Guest Appreciation Festival (GAF)
September 24-26, 2010

The Grandaddy of Gear Sales!

Welcome to GAF, the famous end-of-season festival for outdoor lovers across the Southeast. Be sure to check this page as 2010 goes on, we'll make details available as soon as we have them. In the meantime, check out the info from 2009 to get a taste of Guest Appreciation Festival!

2009 GAF Events All Weekend

NOC's Used Gear Sale: GAF's centerpiece, this end-of-the-season inventory clearance from our rafting operations, Paddling School and staff is the year's best opportunity to find a bargain on specialty outdoor gear and equipment. The Used Gear Sale is located on river right, and opens at noon on Friday.

Gear Marketplace: While we'd like to think we're the only ones with cool gear to sell, it just isn't true. That's why we have a gear marketplace where guests can barter and haggle with each other to get a bike, paddle or whatever.  Click here to download the 2009 Marketplace Vendor Application (PDF). There are a handfull of spaces left, so return yours quickly. The Gear Marketplace is located on river right, and opens at noon on Friday.

Blowout Deals in the Outfitter's Store: At GAF we price to sell, and we even work with our vendors to blow out their extra inventory. Expect 10-50% off throughout the store, and even bigger deals out front. The Outfitter's Store is open for the following hours: 9am-8pm Friday, 8am-8pm Saturday and 8am-5pm Sunday. The Outfitter's Store Demo Fleet goest on sale 8am Saturday.

Rafting and Paddling: Since the Nantahala's going to be dry this fall while Duke Energy repairs the dam, you're going to want to get on the river while you can. We'll be rafting and running shuttles so you can get your whitewater fix. Our events are fun, but they can't beat the Nanty! Call now for a trip reservation, or reserve when you get here at the Wesser General Store.

Games and Clinics: Set up across NOC property are games, local organizations and clinics that anyone can participate in all weekend long. We'll have the cornhole-toss game, climbing wall slide, paddling video premieres, fishing programs, water-cannon battles, a bouncy house, foamykayak building and racing, throw bag clinics, a big American Whitewater raffle and much more. As always, there is a Costume Contest for adults on Friday night during the HumBuckers show, and one for kids at 3:30pm on Saturday.

Live Music at The Pourover

The Steve Wohlrab Jazz Trio: Mr. Wohlrab—Professor of Jazz Guitar Studies at Western Carolina University—has performed with national acts including The Temptations, Sister Sledge and Carol Channing and published four books on Jazz Guitar with Mel Bay. Expect to be blown away by this collection of virtuosos!

The Bluegrass Lumber Company: Claiming to sound like "a sawmill caught on fire" the BLC specializes in the driving rhythms and resounding harmonies that characterize Southern Appalachian music. Enjoy some of their tunes here.

The HumBuckers: playing "stylistically diverse, feel-good folk, country rock n' roll," Asheville's Mountain Xpress raved about their "booty-shaking boogies, sing-along melodies and a few breathless Bo Diddley beats." These guys are sure to electrify the crowd Friday night. Listen to 'em here.

Woody Pines:Boone's High Country Press says it best: "the type of American roots music that sounds good coming out of a busted AM radio speaker." Woody Pines played upstairs at Relia's Garden last year, and we thought the floor was gonna fall through. Naturally, we invited him back for the big GAF Saturday show. It's gonna be great! Here's a taste.

International Whitewater Hall of Fame
Induction Ceremony

IWHOF's induction ceremony for the class of 2009 will take place Saturday, September 26th at Relia's Garden. . IWHOF isTHE Cooperstown of whitewater, and we're excited to host this internationally significant event at GAF! Saturday, there are meet-and-greet events open to the public, including lunch at Slow Joes, preceeded by a morning raft trip commemorating the Nantahala 90 Raft Rally for Peace. Click here to read more about IWHOF event details.

The Complete Schedule

More Info on Events:

LiquidLogic Boat Recycling
Old kayaks + Big chipper = Boat Recycling. You won't want to miss this sight.

Shred Ready/Immersion Research Pumpkin Pursuit
Remember the Headhunter race at the Ocoee? Spencer Cooke will be throwing numbered pumpkins into Nantahala Falls, and contestant boaters will be scrambling to retrieve as many as possible. At Saturday's Woody Pines show, we'll award prizes to the collecters of randomly-drawn numbers.

Old School Rodeo
Dagger's Anna Levesque and Adam Moates judge the old-school rodeo at the bottom of Nanty Falls.

Giant Slalom
LiquidLogic's Woody Calloway will officiate this slalom race, beginning at the boater take out just upriver from Slow Joe's Cafe. Course ends with a splash through the wave and an eddy just above the old steel bridge.

Jackson Big Trick Competition
EJ hosts the Big Trick Competition at the Outfitter's Store wave.

Head-to-Head Speeder Challenge
Pyranha brings you a Boater-X style race from the NOC beach to just above the old steel bridge.

Wacky Wild Ride Booth
Take a ducky over Big Wesser Falls, or at least look like you did! Our Photo Finish will have a Wacky Wild Ride booth set up with a green screen, for creative ducky riding photos. Photo sessions are free, and images are available for purchase online. The Wacky Wild Ride Booth will be set up in front of the Photo Finish building, on river left.

Georgia Canoe Association's Southeastern Downriver Championships
The GCA's annual Southeastern Downriver Race will be held this GAF Sunday, September 27. Registration for the race begins at 9:15 at the commercial put-in on Wayah Road. A mass-start at 10:30am will pit competitors head-to-head down the entire stretch of the Nantahala River to the NOC Founder's Bridge. Results and medals will be given out at 12:30pm at the festival stage.

Fun for Kids
Check out the cool bouncy castle and rock-climb-slide we'll have set up all weekend!

Parking GAF Weekend

Because GAF is so popular, and because we'll still be running normal rafting operations GAF weekend, our on-site parking won't accommodate all of Saturday's turnout. Please plan on the possibility of parking at a satellite lot and/or riding a free shuttle to and from the event. NOC will have additional parking located approximately a half mile up Silvermine Road (across from the Outfitter's Store) that won't require a shuttle, and NOC will also have other parking lots east of the main campus (on US 19/74) that will be clearly marked on the event weekend. These lots are close by and will have ongoing shuttle access throughout the day.

Click here for a blog post regarding parking GAF weekend.

Restaurant Event Weekend Hours

River's End Restaurant: Friday 8am-9pm, Saturday 7am-9pm, Sunday 8am-7pm
Slow Joe's Cafe: Opens at 7am all weekend
Relia's Garden Restaurant: Friday through Sunday, 5pm-9pm