The Fun, the Spooky & the Just Plain Strange.
Here are 10 October festivals worth putting in your calendar—plus a few bonus oddballs we couldn’t resist.
October is here—the month when marketers push pumpkin spice harder than a Black Friday door buster and spooky season becomes a full-blown personality type. But hey, we’re not here to judge (we’re sipping our overpriced PSL while typing this).
Turns out, October is one of the best months to get out and celebrate weird, wonderful, and occasionally questionable traditions across the country. From floating in giant pumpkins to inhaling bratwursts like it’s an Olympic sport, America truly shines when the leaves start turning.
1. Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta (Albuquerque, NM)
500 hot air balloons take to the sky. It’s magical. It’s Instagrammable. It runs for nine days in early October (usually the first full week). Mornings are for mass ascensions and “Dawn Patrol” launches, while evenings often include balloon glows, fireworks, and concerts. And yes, you’ll be tempted to caption your photos “We rise.” Don’t do it.
This is New Mexico, so yes, you’ll find balloon-shaped donuts—but also loads of green chili everything: burgers, burritos, even green chili mac & cheese. Pro tip: ask the locals, “red or green?” (referring to chili). The correct answer is “Christmas” (both).

2. Oktoberfest in America (and One Surprisingly in Florida)
Sure, Munich is the OG, but the U.S. has perfected the art of raising a stein and pretending to know the words to German drinking songs. Cincinnati’s festival may be the biggest in the country, but it’s far from the only one worth loosening your lederhosen for:
Kansas City, MO – KC Oktoberfest
Held at Crown Center, this one brings in authentic German bands, polka dancing, and a biergarten sprawling with local craft brews alongside Bavarian imports. Bonus: a strong barbecue scene nearby for those who want to swap bratwurst for burnt ends.
Melbourne, FL – German American Society Oktoberfest
Yes, Florida has its own lederhosen moment! Melbourne’s German American Society throws a surprisingly authentic bash with schnitzel, dancing, and imported beer—all while you’re just miles from the beach. Picture Oktoberfest, but with palm trees.

3. Keene Pumpkin Festival (Keene, NH)
Think thousands of jack-o’-lanterns glowing on every corner. It’s festive. It’s family-friendly. It’s also a fire marshal’s worst nightmare.
4. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival (San Francisco, CA)
A massive, free music festival held every October in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. It was founded in 2001 by Warren Hellman, a billionaire who loved bluegrass and wanted to gift the city a world-class music festival that didn’t cost fans a dime — a free music fest in Golden Gate Park where genres blur, the food trucks slay, and someone will inevitably offer you kombucha in a mason jar.
The lineup is always stacked with a mix of bluegrass royalty and crossover stars. Basically, it’s like your cool uncle’s record collection came to life. It’s less about mosh pits and more about sprawling in the grass with friends, soaking in really good live music, and pretending you don’t secretly love a banjo solo.
5. West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta (Tualatin, OR)
Yes, people race inside hollowed-out 1,000-pound pumpkins. Yes, it looks ridiculous. Yes, we want to try it more than we want health insurance.
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6. National Apple Harvest Festival (Arendtsville, PA)
Apples. Everywhere. Pies, dumplings, cider, fritters. Basically, it’s fall condensed into one orchard-themed binge-fest.
7. Anoka Halloween Festival (Anoka, MN)
The self-proclaimed “Halloween Capital of the World” has been celebrating since the 1920s. Expect costume parades, scarecrows, haunted houses, and enough candy corn to fill a stadium. Back in 1920, Anoka became the first U.S. city to officially organize a Halloween celebration. Why? Because kids were running wild with pranks—think soaping windows, tipping over outhouses, letting cows loose downtown (yes, really). The city leaders decided, “Let’s distract them with a giant party instead.”
So they threw parades, bonfires, and costume contests. It worked—the pranks stopped, and a tradition was born. By the 1930s, the celebrations had grown so big that the title stuck. They even got it recognized by Congress in the 1930s and again in the 2000s. During WWII, the parades were paused, but Anoka still sent Halloween care packages to soldiers overseas to keep the tradition alive. That’s dedication.
So Anoka didn’t just hop on the spooky bandwagon—they invented the bandwagon (and probably decorated it with hay bales and skeletons).
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8. Circleville Pumpkin Show (Circleville, OH)
Pumpkin donuts, pumpkin pie, pumpkin burgers. If you thought pumpkin spice lattes were overhyped, Circleville would like a word.
9. Bayou City Art Festival (Houston, TX)
One of the biggest art fests in the country. You’ll see everything from fine paintings to “I hot-glued feathers on this and called it art.” Either way, the funnel cakes slap.
10. The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze (Hudson Valley, NY)
7,000+ hand-carved pumpkins arranged into glowing tunnels, dinosaurs, and spooky displays. It’s like Halloween took performance-enhancing drugs.
Honorable Mentions
(Because October Refuses to Be Normal)
Fantasy Fest (Key West, FL)
Imagine Halloween in Key West.
Now make it weirder. You’re close.
Chowderfest (Newport, RI)
Nothing says October like eating clam chowder while wearing a sweater you regret packing.
Woolly Worm Festival (Banners Elk, NC)
A festival where caterpillars “predict” winter. You can’t make this stuff up.
Final Thoughts (A.K.A. Our Thinly Veiled Cry for PTO)
So there you have it—October in America, where balloon fiestas, pumpkin pageants, and apple pie orgies collide. If anyone needs us, we’ll be working remotely from inside a giant gourd in Oregon.
Don’t worry—we’ll bring the Wi-Fi hotspot.