If summer was the season for wandering – We’re looking at you, Odysseus! – then fall welcomes us back home. If summer’s sweltering heatwave parched the earth, then fall’s mild temperatures and gentle weather offer healing relief. If summer left us fatigued and wanting fulfillment, then prepare to feast on fall’s bounty.
If you can’t already tell, we really love fall at Mast General Store! Visit one of our Mast Store communities, leaf-look at landscapes bursting with bold colors, soak in the soft sunlight, and join friends, family, and neighbors at one or more of the many fall happenings near you.
Here is Mast Store’s 2026 Fall Festival Guide packed with local fairs, festivities, and FUN! We hope each of the events listed gives all weary, sunburned, summer travelers a homecoming of epic proportions.
Head to the Fairgrounds
The state fair, the county fair, or just “the fair” is a fall tradition across the country. Enter your homemade pickles, pound cake, or butter mints to win bragging rights along with the blue ribbon, see local 4-Hers showing off their prize calves and bulls, and farmers exhibiting bigger-than-life pumpkins and cabbages. And you can forget the food and the rides – we recommend lumping all your cheat days on your diet together for a day at the fair!
Mountain State Fair – September 11-20, 2026, 1301 Fanning Bridge Road, Fletcher, NC 28732
Carolina Classic Fair – October 2-11, 2026, 2825 University Parkway, Winston-Salem, NC 27105
South Carolina State Fair – October 15-25, 2026, 1200 Rosewood Drive, Columbia, SC 29201
Food Fetes
Nothing says “fall” and “festival” like food. While all festivals have tasty foods like Fried Apple Pies, Pumpkin Donuts, and Corny Corndogs, some take festival fare to a whole new level.
Local Environmental Agriculture Project (LEAP) hosts a Fall Harvest Supper as a fundraiser and another reason to celebrate local food producers and their fans together. Photo courtesy of LEAP.
euphoria – September 17-20, 2026, Downtown Greenville
euphoria shines a spotlight on the culinary arts and cooks up goodwill for the community. Since 2006, this event has made a positive impact on its local community by benefiting initiatives that support and sustain life and health.
LEAP Farm Harvest Supper – September 20, 2026, 1027 Patterson Avenue SW, Roanoke, VA 24016
The late-season harvest is on full display in a celebration of community and farm-to-table food culture brought to you by local farmers and chefs! Enjoy live music as you savor offerings that are literally rooted in your home region, and know that your plate benefits a good cause in LEAP, which supports affordable, fresh food access for all neighbors.
Fall for Greenville – October 9-11, 2026, Downtown Greenville
Combining tastes, tunes, and taps, Fall for Greenville is a unique festival held on Main Street featuring 60 restaurants, 80+ bands, and 50+ beer taps and wine vendors. Yuuu-uum!
Fine Arts & Crafts
Creativity can be found around almost every corner. These festivals feature high-quality arts and crafts as determined and selected by a board of jurors. They are great places to start your holiday shopping or to find something unique for your own home.
It's always a beautiful day at the Church Street Festival in Downtown Waynesville. This juried festival is filled with fine arts and crafts from across the region. Photo courtesy of Downtown Waynesville.
Art on Main - September 26-27, 2026, Main Street, Hendersonville
A fine art and craft show that brings more than 100 local and regional artists to Hendo's Main Street. It's a great opportunity for informal conversations that foster meaningful connections as visitors and artists interact with one another.
Church Street Festival – October 10, 2026, Main Street, Waynesville
For more than 40 years, this festival has offered handmade art, jewelry, and crafts along with Appalachian music and dance performances. Leave some room to enjoy the food, too.
Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands – October 15-18, 2026, Harrah’s Cherokee Center, Asheville
This craft fair is one of the longest-running in the region – now in its 79th year. Exhibits include handmade work across 12 media – clay, fiber, wood, metal, glass, jewelry, paper, leather, natural materials, mixed media, book arts, and printmaking. In keeping with the mission of the Guild, there will be demonstrations of both traditional and contemporary techniques to connect visitors with talented craftspeople.
