2018 Fall Festival Guide: DC, MD & VA
This year, the first day of Fall is on September 22nd. The temperatures are starting to cool and darkness falls a few minutes earlier each day.
I, for one, am happy about this. Fall is my favorite season.
I love everything about it: the cool, crisp weather; the changing leaves; pumpkin-flavored everything; and the beginning of hockey season – Go CAPS! (2018 Stanley Cup Champions ?)
Perhaps one of the best parts of Fall is all of the wonderful festivals that take place beginning in September.
Below is a partial list of upcoming events throughout DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Go get your calendar. It’s time to start saving some dates!
= FALL FESTIVALS IN WASHINGTON, DC =
Taste of Georgetown (Georgetown/DC) – September 23rd
Washington, D.C.’s most anticipated epicurean festival is be celebrating its 25th year with creative tastes from more than 30 of the neighborhood’s best restaurants. This year, guests will be able to enjoy beer and wine as they stroll from booth to booth.
District Oktoberfest (Dupont Circle Area – DC) – September 29th
You’ll start off with an Oktoberfest beer and keep going all day long. Dupont’s best venues will be ready for you.
Taste of DC (Restaurant Row – DC) – October 5th – 6th
Experience everything Taste of DC has to offer: Restaurant row with 65+ of the region’s best restaurants; Wine Walk; Beer Garden; 3 stages of live music and culinary entertainment; Artisan market featuring local businesses; and the kid zone for family-friendly fun.
= FALL FESTIVALS IN MARYLAND =
Maryland Renaissance Festival (Annapolis/Crownsville) – Weekends through October 21st
This year marks the 41st anniversary of this landmark Maryland eventThe 27 acre Village of Revel Grove comes to life with more than 200 professional performers on ten stages, authentic combat armored jousting on magnificent steeds and streets filled with village characters. In addition, there are over 140 artisans exhibiting crafts in their own renaissance shops, five taverns featuring cool libations, 42 food and beverage emporiums providing a vast array of succulent and sweet treats to sate even the most hearty of appetites.
Baltimore Book Festival (Baltimore) – September 28th – 30th
The Baltimore Book Festival features hundreds of author appearances and book signings, 100+ exhibitors and booksellers, non-stop readings on multiple stages, cooking demos by celebrity chefs, poetry readings and workshops, panel discussions, walking tours, storytellers and hands-on projects for kids, street theater, live music, and a delicious variety of food, beer and wine.
Taste of Bethesda (Bethesda) – October 6th
Bethesda’s famous food and music festival brings 60 restaurants and five stages of entertainment to Bethesda’s Woodmont Triangle. Each year, more than 40,000 attendees sample the delicious restaurants, enjoy the live entertainment and visit the kid’s corner for face painting and arts & crafts
Chesapeake Celtic Festival (Snow Hill) – October 6th – 7th
The Celtic Festival has something for everyone: music; dancing; comedy; storytelling; genealogy; clans; athletics; bagpipes; animals; re-enactment groups; martial arts; craft demonstrations; Celtic wares; cultural presentations; Celtic church service; Flowers of the Forest; a parade; imported beers and ales; wine tasting; scotch whisky tasting; Celtic and Chesapeake culinary delights; and much more!
Sugarloaf Craft Festival – Timonium – October 12th – 14th; Gaithersburg – November 16th – 18th
Meet America’s great artist entrepreneurs, enjoy live music and family-friendly entertainment, and sample tasty treats. Fun for everyone! Learn more about what makes Sugarloaf a special shopping experience.
Berlin Oktoberfest & 150th Celebration (Berlin) – October 13th
Music, food and craft vendors, annual Fall sidewalk sale, Beer garden, games and activities for the children and Cornhole tournament.
Das Best Oktoberfest (Baltimore) – October 13th
All you care to taste over 120 international, domestic and local Maryland beers, domestic wines and schnapps in a souvenir tasting glass; Oompah bands and live music; German & festival foods including bratwurst, knockwurst, potato pancakes and more.
Catoctin Colorfest (Thurmont) – October 13th – 14th
Local art, jewelry, crafts, and a variety of delicious food are just a few of the fun things you will find at this annual event! Catoctin Colorfest, located in Thurmont, MD, is one of the largest outdoor craft shows on the East Coast and is held as the area’s vibrant leaves are changing.
Autumn Wine Festival (Salisbury) – October 17th – 18th
Do you love wine, the great outdoors, delicious food and live entertainment? If so, we invite you to join us for the Autumn Wine Festival at Pemberton Historical Park in Salisbury, Maryland. Produced in partnership with the Maryland Wineries Association, this 2-day wine festival offers samplings from plenty of Maryland wineries.
Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival…and Wine Too! – (Capital Riverfront) – October 20th
Seafood and More Seafood and Lots of Libations. We are very excited to bring the best of the bivalves to you (along with some MEAT!) Enjoy the world’s best SHUCKERS – shucking just for you, smell the FIRE under the grilled oysters, taste the BRINY flavor of the steamed seafood, watch the action while the symphony of tastes plays on right before your eyes. You’ll have food truck options, lots of games and great music on the main stage.
= FALL FESTIVALS IN VIRGINIA =
Beer, Bourbon & BBQ (Leesburg) – October 7th
Join us at the festival for a great day of beer sippin’, bourbon tastin’, music listenin’, and barbeque eatin’. Your admission buys you a sampling glass so you can enjoy an ALL-YOU-CARE-TO-TASTE sampling of beer and bourbon. Some of the best barbeque vendors are on-site if you get hungry all while enjoying seminars in the tasting theater and LIVE music all day.
Richmond Folk Festival (Richmond) – October 12th – 14th
Downtown Richmond’s riverfront to celebrate the roots, richness, and variety of American culture through music, dance traditional crafts, storytelling, and food. The Richmond Folk Festival has become one of Virginia’s largest and most-loved events of the year and has been voted as the best music festival in Richmond several years running. The 2017 Festival will bring a new and similarly amazing list of performers, artists, and exhibitors.
Sugarloaf Craft Festival (Chantilly) – October 19th – 21st and December 7th – 9th
Meet America’s great artist entrepreneurs, enjoy live music and family-friendly entertainment, and sample tasty treats. Fun for everyone! Learn more about what makes Sugarloaf a special shopping experience.
Mount Vernon Fall Harvest Family Days (George Washington’s Mount Vernon) – October 20th – 21st
Enjoy fall activities with the whole family at Mount Vernon! Take a horse-drawn wagon ride, make corn husk dolls, and witness 18th-century dancing, farrier (blacksmithing), and wheat-treading demonstrations. Play early-American games, walk through a straw bale maze and listen to 18th-century music. Fall Harvest Family Days take place rain or shine.
Urbanna Oyster Festival (Urbanna) – November 2nd – 3rd
If this is your first year, you’re in for a treat! The Town of Urbanna is a true Oyster town and the best place to taste, buy and try all things oyster-related. Start your day at the Scottish Factor Store and check out the history of the oyster industry in Urbanna. After you get a peek at how we’ve done it for decades, take a right out of the driveway to the museum and head down “Community Row” to the Waterfront exhibits where you can see the industry in practice today. Once you get a little hands-on experience head back up to the vendors and try all of the different ways to eat these bivalve delicacies! Don’t forget to try the wine and oyster pairings! Also, Virginia Craft Beer Tasting in the park. Virginia is for Oyster Lovers after all!
Above are just some of the many events going on around the area. To keep track of what’s going on in your area, here are some useful links:
- All 50 States + DC – OnlyInYourState
- DC – DestinationDC
- MD – VisitMaryland
- Virginia – VirginiaIsForLovers
