Garrett County Maryland Autumn Glory Festival
October turns the mountains of Garrett County into a blaze of colour, and for five days the town of Oakland gathers that colour into a single celebration. The Autumn Glory Festival fills downtown streets with a grand parade, spreads turkey dinners across the county, sets makers and growers out under the pavilion roof, and sends visitors driving two foliage routes through the hills. Its fifty-ninth annual edition ran from Wednesday 7 to Sunday 11 October 2026, with the sixtieth annual edition already announced for 13 to 17 October 2027.
The festival belongs to the whole of Garrett County, yet Oakland holds its heart. The county-seat downtown carries the parade, the market and the craft show, while fairgrounds, lake country and mountain lodges carry the rest.
About the Festival
The published name is Autumn Glory Festival, with the shorter form Autumn Glory beside it in the layers read, and the sheet title is printed exactly. The festival is a five-day autumn celebration held in Oakland and across Garrett County, in far western Maryland, where the mountains rise above Deep Creek Lake.
The Garrett County Chamber of Commerce organises the festival, working with the Mountain Maryland Gateway to the West Heritage Area. The Town of Oakland and the Greater Oakland Business Association present the Grand Feature Parade, the Saturday centrepiece that draws more than one hundred units through downtown Oakland.
Venues stretch across the county rather than sitting in one field. Downtown Oakland holds the Mountain Fresh Pavilion, where the farmers market and craft show gather, and the streets that carry the parade. Sites countywide include the Garrett County Fairgrounds, McHenry and the Deep Creek Lake area, where antique and craft events take place, and the Kick-Off Reception and Dinner is held at McHenry Lodge at Wisp Resort, above the lake.
For a useful comparison, see the Frederick County Maryland Cowfest Festival for another county festival.
Quick Facts
| Item | Detail |
| Published name | Autumn Glory Festival |
| Host town | Oakland, Maryland |
| 2026 edition | Wednesday 7 to Sunday 11 October 2026, 59th Annual |
| 2027 edition | 13 to 17 October 2027, 60th Annual, announced |
| Main venues | Downtown Oakland and sites countywide |
| Kick-off venue | McHenry Lodge at Wisp Resort |
| Organiser | Garrett County Chamber of Commerce |
| Parade presenters | Town of Oakland and Greater Oakland Business Association |
| Grand Feature Parade | Saturday 10 October 2026, one in the afternoon |
| Visitors | More than sixty thousand, per a lodging layer |
History
The festival began with a dinner. In 1954, local turkey growers gathered for a community meal that served four hundred seventy-five people, a table big enough to hold a county’s farming neighbours together. That dinner grew into a tradition of turkey dinners served across the county, and in 1967 the annual festival officially began, taking the name Autumn Glory and giving the dinners a parade, a market and a full week of company.
The Turkey Trail keeps that beginning alive. Community turkey dinners are still served throughout the county during the festival, and they are the root from which the parade, the market and the rest of the programme grew.
The festival’s reputation travelled beyond the county line in 2007, when a national web portal listed it as one of the top fall festivals in the world. That recognition, recorded in a real-estate layer, gave international attention to a celebration that had begun as a growers’ dinner. The fifty-ninth annual edition ran in October 2026, and the sixtieth was already announced for October 2027.
What to Expect
Five days give the festival room to breathe. The programme runs from Wednesday to Sunday, with the opening reception and dinner, market days under the pavilion, antique and craft events at McHenry and the fairgrounds, and the Saturday parade that pulls the whole county into downtown Oakland.
The Autumn Glory Grand Feature Parade is the centrepiece. In 2026 it stepped off through downtown Oakland on Saturday 10 October at one in the afternoon, with more than one hundred units in the procession, presented by the Town of Oakland and the Greater Oakland Business Association. Its route runs past the Mountain Fresh Pavilion and along the streets where the market and craft show gather, and a Fireman’s Parade adds a second procession honouring the county’s volunteer fire companies.
Food anchors the festival as firmly as the parade does. The Turkey Trail leads visitors from one community turkey dinner to another across the county, and the farmers market and craft show at the Mountain Fresh Pavilion fill the downtown with growers, makers and bakers. Antique and craft events in McHenry and at the fairgrounds give the shopping a second and third home, and live music runs through the week.
