Fall is festival season in Arkansas!
By the time September rolls around Arkansans are sick and tired of the heat of summer and ready to celebrate cooler weather and the kids going back to school.
There are so many fall festivals in the state and I we are going to tell you some of our favorites so that you can plan some wonderful fall festivities!
Best Fall Festivals in Arkansas
We hope that you enjoy this list of our favorite fall festivals in Arkansas! Let us know if we have included your favorites!
These are located all over the state and celebrate everything from food to crafts to music. These are festivals which occur from September through November.
Ozark Folk Festival in Eureka Springs
The Ozark Folk Festival is truly a classic. It is entering its 77th year and just happens to be the longest running folk festival in America! This is three days and three nights of music, fun, and folk usually held in early September.
In addition to musical events there are workshops for fingerpicking, flat-picking, uke and mandolin, as well as jig dancing & spoons.
The Ozark Songwriting competition showcases songwriters from all over the country. You can also enjoy the Folk Fair in Basin Park with Ozark artists and Craftspeople on Friday and Saturday.
Check out more information about the Ozark Folk Festival!
Here you will find more information about Eureka Springs
Downtown Food Truck Festival in Little Rock
We love a good food festival and the Downtown Food Truck Festival in Little Rock is one that we try to attend every year!
This event is always held in the fall. 60 and 80 food trucks converge on and take over the streets of Downtown Little Rock filling the city with the wafting aromas of savory goodness.
The food trucks are both local and from around the country. Thousands of people attend this even making it the largest food festival in the state.
The festival also includes numerous musicians, vendors, and entertainers across its downtown footprint.
Come hungry to this amazing Arkansas fall festival!
Go here for more information about the Downtown Food Truck Festival.
Lots more festivals!
- Here is a list of more great Arkansas festivals in September
- Here is a list of more great Arkansas festivals in October
King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Arkansas
The towns along the Mississippi River are synonymous with the Delta Blues. This includes the river town of Helena, Arkansas.
The King Biscuit Blues Festival has been an annual event in Helena since 1986. It is one of the largest musical events in the state and attracts tens of thousands of people to the banks of the Mississippi River. Blues lovers from all over the country attend this amazing event.
This festival is typically held the weekend before Columbus Day each October. The purpose is to preserve the music of the Delta. In addition to live music productions the event includes BBQ cooking contests, craft vendors, a 5K run, and much more.
The name stems from King Biscuit Time, the longest-running daily radio show in America.
More information about the King Biscuit Blues Festival
Hillberry Harvest Moon Festival in Eureka Springs, Arkansas
The Hillberry Harvest Moon Festival is another great Eureka Springs event.
It includes 5 nights, 2 stages, and all the best of bluegrass, Americana, and Funk. In addition to music there are also workshops and various activities.
The event is held at The Farm in Eureka Springs which is a campground & concert venue located in the beautiful Ozark Mountains. Primitive camping is available onsite.
Learn more about the Hillberry Harvest Moon Festival here.
Timberfest in Sheridan, Arkansas
Timberfest is a fun and unique festival usually held the first weekend in October on the courthouse square in Sheridan, Arkansas.
At this festival you can see the Arkansas Lumberjack Championship! This event has even been televised on the ESPN sports network. You can see events such as the Jack and Jill crosscut, the ax throw, horizontal chop, and a chainsaw competition.
There are also plenty of other activities such a horseshoe tournament, arts and crafts, games, a petting zoo, entertainment, and plenty of other fun activities.
This is a fun one! Check Timberfest for more information.
Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival – Hot Springs
We attended this festival last year and definitely hope to attend again. Established in 1991, the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival is an Oscar® qualifying festival for ‘Documentary Short Subject’ by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
It is a critically acclaimed festival that benefits the region by providing an affordable arts festival that offers the best in documentary film, inspiring educational programs, and exposure to internationally acclaimed filmmakers and special guests.
They seek to discover, support and inspire diverse documentary filmmakers and champion a southern film community that reflects the full breadth of experience and story in the American South.
The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival is certainly the most critically acclaimed festival in the state. The main hub of the festival and two of the viewing venues are at the Arlington Resort and Spa. Another venue is at the Oaklawn Event Center.
