This guide covers 10 East Coast fall food festivals with confirmed 2026 dates, from Pennsylvania’s mushroom capital to a Maine harbor race powered by 700-pound hollowed-out pumpkins. Several popular festivals have quietly renamed themselves or moved venues over the past decade, so every listing below reflects the event’s current name, current location, and a 2026 date confirmed directly with the organizer’s own site.
We checked every festival on this list against its official website or chamber of commerce page in August 2026, rather than repeating outdated listings from other roundups. Festival dates and admission can still shift, so we’d recommend a quick check of the linked official site before you book travel. If you’re stringing several of these together, our guides to fall foliage road trips of the Northeast and East Coast towns for slow travel are worth a look, along with our general budget road trip tips.
Quick Answer: 10 East Coast Fall Food Festivals in 2026
The Mushroom Festival (Kennett Square, PA): Sept 12–13, the 41st year in the Mushroom Capital of the World
Cape Cod Scallop Festival (East Falmouth, MA): Sept 22–24, New England’s largest scallop festival
Beaufort Shrimp Festival (Beaufort, SC): Oct 2–3, the 32nd annual Lowcountry shrimp showdown
Beach Haven Chowder Cook-Off (Long Beach Island, NJ): Oct 3–4, formerly Chowderfest
Chincoteague Island Oyster Festival (Chincoteague, VA): Oct 10, the 53rd annual, marking the start of oyster season
Ocracoke Working Watermen’s Festival (Ocracoke Island, NC): Oct 10, a working fishing island’s own celebration
Connecticut Garlic & Harvest Festival (Bethlehem, CT): Oct 10–11, the 21st annual, timed to garlic planting season
Damariscotta Pumpkinfest & Regatta (Damariscotta, ME): Oct 9–12, giant pumpkins turned into actual racing boats
Capital Apple & Wine Festival (Chatham, NY): mid-to-late September, New York’s Hudson Valley apple and wine tasting weekend
Urbanna Oyster Festival (Urbanna, VA): Nov 6–7, Virginia’s official state oyster festival since 1957
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The list runs roughly north to south, so it doubles as a route if you’re chasing more than one this fall.
The Mushroom Festival
Kennett Square, PA · mushroomfestival.org · Sept 12–13, 2026
Kennett Square grows more mushrooms than anywhere else in the country, and this is its biggest weekend of the year.
Now in its 41st year, this two-day street festival takes over downtown Kennett Square, the self-declared Mushroom Capital of the World, with a full culinary stage, a mushroom growers’ exhibit walking visitors through the actual cultivation process, and a “Chopped”-style cooking competition built entirely around the fungus. Expect fried mushrooms, mushroom soup, and gourmet dishes from local chefs, alongside craft vendors, a car show, and a kids’ zone.
41st Annual$5 admissionSignature bite: fried mushrooms
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