Over the years, the two-day festival has grown into one of the biggest events in the southeast, attracting 500,000 people in 1999. During the festival, which opens on Saturday, all vehicle traffic is detoured from the town square, where 300 arts and craft booths are set up. Master of ceremonies Gun Sharpe oversaw the festival events, including performing the coronation, in 1999, just as he has done since 1955. The World Open Gold Panning Championship, which began in California in 1961 to commemorate the 1842 discovery of gold in Los Angeles County, moved to the Consolidated Gold Mine in Dahlonega in the late 1980s. At the turn of the 20th century, the mine was reportedly the largest gold mining operation east of the Mississippi River.
Documentation includes two project reports and photographs.