Montgomery County Maryland F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival
Rockville, Maryland, holds a curious place in American literary history. F. Scott Fitzgerald never lived in the town as a resident, and he was not born there, yet the town keeps his name alive every autumn with a full day of lectures, workshops and readings. The reason sits in a churchyard: Fitzgerald is buried in the cemetery of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in Rockville, alongside his wife Zelda and their daughter Scottie. The Montgomery County Maryland F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival is a one-day event, held at Montgomery College in Rockville, and its thirtieth annual edition fell on 24 October 2026, running from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon. Readers, writers and students gather for author talks, workshops, film screenings, book signings and a guided look at Fitzgerald’s Rockville haunts, and the day closes with the presentation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Achievement in American Literature. It is a small, focused gathering: one writer, one town, one day.
About
The festival is a literary gathering built around a single American writer and the town where he is buried. It takes place on one day in October at Montgomery College on its Rockville campus, and it is organised by the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference, Inc., with the City of Rockville and Montgomery College as co-sponsors. The gathering began life as the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference, and the name changed to the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival in 2013, according to the organiser’s own layer. Both forms describe the same continuing event.
A day at the festival moves between several kinds of session: lectures and author talks beside writing workshops, film screenings and book signings, and a tour of Fitzgerald’s Rockville haunts. The centrepiece is the presentation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Achievement in American Literature to a prominent American writer. The 2026 edition carried a documented author as its honoree and a keynote address by a documented linguist, according to a tourism layer; the award ceremony itself is free and open to the public, according to a college news layer. Registration for the rest of the day was thirty-five dollars in 2026, with thirty dollars for seniors, according to a tourism layer. Earlier editions used other Rockville venues, including a hotel and a high school.
Quick Facts
| Detail | Record |
| Sheet title | Montgomery County Maryland F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival |
| Published name | F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival, also billed as the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference |
| Host town | Rockville, Maryland |
| County seat | Rockville is the Montgomery County seat |
| Venue | Montgomery College, Rockville campus |
| Organiser | F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference, Inc. |
| Co-sponsors | City of Rockville and Montgomery College |
| 2026 edition | 24 October 2026, the thirtieth annual |
| 2026 hours | Nine in the morning to five in the afternoon |
| 2026 registration | Thirty-five dollars, thirty dollars for seniors; award ceremony free and open to the public |
History
The festival was founded in 1996 to commemorate the one hundredth birthday of F. Scott Fitzgerald, who was born on 24 September 1896, according to the organiser’s own layer and a regional news layer. A centenary gave Rockville a reason to mark the writer’s connection to the town, and the gathering has returned each October since. Fitzgerald was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, according to the organiser’s own layer’s biographical note, and he is buried in Rockville, not born there; two layers that stated the birthplace wrongly were set aside on that point. His grave in the cemetery of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church in Rockville holds Fitzgerald with his wife Zelda and their daughter Scottie.
The gathering’s own history carries one wrinkle. A content-farm layer records that the conference was founded in 1990 by Fitzgerald’s granddaughter and her husband; that account is recorded unmerged beside the organiser’s 1996 founding date. It began as the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference, took the name Literary Festival in 2013, and has kept its single-day October form. The seventeenth annual edition fell on 26 October 2013, according to a college news layer, the twenty-first annual on 21 October 2017, according to a school news layer, and the thirtieth annual on 24 October 2026, according to a magazine layer. A 2015 edition is also documented in a community news layer. No founding year beyond the documented 1996 start is derived from any billing.
For a useful comparison, see the Kent County Maryland Paint the Town Festival for another county festival.
What to Expect
A visitor to the festival should expect a day built around talk, reading and craft rather than spectacle. Lectures open the subject from different angles, author talks bring working writers before an audience, and writing workshops let attendees practise rather than only listen. Film screenings carry Fitzgerald’s work onto the screen, and book signings let readers meet the authors whose books they have just heard discussed. The tour of Fitzgerald’s Rockville haunts is the most distinctive part of the programme, walking visitors through the places in town that carry the writer’s memory.