A number of documentary films are shown each day of the festival.
Learn more about the Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival here.
Here are some more things that you might want to know about Hot Springs
War Eagle Craft Fair in Rogers, Arkansas
The War Eagle Fair has a rich history. It was founded in 1954 by Blanche Elliott, a local woman who took a weaving class which inspired her to put together an arts and crafts fair with the beautiful War Eagle Valley as the backdrop.
Fall was chosen for the event in order to showcase the beauty of the fall foliage as well as the crafts.
The fair was a success from the very beginning and is even more successful today. In fact, this is one of the most impressive crafts fairs that you will ever attend.
Not only is the fall setting near the gorgeous War Eagle Mill sheer perfection but there are also more than 250 booths of all handcrafted products displayed by their creators. Well over 100,000 people attend this amazing craft fair!
It is one not to be missed.
Go here for more information about the War Eagle Craft Fair.
ScotsFest in Batesville, Arkansas
ScotsFest was established in 1979 on the Arkansas College campus as a way to pay homage to the Scottish heritage of the College’s founders. The festival began as a small Scottish fair on the intramural field as a part of homecoming celebrations.
As it grew, the festival moved onto a larger area surrounding the field, and then moved again in 2004 to incorporate the central area of the college campus.
Now held annually in October, the Arkansas Scottish Festival has gone from being an obscure fair in the foothills of the Ozarks to one of the best-known Scottish festivals in the South.
It includes Pipe bands, solo pipers, drummers, dancers, athletes, Celtic performers, clan representatives, and vendors who travel from all corners of the country to attend and participate in the event.
Check out the Arkansas Scottish Festival for more information.
Beanfest and Championship Outhouse Races in Mountain View
This is one of the quirkiest and most fun of the Arkansas Festivals. It is honestly one of my very favorites because it is just so lighthearted.
First of all it is held in Mountain View which is one of the best Ozark Mountain towns with a great history of folk music and a lovely town square.
Approximately 2,000 lbs. of pinto beans are cooked all around the square in huge iron pots. There will be 30 or 40 teams competing for the title of best beans. Everywhere you look there are beans cooking in huge pots steaming around the square and the smell of baking cornbread in the air.
At noon a lunch of beans and cornbread is served to the hungry crowds! Afterward everyone gathers to watch the races. Outhouse races. How fun is that!? Outhouses racing through the streets of Mountain View, Arkansas.
Get more information about Beanfest.
Hillcrest Harvest Fest in Little Rock
Hillcrest Harvest Fest has been voted the top festival in the state by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette and the Arkansas Times. It is a one day event that takes place in the historic Little Rock neighborhood of Hillcrest.
This premiere fall festival attracts tens of thousands of people from all around the state. It is a perfect festival for the whole family featuring more than 110 vendors, 13 food trucks, a local beer garden, a pie contest, an all-day concert at the LostForty stage, a kids’ entertainment area, a dog show and so much more.
Learn more about Hillcrest Harvest Fest here.
Arkansas Rice Festival in Weiner, Arkansas
If you are not from Arkansas and you are reading this…yes, the name of the town is Weiner. Weiner is located in northeast Arkansas.
The Arkansas Rice Festival celebrates all things rice! Did you know that Arkansas is one of the leading producers of rice in the nation?
The festival includes pageants, food and craft vendors, a rice cook-off, an old-time rice threshing demonstration, a parade, car show and so much more!
Here is more information about the Arkansas Rice Festival.
Arkansas Apple Festival in Lincoln, Arkansas
This is the 48th annual of this amazing celebration of delicious Arkansas apples.
The festival will be located on the beautiful Lincoln town square. It starts with a parade and afterward you can sample apple slices and apple cider, browse through vendor booths featuring unique crafts as well as homemade apple butter, jams and jellies!
There will be over 100 vendors featuring crafts in addition to the apple products.
Apple dumplings will be served and there will be a kids area with inflatables as well as a tractor show. Fun for the whole family.
Here is more information about the Arkansas Apple Festival.
We hope that you have enjoyed this list of some of our favorite fall festivals in Arkansas!
Thanks for stopping by!