Movement is part of the programme too. The Autumn Glory 5K Run and Two-Mile Walk takes place at Broadford Lake, and two self-guided fall foliage driving tours carry visitors out onto the county’s back roads, where the maple and oak colour is at its height in mid-October. The 2026 edition also crowned an Autumn Glory King and Queen, the documented honourees for that edition.
Planning Your Visit
The festival’s events are spread across public downtown streets and countywide sites, and the layers read give no figure for entry to the festival. No gate admission position is stated anywhere in the material, so visitors should not expect a single ticket at a single gate. Individual dinners, receptions and activities may carry their own arrangements, so check those before setting out.
Oakland is the natural base. Its downtown holds the pavilion, the market and the parade route, and its streets are walkable once the car is parked. The countywide sites need a car: the fairgrounds, McHenry and the Deep Creek Lake area are spread across the county, and the two foliage driving tours are meant to be driven. October in the mountains runs cool, especially in the morning and after dark, so pack layers for warmth.
Parade day rewards an early arrival. The Grand Feature Parade steps off at one in the afternoon on the Saturday, and the downtown streets fill well before that. Arriving in the morning leaves time for the market and craft show at the Mountain Fresh Pavilion before the crowds gather along the route, and it leaves the afternoon free for the parade itself.
Lodging deserves attention before the weekend. More than sixty thousand visitors move through the county during the festival, and the lake country lodges, mountain cabins and Oakland rooms fill early. Visitors who stay the whole five days will want a base that lets them drive out to the fairgrounds one day and the lake the next.
Sample Itinerary
A five-day stay lets the festival unfold at its own pace. Arrive midweek and settle into Oakland, then spend the first afternoon walking downtown and visiting the Mountain Fresh Pavilion, where the farmers market and craft show set the tone for the week. The evening belongs to the Kick-Off Reception and Dinner at McHenry Lodge at Wisp Resort, where the festival formally opens above the lake.
Give the next day to the county. Drive one of the two self-guided fall foliage routes in the morning, then spend the afternoon at the antique and craft events in McHenry or at the fairgrounds. A community turkey dinner in the evening keeps the festival’s oldest tradition at the centre of the day.
Keep Saturday for the parade. Arrive downtown in the morning for the market, find a place along the route before one in the afternoon, and watch the Grand Feature Parade pass with its more than one hundred units. The afternoon after the parade suits the Fireman’s Parade and live music around the downtown gathering places.
Spend the last day on the water and the trails. The Autumn Glory 5K Run and Two-Mile Walk at Broadford Lake suits an early start, and a second foliage drive or a quiet afternoon at Deep Creek Lake closes the week. A final turkey dinner on the Turkey Trail is the fitting last meal of the festival.
Comparison
Most Maryland fall festivals fit into a single town square for a single day. Autumn Glory runs for five days across a whole county, and that scale changes what a visitor can do with it. A one-day fair asks for a morning’s drive and an afternoon’s walk; this festival rewards a week’s planning with a parade, a trail of dinners, a market, craft events in three places and two driving tours.
The Deep Creek Lake area’s general autumn tourism is not the festival, and the distinction matters. Leaf watchers come to the lake country every October whether or not a festival is running. What the festival adds is a centre: a parade, a market and a trail of community dinners that give the colour a reason to gather in Oakland.
Other Maryland fall foliage events are different events with their own towns and their own dates. None of them carries the turkey-dinner tradition that began in 1954, and none of them spreads a single celebration across fairgrounds, lake country, mountain lodges and a county-seat downtown in the way Autumn Glory does. Autumn Glory is a county festival in the full sense, and its shape is the point.
Checklist
- Book lodging early, before the festival week fills the lake country and Oakland rooms
- Arrive downtown before one in the afternoon on parade Saturday
- Bring layers for cool mountain mornings and evenings
- Keep a car ready for the fairgrounds, McHenry and the lake country
- Carry a map or a charged phone for the two self-guided foliage driving tours
- Leave room in the day for a community turkey dinner on the Turkey Trail
- Check the arrangements for the Kick-Off Reception and Dinner before setting out
- Wear comfortable shoes for the pavilion, the market and the parade route
- Allow time for the Autumn Glory 5K Run and Two-Mile Walk at Broadford Lake
- Plan the drive home after the Sunday crowds have thinned
Beyond the Festival
Garrett County rewards a longer stay. Deep Creek Lake sits a short drive from Oakland and carries boating, fishing and lakeside walks through the autumn. McHenry, at the lake’s edge, holds the Wisp Resort country where the festival’s opening dinner takes place.