The 2026 edition followed that pattern across a single day, nine in the morning to five in the afternoon, with the award presentation as its centrepiece. The F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Achievement in American Literature goes to a prominent American writer, and the 2026 honoree was a documented author, with a keynote address by a documented linguist, according to a tourism layer. The award ceremony is free and open to the public, according to a college news layer. Registration for the full day was thirty-five dollars in 2026, thirty dollars for seniors, according to a tourism layer; the 2013 registration was forty dollars, according to a college news layer. Sessions are held indoors at Montgomery College, so the October weather matters mainly for the outdoor tour.
Planning Your Visit
The festival’s home is the Rockville campus of Montgomery College, so the visit centres on the college grounds for the day. The 2026 edition ran on a Saturday, 24 October, from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon, and earlier editions have fallen on Saturdays in late October as well, with the 2017 edition on 21 October and the 2013 edition on 26 October. Arriving early is worth the effort, and the workshops reward a visitor who has read the programme and chosen in advance. Registration in 2026 was thirty-five dollars, thirty dollars for seniors, according to a tourism layer, and the award ceremony, which closes the day, is free and open to the public, according to a college news layer. Anyone attending only the ceremony can come for the closing hours without registering for the full day.
The tour of Fitzgerald’s Rockville haunts is the one part of the day that takes visitors out of the lecture rooms, so comfortable shoes and a jacket for October air are practical choices. Books for signing are best brought along or bought on the day, and a notebook is useful in the workshops. The festival is a single-day gathering, though the town’s connection to Fitzgerald gives a visitor reason to linger at the cemetery of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, where he lies buried with Zelda and Scottie.
Sample Itinerary
A visitor who wants the full day could begin by arriving at Montgomery College shortly before nine in the morning, in time for the opening sessions and a first look at the day’s programme. The morning lends itself to a lecture or an author talk, followed by a writing workshop before midday. The middle of the day is a good moment for book signings with the morning’s authors. In the afternoon, the tour of Fitzgerald’s Rockville haunts offers a change of pace, taking the day outdoors and through the places in town that carry the writer’s memory. The day closes with the award ceremony, the presentation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Achievement in American Literature, which is free and open to the public. A visitor who comes only for the ceremony can arrive for the closing hours and still catch the day’s centrepiece.
Comparison
A literary festival is a different kind of gathering from a book fair, and the Fitzgerald festival shows the difference clearly. A book fair spreads itself across stalls and sellers, while this festival spreads itself across sessions, with the books appearing mainly at the signings. The single-writer focus is also unusual. Most literary gatherings gather many authors under a broad theme, but here every session circles back to one writer and one town. The single-day form is part of the same character: one Saturday in late October, nine in the morning to five in the afternoon, holds the whole programme.
The renaming marks a shift of its own: as the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference it sounded like a meeting of scholars, and as the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival it sounds like a public celebration open to general readers. The two names are kept unmerged in the record, but they describe one continuing event, and the 2026 thirtieth annual billing counts the years across both names. Against the 2013 registration of forty dollars, the 2026 figure of thirty-five dollars, thirty dollars for seniors, shows a gathering that has kept its price within reach, and the free award ceremony keeps the closing hours open to anyone.
Checklist
- Register in advance for the full day; in 2026 registration was thirty-five dollars, thirty dollars for seniors.
- Read the programme before arriving and choose workshops in advance.
- Bring books to be signed, or plan time at the signings during the middle of the day.
- Carry a notebook for the writing workshops, where practice matters as much as listening.
- Wear comfortable shoes and bring a jacket for the tour of Fitzgerald’s Rockville haunts.
- Plan to stay for the award ceremony, which is free and open to the public.
- Allow time to visit the cemetery of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, where Fitzgerald lies buried with Zelda and Scottie.
