The Guide to DMV Fall Festivals: What's Free, What's Worth Paying For

Published September 30, 2026 · 4 min read

Fall festival season is here, and the DMV is doing what it does every year: throwing absolutely everything at the calendar at once. The problem is sorting through it. So we did.

This guide splits the season cleanly: free events first, then the ticketed attractions worth opening your wallet for. Every date, price, and location below has been verified against the organizer's own listings.

FREE EVENTS

Wunder Garten Oktoberfest

1101 First St. NE, Washington, D.C. | September 18 – October 11 | Free entry

Wunder Garten's 11th annual Oktoberfest is nearly a month long, which means you have four weekends to get your fill of German brews, live music, DJs, and steinholding competitions. The garden runs themed weekends throughout, including DOGtoberfest (bring the dog) and PRIDEtoberfest on October 3.

Logistics: Free general admission. Select classes and special experiences require separate tickets. 21+ unless accompanied by a parent or guardian. NoMa, right off the Red Line at NoMa-Gallaudet.

Taste of Bethesda

Woodmont Triangle, Bethesda, MD | October 3, 11 AM – 4 PM | Free admission

The 34th annual Taste of Bethesda returns with more than 40 restaurants, four stages of live entertainment, and activities for kids. This is the region's signature culinary sampler, and it's free to walk in.

Logistics: Free admission. Food and drink require taste tickets—five for $10, sold on-site. Food servings cost one to four tickets. Ticket sales end at 3:30 PM. The festival is three blocks from the Bethesda Metro. Note: We covered this one in our earlier fall festivals piece, but it belongs on any free-events list.

Theatre Week

Region-wide | September 24 – October 11 | Free community events

Theatre Washington's three-week celebration offers $25, $45, and $65 tickets to more than 30 productions across the DMV. But the free programming is the part worth circling: a free outdoor concert at The Wharf on September 29 (happy hour at 6 PM, concert at 7 PM on the Floating Stage), pop-up performances at Dulles and Reagan airports on September 24, a Metro pop-up at Eastern Market, and Advocacy Day at Studio Theatre on October 5. Participating restaurants are also offering specially priced theater menus.

Logistics: Discounted tickets at theatreweek.org. Free events require no ticket. Check the schedule for exact times.

TICKETED ATTRACTIONS

Butler's Orchard Pumpkin Festival

22222 Davis Mill Rd., Germantown, MD | September 19 – November 1 | $12–$20 online

The 46th annual Pumpkin Festival includes hayrides, a corn maze, giant slides, farm animals, and the Pick-Your-Own pumpkin patch. Pumpkins are $0.79 per pound. Add-ons include a pumpkin cannon ($7 per shot) and pony rides.

Logistics: Weekday admission $12 (walk-in $15), weekend $18 (walk-in $23), peak weekends $20 (walk-in $25). Children under 24 months free. Last entry 4:30 PM. A Fall Season Pass is $47.50. Pumpkin patch admission is free on weekdays and $4 on weekends. The orchard is in Germantown, about 40 minutes from Silver Spring.

Maryland Renaissance Festival

Revel Grove, Crownsville, MD | Weekends through October 25 | $17–$31+ online only

The 50th season. Nine weekends, 200+ performers across ten stages, jousting, and a 16th-century English village. Special weekends include Pirate Adventure (Sept. 19–20), Celtic Celebration (Sept. 26–27), and Harvest Hollow through October.

Logistics: Tickets are online only—no gate sales. Saturdays and Sundays plus Labor Day Monday, 10 AM – 7 PM. Children 6 and under are always free. A 30-minute drive from Annapolis, about an hour from Takoma Park.

Cox Farms Fall Festival

15621 Braddock Road, Centreville, VA | September 19 – November 8 | $15–$30 online

The 41-year-old seasonal institution brings giant slides, hayrides, a corn maze, and Foamhenge—a full-scale foam replica of Stonehenge. Open Thursday through Monday.

Logistics: $15–$30 depending on date and time, online only. Community Cultivator discount: public-facing government, state, and local employees get 20% off up to four tickets on select weekends. Note: We mentioned Cox Farms in our earlier fall roundup; the Community Cultivator discount is new information worth flagging.

Magnolia Meadow Farms Fall Festival

Thurmont, MD | September 26 – November 1 | ~$17 online

Home to Maryland's largest corn maze—over five miles of trails—plus pumpkin picking, sunflower fields, hayrides, apple cannons, gem mining, and farm animals. Over 20 activities included with admission.

Logistics: Tickets online. Moonlit Maze nights on October 10 and 24 keep the farm open until 10 PM. Bring a flashlight. Thurmont is about an hour from Takoma Park.

The Bottom Line

The free tier is genuinely stacked this year—Oktoberfest, a food festival, and three weeks of discounted theater with free concerts. The paid tier is where you go for corn mazes and jousting. Either way, check the weather before you commit to a farm day, and book timed-entry tickets early. The good weekends sell out.

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