West · Middle · East
Three regions.
One state worth the drive.
Tennessee changes character at the rivers and the plateau. This guide keeps the family events, and the towns that host them, in one calendar and one town book.
The three Tennessees
On the calendar now
Full calendar
East Tennessee
Anakeesta Bear-Varian Fall Festival
A mountaintop fall festival above Gatlinburg, reached by chandelier lift.
East TennesseeDollywood Harvest Festival
Pumpkins, fall food, and the rides, with the Smokies on the ridgeline behind the park.
Middle TennesseeLucky Ladd Farms Pumpkin Patch
Corn maze, pumpkin patch, and cider donuts on a working farm south of Franklin.
Middle TennesseeCheekwood Harvest
Pumpkins, a marigold river, and garden paths at the Belle Meade estate through the first of November.
Middle TennesseeNashville Oktoberfest
The South's long-running Oktoberfest, with German food, polka, and a street festival families have used as a fall outing since 1980.
East TennesseeNational Storytelling Festival
The country's flagship storytelling weekend, in the oldest town in Tennessee.