- Remember that Fitzgerald was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and is buried in Rockville.
Beyond the Festival
Rockville rewards a visitor who stays past the festival’s closing hour. The town is the Montgomery County seat, and its centre carries the courthouse and civic buildings of a county town, but the literary thread is what sets it apart. The cemetery of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, where Fitzgerald lies buried with his wife Zelda and their daughter Scottie, is the place most visitors seek out, and the festival’s tour of Fitzgerald’s Rockville haunts gives that thread a shape, connecting the burial ground with the other places in town that carry the writer’s memory. Montgomery College, the festival’s home, has hosted the gathering in its recent years, after earlier editions used a hotel and a high school elsewhere in Rockville.
The festival itself asks for only a single day, but the Fitzgerald connection belongs to Rockville alone. A visitor who has spent the day in lectures and workshops can spend the next morning walking the town centre and seeing the places the tour pointed out, and the burial ground gives the visit a quiet close.
Why It Matters
The festival matters because it keeps a writer’s name attached to a place that might otherwise lose it. Fitzgerald was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and his fame belongs to the whole country, but his burial in Rockville gives Montgomery County a genuine claim on his memory, and the festival is the public form of that claim. Founded in 1996 to mark the centenary of his birth, it has run through three decades, from the seventeenth annual edition in 2013 to the thirtieth annual in 2026, and the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Achievement in American Literature gives the day a purpose beyond remembrance: it honours living writers in the name of a dead one. A one-day literary gathering in a county seat may look modest beside larger festivals, but its staying power shows that the pairing of writer and town still draws people.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was F. Scott Fitzgerald born in Rockville?
No. Fitzgerald was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on 24 September 1896, according to the organiser’s own layer’s biographical note, and he is buried in Rockville, in the cemetery of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, with his wife Zelda and their daughter Scottie. Two layers that stated the birthplace wrongly were set aside on that point.
Can a visitor attend the award ceremony without registering for the whole day?
Yes. The award ceremony is free and open to the public, according to a college news layer. Registration for the full day was thirty-five dollars in 2026, thirty dollars for seniors, according to a tourism layer, but the closing ceremony carries no charge and no registration.
What does a day at the festival include?
Lectures, writing workshops, film screenings, author talks, book signings and a tour of Fitzgerald’s Rockville haunts, according to the organiser’s own layer and a college news layer. The day closes with the presentation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Achievement in American Literature. The 2026 edition ran nine in the morning to five in the afternoon at Montgomery College in Rockville.
How did the gathering come by its present name?
The gathering began as the F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Conference and took the name F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival in 2013, according to the organiser’s own layer. Both names describe the same continuing event: the seventeenth annual edition fell in 2013, the year of the change, and the thirtieth annual in 2026.
What to Expect From the Next Montgomery County Maryland F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival
How often is Montgomery County Maryland F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival held?
The festival is an annual October gathering, held on a single Saturday in late October. Dated editions fall on 26 October 2013, 21 October 2017 and 24 October 2026, with a 2015 edition also documented, all at Montgomery College in Rockville.
When is the next Montgomery County Maryland F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival?
After the 24 October 2026 edition, the layers read give the next gathering no published date. The October pattern is the only guide: a single Saturday in late October at Montgomery College in Rockville, with the award ceremony closing the day. A date for a following edition will come from the organiser’s own layer when it is announced.
Will the dates change?
The dates have moved within late October across the years, from 26 October in 2013 to 21 October in 2017 and 24 October in 2026, so the exact Saturday shifts from year to year even though the month holds. A visitor should check the organiser’s own layer for the coming edition rather than assuming the previous Saturday will repeat.
The Montgomery County Maryland F. Scott Fitzgerald Literary Festival is a small gathering with a long memory. It began in 1996 to mark a centenary, it has kept its single-day October form through a change of name and three decades of editions, and its thirtieth annual gathering on 24 October 2026 showed the formula still working.