Music & Culture
Many fall festivals shine a light on time-honored traditions – like celebrating the harvest of apples and pumpkins, showcasing ethnic backgrounds through food and dancing, diving deeper into songwriting and storytelling, and did we mention food? Dig into your favorite avenue of celebrating fall with these festivals.
Boomtown FestAVL – September 4-6, 2026, Pack Square, Downtown Asheville
Asheville emerged as a boomtown in the 1920s. The Boomtown FestAVL brings together an array of artists, musicians, and storytellers, creating an immersive experience that highlights the city's diverse cultural tapestry.
NC Apple Festival – September 4-7, 2026 – Hendersonville
As wholesome and flavorful as the theme of the festival, Hendersonville’s North Carolina Apple Festival is a long-running “gala” the whole family will love. This Labor Day Weekend street festival celebrates not just all things “apple,” but also the culture of the place where they’re grown in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Henderson County grows 85% of the state’s apple crop. Stick around until Monday for the King Apple Parade.
Antlers & Acorns: The Boone Songwriters Festival – September 23-26, 2026, Boone
This festival celebrates the art of songwriting and is hosted at several venues throughout downtown. In addition to experiencing the music of songwriters, Antlers and Acorns uniquely offers attendees the opportunity to get to know the songwriters by going on a hike, kayaking, or fly fishing with them.
Historic Bethabara Park Apple Fest – September 26, 2026, Winston-Salem
Bethabara was the first Moravian settlement in North Carolina. Although it was intended to be a temporary encampment while nearby Salem was being constructed, Bethabara has endured more than 270 years. Take part in its special history by celebrating a food staple that sustained Moravian settlers along the Great Wagon Road to their new home in North Carolina and centuries beyond. Also enjoy live music, food, crafts, and historical demonstrations that are unique to early Moravian life in the American colonies.
Jubilee: Festival of Black History and Culture – September 19, 2026, Columbia
Jubilee celebrates South Carolina’s Black history and culture on the grounds of Columbia’s Mann-Simons Site, which itself represents the multi-generational entrepreneurial legacy of one of Columbia’s preeminent Black families. For more than 45 years, this free outdoor festival has brought together all people in the community through music, dance, arts, crafts, food, and storytelling.
The Autumn Market and Fall Festival at Hickory Ridge Museum in Boone is a great time to learn more about life in the late 1700s. Photo courtesy of Southern Appalachian Historical Association.
Appalachian Autumn Market & Fall Festival – October 3, 2026, Boone
Celebrate the Appalachian Mountains’ rich cultural heritage by observing how traditional, regional foods, like apple butter, and everyday essentials were produced in the 18th century through blacksmithing, spinning, and weaving demonstrations. Live storytelling, music, and – yes, even – hatchet throwing also transport you to the Appalachian lifestyle of yesteryear! There are plenty of Appalachian-themed activities kids and the family dog can participate in, too.
HoLa Festival – October 10, 2026, World’s Fair Park, Knoxville
The colorful and tasty festival features live music, dancing, arts and craft vendors, home-cooked food, craft beer, 21 educational Hispanic Heritage booths, children’s activities and games, community resources, a Parade of Nations, and more.
Valle Country Fair – October 17, 2026, Highway 194, Valle Crucis
A truly uplifting community event in the heart of the High Country, the Valle Country Fair showcases food, crafts, and mountain music. This long-running fair is sponsored by Holy Cross Episcopal Church, and all proceeds from concessions and parking, as well as a portion from craft exhibitors, benefit local nonprofits. The fair runs 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Our recommendation is to COME EARLY!
Apple Harvest Festival – October 17, 2026, Main Street, Waynesville
The mountains of Western North Carolina are a hub for apple production as the state of North Carolina ranks seventh in the nation for apple production. It’s fitting there are multiple festivals in the region that celebrate this versatile fruit. Waynesville’s Apple Harvest Festival stands out among them and has been called one of the ten best fall harvest festivals in the country.
