The Hemlock is one of the true gentle giants of the forest. With its broad canopy of soft, feathery needles and tiny budlike cones, this towering evergreen can reach more than 100 feet and live up to 500 years. It's a vital member of the mountain forest ecosystem, providing year-round shade, food and shelter for countless critters, erosion control, and playing a key role in the carbon cycle of the Eastern forests.

Vast stands of Eastern and Carolina Hemlocks make up the mountainous forests of North Georgia, extending throughout the Southern Appalachians, but these stately Goliaths are severely threatened by a tiny pest that can easily be mistaken for a speck of lint.

An invader from Asia, the wolly adelgid is a miniscule, white, fuzzy insect that gathers in swarms along the Hemlock's branches, feasting on the trees' vital fluids while simultaneously injecting a toxic secretion into the trees' systems, often killing it within five years. Entire valleys and mountainsides throughout the Appalachians show scars of the devastation, bearing only the shadowy gray skeletons of the defoliated, dead trees.

This weekend thousands will descend upon Starbridge Retreat just outside of Dahlonega to celebrate and help save this beloved tree. The fifth annual Hemlockfest features three full days of live music, food, crafts, children's activities, environmental programming, fire dancing, camping and more for adults and children of all ages.

"To me, the best part of the weekend is the people involved," says Kristen Jordan, treasurer of The Lumpkin Coalition, a nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to saving the hemlocks, and raising environmental awareness in Lumpkin County. "Hemlockfest is a friendly festival that includes families and children-we're all working toward the greater good and you can feel that it's a very positive environment," said Jordan.

Once again, legendary eclectic rock superstar Colonel Bruce Hampton and the Quark Alliance will play the festival, with a prime Saturday evening slot. Friday night's headliners include The Packway Handle Band, an extremely popular alternative bluegrass band from Athens, as well as Atlanta's award-winning roots rocker Michelle Malone.

With nearly 20 bands and a troop of fire dancers on the schedule, the festival is teeming with entertainment. "Bands have found us and volunteered to play at the fest," says Jordan of the musicians' eagerness to support the cause. "The Hemlockfest pulls in local music and gives the fest an even closer sense of community," she adds.

With on-site camping, the festival becomes a community in and of itself. As the official lineup winds down after midnight each evening, the festivities move to the natural amphitheater on the property where campers engage in all night acoustic jam sessions, drum circles and sing-alongs by flickering firelight.

"It's a neat thing once the fest calms down to get a little more intimate later in the evening," said Jordan.

The mornings begin with outdoor yoga and nature walks led by professional naturalists; Saturday and Sunday's schedules both feature informative programming about the plight of the hemlock and the efforts being made to save it. Money raised by the Hemlockfest supports the Lumpkin Coalition's funding of labs at UGA, Clemson University, North Georgia College & State University, and Young Harris College. These institutions are all involved in a program to raise predator beetles to control the wooly adelgid without the use of chemical pesticides that could have alternative harmful impacts on the environment.

The Lumpkin Coalition also runs a Hemlock hotline that private landowners can call to seek advice and assistance on diagnosing and controlling infestations of hemlocks.

"We are mostly outdoor enthusiasts, people who care about the environment," says Jordan of the Coalition. "We are a diverse group of people who have come together to save the hemlock tree," she adds.