Springtime in Georgia: Pick Your Perfect Activity

The arrival of springtime is your cue to experience newly bloomed flower gardens, freshly grown peaches and strawberries, and our bounty of enticing spring festivals. These activities – plus Georgia’s mild spring temperatures – are why visitors and residents alike love to get outside and enjoy the state’s beautiful natural playground.

Experience Georgia's blooming botanical gardens

Georgia’s long growing season and rich assortment of native plants make it a prime spot for botanical gardens – and there’s no better time to explore them than in spring, when it’s boasting a kaleidoscope of fresh flora. As Georgia warms up, our botanical gardens undergo their annual glow-up. Admire everything from our iconic dogwoods to rainbows of tulips reawakening.

At the State Botanical Garden of Georgia in Athens, explore themed landscapes like the International Garden, which traces the history of plant cultivation since the Middle Ages, and the Dunson Native Flora Garden, showcasing hundreds of Southeastern U.S. plants such as lady slipper orchids and bloodroot.

There’s also plenty of opportunity for outdoor amazement in North Georgia at Gibbs Gardens in Ball Ground, when the early March to mid-April Daffodil ColorFest blankets the landscape in a frothy, vibrant yellow. With more than 20 million perfectly planted bulbs dotting 50 rolling acres, this is the largest daffodil display in the U.S. – voted best in the nation in 2025 by USA Today’s 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.

The centerpiece of the Savannah Botanical Gardens is a dazzling rose garden – think crimson, blush, coral, and golden-yellow blooms cultivated by local garden clubs. Nearby, the historic 1840s Reinhard House, with its gingerbread trim, anchors the 12-acre site as the garden’s visitor center. But it’s the roses that command all the attention.

Taste Georgia-grown peaches, strawberries, and onions

In Georgia, you can harvest and enjoy your juicy peaches, fresh veggies, and tart strawberries – spring’s finest. Keep your eyes open for information about sweet Vidalia onions’ “pack date,” too, signaling when you can pick some up to bring home with you.

Dickey Farms in Musella, Georgia’s oldest peach packinghouse, is revered for its fuzzy Clingstone peaches each May. (Fun fact: did you know that the Columbus Clingstones Minor League Baseball team, named for the same peaches, is part of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves?) Southern Belle Farm in McDonough delivers a bounty of early-spring strawberries so good you’ll crave this sweet and juicy fruit year after year. Or, spend time at Fort Valley’s Lane Southern Orchards to pick more gorgeous strawberries and even some spring peaches.

Join the fun at Georgia's spring festivals

Georgia’s spring festival season is a special time – a fun invitation to step outside as temperatures warm, dogwoods and azaleas burst into bloom, and communities come alive with festivals celebrating music, food, and art. Mid-to-late March is your chance to hear live tunes, eat delicious food, and see Macon’s beautiful Yoshino cherry tree blossoms during the International Cherry Blossom Festival.

At the Savannah Music Festival, spanning late March to mid-April, see lively jazz, blues, and Americana performances at eight distinct venues across the city, including the historic Lucas Theatre for the Arts and expansive Johnny Mercer Theatre. Past artists at Georgia’s largest annual musical arts event include Jason Isbell, Rosanne Cash, and Warren Haynes Band. (Another fun fact: did you know Warren Haynes was the longtime guitarist for Georgia’s own Allman Brothers Band and a Gov’t Mule founder?)

The Vidalia Onion Festival in, you guessed it, Vidalia salutes the official state veggie with creativity and country songs in late April. Visit the world’s sweet onion capital for revelry like the ever-popular Onion Run, inspirational cooking demonstrations, a kids’ carnival, tethered hot-air balloon rides, and the sparkle of fireworks.

Or, honor Georgia’s shrimping community with another cherished annual event: the Blessing of the Fleet in Darien. For three days in April, along the town’s scenic waterfront, you can taste locally sourced seafood, tour a vintage car show, and witness the shrimp boat blessing for which the event is named.

The Savannah St. Patrick’s Day Parade is one of America’s largest processions honoring “the apostle of Ireland,” where thousands of green-attired revelers watch marching bands, bagpipe players, and floats. Savannah isn’t the only locale where St. Patrick’s Day is observed, however. With deep Irish roots and lots of Irish pride, Dublin’s monthlong celebration features over 40 events. In Augusta, the Irish American Heritage Society puts on a parade with festive floats and marching bands, followed by an after-party with libations and Irish music.