Texas is home to hundreds of festivals and fairs, celebrating everything from pickles to sand castles. No matter where you live in the state there are probably plenty of fun options, but what Texas events are so good they’re worth the overpriced gas and hotel stay?
The state is known throughout the country for elaborate rodeos, food festivals that highlight our love for chili and barbecue, and no-frills music festivals sparked from an amp, a smoker, and a dream. The last part of the year holds its own special lineup as the Southwest struggles to repel summer and has to create its own fall vibes. Here’s our list of fall events that we think every Texan should experience at least once.
Texas Jazz Festival – Corpus Christi
Oct. 17-19, 2026
The Texas Jazz Festival is pretty iconic because it’s the longest-running free festival in the world. This year the event celebrates its 65th year and will host bands, live jazz music on three stages, as well as local food vendors and a crafter’s market. This year, you can plan to see artists like Joe Posada, Tony Palos, and Cruise Control.
Texas Rose Festival – Tyler
Oct. 15-18, 2026
The Tyler Rose Festival has been a Texas tradition since 1933. Known as “the rose capital of America,” Tyler has a museum dedicated to the city’s history as a rose-growing community and a 14-acre rose garden with more than 600 rose varieties across 38,000 bushes. The Rose Parade is considered the biggest event during the festival, but the delightfully gaudy pageant that crowns the Rose Festival Queen is a must-see event, as well.
Galveston Island Shrimp Festival
Sept. 25-26, 2026
Seafood lovers, step to the front. Galveston Island Shrimp Festival is the ultimate celebration of coastal cuisine. The event features a shrimp-themed 5k, a shrimp gumbo cook-off, and a massive block party on the first night. Every event has its own ticket, but a must is the $17 ticket for the gumbo stroll, where you can taste dozens of samples until you find a roux that’s just right for you.
Feels Like Home Festival – Brownwood
Oct. 3, 2026
Feels Like Home is a rather new festival, but it has a pretty easy concept—music and barbecue. The one-day Hill Country event lines up legendary pitmasters giving out delicious food while live music sets run throughout the day. There are different levels of tickets depending on what kind of experience you want, but general admission goes for $87. Gary Allen and Scotty McCreery are headlining this year.
Muertos Fest – San Antonio
Oct. 24-26, 2026
Muertos Fest is the nation’s largest Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, event. It combines music, art, dance, and features one of the largest altar exhibitions you’ll see. In fact, the festival grounds are covered with more than 80 altars, as well as five performance stages, and food vendors everywhere. On the first and last day there will be a traditional Day of the Dead procession. The event is free and dog-friendly.
Kolache Festival – Caldwell
Sept. 12, 2026
Kolache Festival is a free, day-long event in a north central Texas town referred to as “the kolache capital of Texas.” The event is a celebration of Czech heritage and includes a 5k, a quilt show, a classic car exhibit, and, of course, a sea of kolache bake shops. There’s even a kolache eating contest. To participate as an individual or team, sign up the morning of the festival—children can compete, too.
Fredericksburg Food & Wine Festival
Oct. 22-25, 2026
This food festival has been around for more than 30 years and has become the largest food festival in the region. It’s so popular that buying a ticket for an entire weekend is no longer an option, but individual event tickets are still available and probably the most frugal way to get a taste of such a nationally renowned event. If you attend no other event, prioritize the street dinner. It’s a three-hour dinner event at a long table extending through downtown Fredericksburg with top-of-the-line wine and food while string lights hang overhead. While this event is very much for adults, Fredericksburg has a great family-friendly Oktoberfest a few weeks earlier that is also very much worth the drive.
Wurstfest – New Braunfels
Nov. 6-15, 2026
Wurstfest is a 10-day celebration of all things German. The festival, which started in 1961 as a celebration in honor of sausage—yes, it was the local meat inspector’s idea—has become a huge event that welcomes about a quarter of a million people to a town with a fraction of that population. You don’t need a ticket for Wurstfest, just a desire for beer, bratwurst, and more accordion music than you’d know what to do with.
Texas Book Festival – Austin
Nov. 14-15, 2026
Booklovers, here’s something for you. The Texas Book Festival isn’t your normal rowdy fair of booze and loud music, but that’s kind of the point. This festival, held in downtown Austin, is the largest book event in Texas and gives you access to more than 250 authors for readers of all ages, with books in both English and Spanish. There’ll be more than 200 author panels, book signings, food trucks, and activities for children. The author lineup will be announced on Sep. 16.
The State Fair of Texas – Dallas
Sept. 25-Oct. 18, 2026
What better reason to come to Dallas than the state’s biggest event. Rides, livestock shows, rodeos, and the frying of almost any food imaginable is what this fair is all about. In recent years, visitors have said the fair had gotten too expensive and not reasonable for families. The fair runners heard that and lowered prices this year. And that’s great because you won’t want to miss the concert lineup, featuring folks like Clint Black or Bowling for Soup. There will also be a Friday night comedy series called “Deep Fried Comedy” and, of course, Big Tex and his new pair of jeans. Courier Texas covers the fair every year and will be giving you tips on the best food and ways to get the most bang for your buck.