Woolly Worm Festival – October 17-18, 2026, Banner Elk
This High Country event in Banner Elk, just a few miles over the mountain from the Original Mast General Store and Mast Store Annex, has been such a hit, in fact, that it’s entering its 49th year. Through a series of woolly worm races, a winning worm is determined and gets to predict the coming winter’s weather. The Woolly Worm Festival also includes food, around 150 craft vendors, live music, and kids’ activities. Bring your own worm for racing or purchase one from a “worm stable” at the fair.
Inside & Outside
Sometimes it’s good to sit down with a book or several, and other times, the call of nature is too strong not to heed. There are festivals that celebrate authors and books and gatherings that have you stepping outside and maybe challenging your comfort zone.
Bookmarks Festival of Books & Authors – September 25-27, 2026, Downtown Winston-Salem
The written word is alive and well at the Carolinas’ largest festival of books and authors. In its 21-year history, the Bookmarks Festival has hosted hundreds of authors from around the world with Saturday crowds averaging 20,000 attendees from 30+ states. This year, bestselling authors John Green and Jodi Picoult deliver the Opening and Closing Keynote addresses, respectively, on the campus of Wake Forest University. Tickets for each keynote event are available on the festival website. The Bookmarks Festival of Books and Authors is part of the Bookmarks literary arts nonprofit, whose programming promotes the love of literature in Winston-Salem year-round.
Carilion GO Outside Festival – October 16-18, 2026, Downtown Roanoke
What better place to GO Outside than in this outdoor lover’s paradise in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains? GO Fest lets you watch it, try it, and live it – no matter what your level of outdoor engagement. The festival features lumberjack shows, climbing and bouldering walls, races, BMX demos, silent disco dances, and MORE.
For Kids Only
OK, we may have fibbed a little here because kids need their adults to get them to the events (and the adults will have a little fun, too).
Tweetsie Railroad’s Ghost Train – September 25-26 and October 2-3, 9-10, 16-17, 23-24, and 30-31, 2026, Tweetsie Railroad, Blowing Rock
All aboard the Ghost Train, Tweetsie’s family-friendly Halloween celebration. When darkness falls, the wild west town is transformed into a spooktacular place for chills and thrills. Reservations are HIGHLY recommended.
Henderson County’s Farm City Day – October 3, 2026, Jackson Park, Hendersonville
This free event started in 1955 and celebrates rural traditions while introducing “city folks” to the area’s most important industry, agriculture. There are many hands-on activities like petting farm animals, as well as modern and antique farm equipment, live music, and more.
It's Ghoul Times for the whole family at Kaleideum's Halloween celebration. Wear your favorite costume and take part in wacky science experiments, make spooktacular Halloween crafts, and dance the Monster Mash. Photo courtesy of Kaleideum.
Boo at the Zoo – October 16-30, 2026, Columbia
Come mid-October, things get wilder than usual once dark falls on the Riverbanks Zoo. Bring your little ghouls and goblins to the zoo’s annual family-friendly, Halloween-themed extravaganza where they’ll witness Moonlight Magic, hop a ride on a haunted train or carousel, dance to spooky DJ beats, and trick-or-treat amongst their favorite furry and feathered pals.
Ghoul Times at Kaleideum – October 24, 2026, West 3rd Street, Winston-Salem
It’s a spooktacular day of Halloween fun for the whole family with mad scientists brewing up wacky experiments, a haunted hallway, spooky obstacle course, and more.
Several downtowns host trick-or-treating on or near Halloween. Some have costume contests, storytime at the library, and other activities. Let the boys and ghouls explore their alter-egos (and the adults, too) in the spirit of Halloween – then maybe enjoy a bite to eat on Main Street.
Trick or Treat on Main Street – October 31, 2026, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Downtown Greenville
Boone Boo – October 31, 2026, 5-7:30 p.m., Downtown Boone
Treats on the Street – October 31, 2026, 5-7 p.m., Downtown Waynesville
Treat Street Carnival – October 31, 2026, 5-8 p.m., Downtown Hendersonville
Whatever destinations you and your family enjoy in the upcoming season, we bid you safe travels and warm memories – whether it be miles from home or just beyond your own backyard – leaves you refreshed and fulfilled.