. There is also a dahlia arrangement category so arrangements are invited. There is even a child’s category, so you can enter children or grandchildren. Classifiers will be on hand to put your flowers in the appropriate category. Growers do not have to know the classification to enter their blooms – the festival’s dedicated volunteers will take care of that.
The public is invited to view the singular beauty of the dahlia from 1-5 p.m. that afternoon, on The Bascom patio. This is a great way to appreciate the incredible range of dahlias as they will be arranged in categories. The judges are generous with the comments and critiques, which the growers love. It is a rare show that allows amateurs the privilege of GCA judges feedback.
There will be dahlias, nonprofits, and music everywhere in Highlands on Sept. 9. Visitors will be overwhelmed by singular beauties and exploding masses of color. There is a panel of secret judges who will award a $500 prize to the “Best of Show” vignette, but the public can also vote for “People’s Choice” winners. All vignette winners will be announced during intermission at the concert in the park.
Organizers need all the flowers the public is willing to share on Friday, Sept. 8. Highlands Historical Village will be the Dahlia Depot, please bring dahlias and any other flowers, as well as greenery to the village Friday morning. It is going to take all the flowers we can find to drape Highlands in florals. Many of our vignette creators need dahlias, so first our vignette designers take the dahlias and flowers they need. Then with what is left we make mason jar arrangements to sell in the park and historical village.
Come enjoy dahlia and Highlands’ bounty of summer florals, catch the Charles Nation Band, Nitrograss, and Steel Toe Stiletto, and learn a little bit about Highlands and the special place that it is. For more info go to highlandshistory.com.