After the Fall Festival, King George's Weekends Move Out to the Farms and Caledon
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
The 67th King George Fall Festival took over King George High School on Oct. 10, with the parade on Route 3, the fair, crafts, the car show and the pageants packed into one day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It's the county's biggest community event of the season, and it's now over.
Most of what comes next on the Visit King George events calendar happens at a brewery on a family farm, a flower farm, a winery, an antiques mall and a state park. Between Oct. 18 and Dec. 5, the calendar has no shared fairground and no single organizer. Each place runs its own event on its own terms, so the details that matter are how each one handles tickets, parking and pets.
Here is what the county calendar and the venues list for the rest of the season, in order:
Two Saturdays carry most of the weight. On Oct. 24, four events overlap in the same evening window. On Nov. 7, the library's family day runs during the first day of the Art & Wine Festival. On every other weekend, the list has just one main event.
How recent some of these hosts are shows how much the season has shifted.
Backporch Vineyard says it first opened its doors in 2020. Gardening Gays Farm is even newer as an event host. A November 2025 profile on GardenRant describes a 27-acre farm that grows cut flowers and vegetables, keeps ducks, chickens and sheep, and runs a year-round farm store. The same piece calls the 2025 Farm Fest the farm's first. That makes the Oct. 31 weekend only the second fall edition.
Creekside has deeper roots. Creekside Farm Brewery says the farm was established in 2000, though its site doesn't say when the brewery and taproom opened. It describes itself as a working family farm that brews seasonal beers with ingredients it grows, and its taproom page mentions goats and a family-friendly outdoor setting. The Oct. 18 market promises antique tractors, vintage and handmade goods, cold beer and live music.
Caledon is the long-running anchor in this group. The county calendar lists this November's Art & Wine Festival as the 21st, and the Owl Prowl, trunk-or-treat and 5K make the state park the most frequent host on the list.
Because each host writes its own rules, planning a weekend means checking at the gate, not just the date. Here is what each venue has published so far:
| Stop | Admission | Parking | Pets and kids |
|---|---|---|---|
| Caledon Art & Wine Festival, Nov. 7–8 | $30 at the gate, per day; non-tasters and children free | $5 per vehicle | Leashed pets, 6-foot max; family-friendly |
| Caledon Owl Prowl, Oct. 24 | $8 per person or $20 per family; reservations required | $5 | Family program |
| Caledon Trunk or Treat, Oct. 24 | Free | No parking fee for this event | Kids' event |
| Caledon White Elephant 5K, Dec. 5 | Registration required; price not listed | Standard park fee applies; amount not listed | Dog-friendly |
| Backporch Vineyard Mistletoe Market, Nov. 28 | No ticket required | Not listed | Kids welcome; leashed, well-behaved pets |
| Gardening Gays Farm Fest, Oct. 31–Nov. 1 | Not yet published | Not yet published | Not yet published |
| Creekside Gathered & Found, Oct. 18 | Not yet published | Not yet published | Not yet published |
The Art & Wine Festival has the most rules. The Virginia DCR event page says tickets are required for each day, sold online through Zeffy, and the festival runs rain or shine on the park's Front Lawn. It allows no outside food, alcohol or coolers. Carpooling is recommended, and organizers suggest bringing cash because Wi-Fi is spotty and some vendors may not take cards. Saturday runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday ends an hour earlier, at 4 p.m.
Bring cash for Caledon generally, too. The park's main page says its parking fee is paid at a self-pay station before you park, cell service is very limited, and parking is tight enough that arriving early is the advice. On the Owl Prowl, families learn about the park's resident owls, ride a wagon and then head out on the trails after dark.
Backporch keeps its Mistletoe Market loose. No ticket is needed, vendor applications are already closed, and the market focuses on holiday décor, handmade gifts and seasonal treats. The winery's FAQ asks that children under 12 stay with an adult and that pets be leashed.
For the two farm events still marked "not yet published," check the host's own page close to the date. Gardening Gays has posted local vendors plus food and alcoholic-beverage trucks for Farm Fest, but no hours or fees.
Most of these places run on narrow weekly hours, so going on an off weekend takes more planning than going on an event day.
One detail on Caledon's own page affects the end of the season. The park closes to the public on two November days and on the first Saturday of December for resource management. It doesn't print the dates and tells visitors to check Park Alerts.
The first Saturday of December 2026 is Dec. 5, the same day the White Elephant 5K is scheduled from 8 to 10 a.m. No published source says whether the race is exempt from the closure. Anyone registering, or planning a quiet hike to the Potomac on Boyd's Hole Trail that weekend, should check the park's alerts first. The same goes for the two November closure days, which haven't been posted yet.
The calendar also includes some road work. VDOT lists its Route 3 and Route 301 median U-turn project in King George with an estimated start of Fall 2026, completion in Summer 2027 and an estimated cost of $5 million. As of the Oct. 9 update, its status still reads "coming soon." According to the VDOT project page, once the work is finished, left turns won't be allowed at the main intersection. Drivers will turn right first and then use signalized U-turn areas in the Route 301 median, and the project adds pedestrian crossings. The schedule is an estimate, but work could start around the holiday-market weekends, so drivers who go through that junction should watch VDOT's weekly Fredericksburg District traffic alerts.
Theresa Shoptaw follows what's happening across King George County, from the Caledon calendar to the newest farm hosts, because knowing how a community spends its weekends is part of knowing the community. If you have questions about King George, whether you're settling in or thinking about a move, let's connect.
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