Georgia Marble Festival parade: time, Main Street and how to enter

The Georgia Marble Festival Parade opens festival Saturday in Jasper, Georgia. The Pickens County Chamber of Commerce says it comes down Jasper’s Main Street every year at 10:00 a.m. and starts with “a beautiful opening statement along with the singing of our National Anthem” (Pickens County Chamber). In 2026 it ran Saturday, October 3, at 10 a.m., the same hour the festival opened at Lee Newton Park (Visit Pickens).

Who marches

The Chamber’s description of the entries is one sentence: “the roar of motorcycles, fire trucks, Veterans groups, local businesses, civic organizations, ball teams and various children’s groups floats.” That is all the official detail there is. We found no published list of 2026 entries.

The route has not been published

The Chamber says the parade comes down Main Street. It does not publish a start point, an end point, a staging area or road closures, and we have not found a route from any other source. We are not going to draw one from guesswork.

What we can tell you is where Main Street is and what’s on it. The Pickens County Courthouse, a two-story marble-veneered building, stands at 50 N. Main St. (NRHP nomination). The Old Pickens County Jail, brick and marble with marble porch columns and two marble turrets, is at 141 N. Main St. (NRHP nomination); the Chamber says its marble came from the Southern Mill in Marble Hill (Visit Pickens). Both are on downtown Main Street, which the Chamber describes as a walkable downtown with local restaurants, boutiques, art and community events (Visit Pickens).

Festival Saturday, hour by hour (2026)

• 10 a.m.: the parade on Main Street, and the festival gates open at Lee Newton Park.
• 10 a.m.: the first quarry tour departs from the grounds.
• 10:30 a.m.: North GA Clogging & Dance opens the Headliner Stage.
• 2 p.m.: Oktoberfest in the Alley starts downtown.
• 5 p.m.: Caleb Wilkie & The Privateers close the stage.
• 6 p.m.: the festival closes for the day.

Watching the parade

• The Chamber lists a 10 a.m. start and publishes no end time.
• The parade and the festival are in different places. In the Chamber’s directions, the grounds are about half a mile past Main Street on GA 53, so you can watch the parade downtown and then head to Lee Newton Park.
• A morning quarry tour and the parade don’t mix. A 10:00 or 10:30 tour means checking in at the grounds by 9:30 or 10:00, right as the parade starts.
• Free festival parking is at the two shuttle lots, Ingles and Chattahoochee Technical College. The Chamber publishes no separate parade parking. See parking and shuttles.

Entering the parade: the Chamber page still shows 2025

The Chamber’s parade page has not been updated for 2026. As of October 18, 2026, it still shows the October 4, 2025 parade at 10:00 a.m. and says all applications had to be returned with a $25 entry fee by Wednesday, October 1, 2025. Those are 2025 terms, and we are listing them only so you know what you’re looking at if you land on that page.

If you want to put a float, a truck or a group in a future parade, contact the Chamber at (706) 692-5600 or info@pickenschamber.com, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and ask for the current application, fee and deadline. Don’t rely on the 2025 numbers.

After the parade

In 2026, downtown had a second event the same day: Oktoberfest in the Alley at 2 p.m. If you stay downtown after the floats pass, the courthouse and the old jail are worth a look for their marble alone. More ideas on things to do in Jasper, and the marble story behind those buildings is on Georgia marble history.

• Town

  Downtown Jasper / Main Street (parade route)

  Walkable county-seat downtown and route of the 10 a.m. Marble Festival Parade. Also hosts Second Saturday (Mar-Oct) and Downtown Live.

  • Main Street, Jasper, GA 30143

  Source: Pickens County Chamber, checked Oct 18, 2026

2026 parade details as published by the Pickens County Chamber of Commerce and Visit Pickens; details for 2027 may change. Back to the 2026 festival or ahead to 2027 festival dates.

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