The Garrett County Fairgrounds, which host some of the festival’s antique and craft events, are worth a visit in their own right as the county’s fair home. Oakland’s downtown, beyond the parade route and the pavilion, carries the small shops and eateries of a mountain county seat.
Further afield, the county’s parks and forests hold the overlooks that make the foliage tours worth driving. A visitor who stays an extra day will find the same colour on quieter roads, with fewer cars and more time to stop.
Why It Matters
Autumn Glory matters because it grew out of the county rather than being brought into it. A community dinner in 1954, serving four hundred seventy-five people, became a festival in 1967, and the festival still serves community turkey dinners across the county every year. The chain from growers’ table to grand parade is unbroken, and the festival’s identity rests on it.
The festival also matters as a piece of county economy. More than sixty thousand visitors move through Garrett County during the festival week, filling lodges, cabins, restaurants and shops. The chamber’s role as organiser ties the celebration to the county’s businesses directly, and the Town of Oakland and the Greater Oakland Business Association present the parade that draws the largest single crowd of the week.
The 2007 recognition, when a national web portal listed the festival among the top fall festivals in the world, gave that local story a wider hearing. It did not change the festival; it confirmed what the county already knew, that a five-day gathering built on turkey dinners, a parade and the autumn hills was worth travelling for.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which parts of the festival happen away from downtown Oakland?
Much of the programme sits outside the town. Antique and craft events take place in McHenry and at the fairgrounds, the Kick-Off Reception and Dinner is held at McHenry Lodge at Wisp Resort, the Autumn Glory 5K Run and Two-Mile Walk runs at Broadford Lake, and the Turkey Trail serves community dinners throughout the county. Downtown Oakland holds the pavilion, the market and the parade.
Is there a charge to enter the festival?
The layers read give no figure for entry, and no gate admission position is stated anywhere in the material. The festival’s events are spread across public downtown streets and countywide sites, so there is no single gate and no single ticket. Individual dinners and receptions may carry their own arrangements, and visitors should check those before setting out.
Why are turkey dinners at the heart of the festival?
The festival began with one. In 1954, local turkey growers gathered for a community dinner that served four hundred seventy-five people, and the annual festival that officially began in 1967 grew directly out of that tradition. The Turkey Trail keeps the original gathering alive in the same form it first took.
What does the Grand Feature Parade include?
More than one hundred units marched through downtown Oakland in the 2026 edition, which stepped off on Saturday 10 October at one in the afternoon. The Town of Oakland and the Greater Oakland Business Association present the parade, and its route runs through the downtown streets past the Mountain Fresh Pavilion. A separate Fireman’s Parade honours the county’s volunteer fire companies during the same week.
What to Expect From the Next Garrett County Maryland Autumn Glory Festival
How often is Garrett County Maryland Autumn Glory Festival held?
The festival returns each autumn, running for five days from Wednesday to Sunday in mid-October. The fifty-ninth annual edition ran from 7 to 11 October 2026, and the sixtieth annual edition is already announced for 13 to 17 October 2027.
When is the next Garrett County Maryland Autumn Glory Festival?
The next edition is the sixtieth annual festival, announced for 13 to 17 October 2027 on the organiser’s own layer. It follows the fifty-ninth annual edition of 7 to 11 October 2026, keeping the festival’s place in mid-October.
Will the dates change?
The organiser’s own layer already announces the 2027 dates, 13 to 17 October, so the next edition has a fixed place on the calendar. Any later change would come from the organiser, and the mid-October timing has held steady across the editions documented in the layers read.
The Autumn Glory Festival is a county that celebrates itself in the season it loves best. From a growers’ dinner in 1954 to a five-day gathering that fills Oakland’s streets and the roads out to the lake, it has kept its centre in the same place: a parade, a market, a trail of turkey dinners and the autumn hills of Garrett County. The sixtieth annual edition arrives in October 2027, and the mountains will be in colour again.
