SUCHES – Always the first full weekend in October, the Indian Summer Festival at Woody Gap School is a popular annual event, and the 2025 outing was especially well received, featuring larger crowds than last year’s festival, according to organizer Larry Wood.
Attendance was indeed heavy Oct. 4 & 5, with potentially more than a thousand guests filing in to experience the decades-old celebration of mountain life, all in furtherance of a great cause; festival proceeds go to support students of Woody Gap – the smallest public school in Georgia.
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There were several firsts for the 2025 season, too. For example, the new “Kids’ Corner” went over very well, with a multitude of bouncy houses and a mechanical bull for bold young cowpokes to conquer.
Hypnotist Terry Stokes also made his first appearance at the festival’s stage, to the awe of an enraptured crowd.
New vendors, too, offered some excellent choices for early Christmas gifts or good ideas for personal purchases, fitting in nicely with the festival emphasis on handmade arts and crafts.
Following a lead from a new friend, Sara Bischoff of Pillow Presents decided to take a chance and set up a booth at the Indian Summer Festival. They found out quickly that their pillows were particularly popular.
“We had a really good day – we didn’t know what to expect,” said Bischoff, who added that she and her husband ran into a “good” problem of selling so much of their stock they might have trouble getting ready for the upcoming Sorghum in the Mountains Festival.
Meanwhile, Debra Swain and Annelle Beall returned to Suches to sell soap. Although the business operates out of Athens now, Swain first learned how to make soap when she lived in Suches back in 2020.
This is the fourth year Swainsong Soaps has set up a booth at the Indian Summer Festival, and Swain readily admits that it’s her favorite place to do business.
“It’s a nice size, the people are nice, I like the setup, and it’s very well-organized,” explained Swain, pleasantly surprised to find she now has “regulars” who come for the sole purpose of picking up bars of her soap. “The support of the people who put it on makes a big difference.”
Ann Smith recently moved to Atlanta from Texas, so she’s experiencing all Georgia has to offer with the help of her friend and annual Indian Summer attendee Carol Kraus. They were lingering around Floyd Higgins’ educational Wildlife Action, Inc. trailer filled with local taxidermy.
“I got an invite to the festival that I couldn’t refuse, and I’m so glad that I took her up on it,” said Smith with a smile.
Kraus, for her part, added, “I’m just enjoying the day, the feeling of fall in the air, and I’m enjoying this wildlife exhibit and talking to people who know all about wildlife.” It was a special draw for her, being an avid birdwatcher and former rehabber.
2025 was volunteer Jim Curtis’ first time assisting at the festival. Spurred on by the desire to help his community, Curtis kept an eye on the kids’ area, encouraging brave little souls to try their luck with the mechanical bull ride.
As things were wrapping up on Saturday, however, he gave rides to visitors walking back to their cars. After a day of interacting with a multitude of families, it gave him time to reflect on why he felt so fulfilled giving Wood a hand this year.
“I enjoyed everything coming together as well as it did; that’s the main thing,” Curtis said. “When you see how good a time the kids have and how good a time people have, there just seems to be a real sense of community or camaraderie.”
