Hayesville's Fullest Downtown Weekend This Fall Comes Two Weeks After Halloween

"The Historic Courthouse and Square has always stood as the heart of the community." That line is from The Beal Center's own history page, and this fall's calendar backs it up. Saturday's Trick or Treat on the Hayesville Square will draw the crowd everyone pictures when they think of downtown in autumn. The square's longest stretch of programming comes two weeks later, from November 13 to 15. That weekend the courthouse is full of decorated trees for three days, and the Peacock Performing Arts Center has a show both nights.

Trick or treat runs four hours on one evening. The WNC Festival of Trees is open 24 hours across three days.

The building at 25 Herbert Street

Both events list the same address, and that address is the old courthouse. Captain J. S. Anderson built the Historic Clay County Courthouse in 1887 and 1888 for $7,800, in the Italianate Vernacular style. It replaced a wooden courthouse that burned on May 20, 1870. It stayed the county courthouse until the early 2000s, when the current one went up outside downtown. Then it fell into disrepair.

The Clay County Communities Revitalization Association, a local nonprofit known as CCCRA, stabilized the building in 1998. Clay County residents paid for new windows starting in 2000. Roof, steeple and brick repairs followed in 2017, and a gift from a locally born benefactor paid for the interior restoration in 2017 and 2018. The building was rededicated as The Beal Center on July 21, 2018, 130 years after it was first built.

The same nonprofit runs the WNC Festival of Trees. Its organizers say the festival operates under CCCRA. So every November, the group that saved the courthouse fills it with Christmas trees to raise scholarship money.

Halloween weekend uses two venues

This year Halloween falls on a Saturday, so the holiday spreads over two evenings in two places.

Friday, October 30, 7:30 p.m. The Peacock Performing Arts Center at 301 Church Street hosts Stage Fright, a ghost-story night in its Scribes on Stage series. The listing promises creepy tales, sketches, music, a weird poem or two, tricks and treats for kids, and a costume parade with prizes that's open to everyone. Scribes on Stage features area playwrights, poets, storytellers and songwriters, both amateur and experienced. Tickets on the Peacock's box office page are $17.50 for adults, $12.50 for seniors 65+, military and public service, $11.50 for high school and college students with ID, and $7.50 for kids 12 and under.

Saturday, October 31, 5 to 9 p.m. Trick or Treat on the Hayesville Square takes over Historic Hayesville Square at 25 Herbert Street. Businesses and groups set up candy tables around the square, and the Chamber's table sign-up notice says organizers expect about 750 children.

The Chamber lists trick or treat in EDT, and every Peacock show from November 7 on is listed in EST. By the next big night downtown, the clocks will have changed.

A quieter Saturday in between

Saturday, November 7, 7:30 p.m. The Ray Howard Band plays the Peacock. Its listing promises classic soul, R&B and Motown. Adult tickets are $39.50, seniors 65+, military and public service are $34.50, students with ID are $29.50, and kids 12 and under are $10.50. This is the only big downtown date between Halloween and the Festival of Trees.

November 13 to 15: three draws, one weekend

This is the weekend that fills up the square.

The 2026 WNC Festival of Trees puts 75 to 80 decorated Christmas trees inside The Beal Center. Here's how it works:

• Hours: Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Admission: $5 per person at the door, free for children under 12. Every paid admission comes with two raffle tickets, and cash and cards are both accepted.
• Santa: in the Santa Room for the whole festival, with unlimited personal photos.
• The drawing: tree drawings start Sunday at 4 p.m. Winners take their own trees home, and the trees are wrapped for the trip.
• Parking: free public parking.

The festival has raised money since 2022, so this is its fifth November. As of August 2026, the festival's impact page counts 31 scholarships to 31 local students, plus support for six school and student programs. Those programs are Hayesville Middle School Athletics, the Hayesville Primary PTO, the Hayesville High School Band, Hayesville High School Future Farmers of America, Clay County Community for Students and Hayesville High School Cross Country.

The Peacock's lineup is what turns this into the fall's fullest weekend. On both Friday and Saturday, the festival closes at 7 p.m. and a Peacock curtain goes up at 7:30.

Friday, November 13, 7:30 p.m. The Stranger, a Billy Joel tribute led by Mike Santoro. Adult tickets list at $44.50. In mid-October the box office page showed a wait list instead of a buy button.

Saturday, November 14, 7:30 p.m. Daniel Kimbro and Sam Lewis. Kimbro is a Grammy-nominated musician raised on roots music in eastern Tennessee, and Lewis is an Americana artist whose collaborators include Leon Russell and The Wood Brothers. Adult tickets are $26.50, seniors 65+, military and public service are $24.50, students with ID are $22.50, and kids 12 and under are $10.50.

That gives the weekend a set rhythm. People walk through the trees in the afternoon, eat early, and go to a show at 7:30. Then the square goes back to raffle tickets on Sunday morning. Halloween fills the square for one evening. Mid-November fills it from Friday morning through Sunday's 4 p.m. drawing.

Which kitchens are still open after 7

A 7:30 curtain or a 5 p.m. trick-or-treat start means you'll want dinner nearby, and closing times decide how long the evening lasts. These hours come from Historic Hayesville Inc.'s downtown restaurant directory unless noted otherwise, and were checked in mid-October 2026.

On Halloween night, trick or treat runs until 9. Angelo's, which sits on the square, closes at 7:45, and The Happy Dragon and Weathered Vine & Vibes close at 8. Families who stay to the end of the candy tables can still get dinner at Mariolino's until 9:30, or at Fat Dog On Main or The Copper Door until 10.

The Festival of Trees weekend works the same way. On Friday and Saturday, The Firefly Café closes at 3 p.m., four hours before the trees do. The Happy Dragon's dinner window and Angelo's both end around the time a 7:30 show starts. After the show, Fat Dog On Main and The Copper Door are the only two on the list still serving until 10. Hours are the Friday and Saturday times from the directory, and the NOC Social hours come from its own site. Before a show night, check each spot's page in case hours change for the season.

After the trees come down

Once the Festival of Trees wraps up, the next big downtown date is the Hayesville Christmas Parade on Saturday, December 12, from 6 to 8 p.m. on Historic Hayesville Square. The Chamber's listing still reads "Save the Date! More information coming!" The Beal Center's history page counts the parade and the Lighting of the Square among the square's lasting traditions.

For a trip over the state line in the gap, Mountain Country Christmas in Lights opens Thursday, November 26, at 6 p.m. It's a walk-through light show at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds, 1311 Music Hall Road in Hiawassee. Admission is $12, and children under 12 get in free.

That leaves about two quiet weeks between the Sunday tree drawing on November 15 and the Hiawassee lights, then the parade on December 12. The calendar that started with ghost stories on October 30 ends where most of it happened, around the old courthouse on Herbert Street.

If family is coming in for the Festival of Trees weekend and someone starts asking what it's like to own a place within walking distance of the square, I'd love to have that conversation. I keep track of this downtown calendar all year, and I can show you which streets put Herbert Street and the Peacock in easy reach. Melissa Jenkins Stillwell is here to help. Schedule a free consultation whenever you're ready.