Hill Country Events: Late September and October 2026
The fall calendar is filling in fast across the Hill Country, and I went back through the community calendars again this week so this guide reflects the dates as they stand today. We are coming up on the run of the year I always look forward to: the fair in New Braunfels, the markets in Wimberley, the lake gatherings at Canyon Lake, and the Day of the Dead season in San Antonio. There is a reason to get out almost every weekend from now through November.
A quick note on the earlier event guides on this blog: they stay up as an archive of the season so far. The guide you are reading now is the one to bookmark. Everything here was rechecked this week with dates, locations, and official links, so it reflects the calendar as it stands today.
Between the Comal County Fair, the market days in Wimberley, the dance hall shows in Gruene, the lake events at Canyon Lake, and the Día de los Muertos celebrations in San Antonio, there is a reason to be out in every one of these communities before the holidays. That is the rhythm people move here for, and it is the rhythm I help clients find every day.
Comal County Fair and Rodeo
The Comal County Fair and Rodeo is one of New Braunfels' longest-running traditions, and this year it runs Wednesday, September 23 through Sunday, September 27. Opening day admission is free, the livestock shows run all week, and the PRCA rodeo performances fill Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings plus a Sunday matinee. Thursday also brings a live music night at the fair corral. It lands at the first genuinely cool stretch of the year, and for anyone scouting New Braunfels as a place to settle, this week shows the community at its warmest.
More DetailsWimberley Market Days
The first Saturday of the month brings Wimberley Market Days back to Lions Field, with around four hundred and fifty vendors spread across the oaks, live music, food, and that small town bustle that has made this market a fixture for decades. Admission is free. It is one of the best ways to spend a morning in Wimberley, and it gives relocating buyers an honest look at the town's character in a single visit. The market returns the first Saturday of every month through December.
More DetailsCasey Donahew at Gruene Hall
Texas country favorite Casey Donahew plays two nights at the oldest dance hall in Texas to open October. Gruene Hall has been hosting music in the historic Gruene district since 1878, and a fall evening on the Guadalupe with good live music is about as Hill Country as it gets. The dance hall's fall lineup stays strong around it, with Shane Smith and the Saints on October 9 and Kevin Fowler's afternoon show on October 11. Weekend dance hall shows sell out, so grab tickets early.
More DetailsRocktoberfest on Canyon Lake
The Canyon Lake Junior Women's Club hosts its annual Rocktoberfest right on the lake at Holiday Harbor, with live bands, local craft brews, food vendors, a costume contest, and prize drawings. Admission has been free in recent years, and it doubles as a fundraiser for community causes. It is exactly the kind of afternoon that makes lake living what it is, an easy gathering where neighbors meet neighbors and visitors get a genuine feel for the community. If you are thinking about a lake home or a second home here, this is the friendliest way to start.
More DetailsDam Fine Car Show and Sunday Drive
The Dam Community Alliance puts on this car show and Sunday drive right up at Overlook Park by the Canyon Lake dam, with classic cars and trucks, vendors, food, and driving themed games. It benefits local parks, and the setting, with the lake and the dam as a backdrop, is as pretty as any car show in the state. For anyone scouting the lake for retirement or a second home, it is a relaxed way to spend a Sunday and meet the community that keeps the parks going.
More DetailsMuertos Fest
Muertos Fest at Hemisfair is one of the largest Day of the Dead celebrations in the country, with more than eighty altars, two processions, a marketplace, live stages, and hands on workshops. Admission is free. It is a warm, colorful, family friendly celebration of heritage that brings the whole city together, and it sits within an easy drive of Canyon Lake, Wimberley, and New Braunfels. For anyone weighing the San Antonio side of the Hill Country, it is a beautiful introduction to the city.
More DetailsDay of the Dead River Parade
San Antonio's Day of the Dead River Parade sends decorated barges, costumed riders, and live music down the River Walk in a celebration of family and heritage, with food and altars lining La Villita nearby. It is free to watch from the riverbank, and it is one of the most striking evenings of the San Antonio year. It runs the same weekend as Muertos Fest at Hemisfair, so you can catch the festival all weekend and the parade on Friday night, all within an easy drive of the lake country.
More DetailsCanyon Lake Fall Festival and Country Bazaar
St. Andrew Lutheran Church hosts a family festival and country bazaar in the heart of Canyon Lake with a vendor bazaar, a Halloween costume contest, cloggers, line dancing, music, and food. It is the kind of friendly, unhurried gathering that defines lake community life, and it gives visitors a warm, honest picture of the neighbors they would have here. For families and retirees scouting the lake, it is a relaxed way to spend a fall Saturday.
More DetailsWurstfest
The 65th annual Wurstfest returns to the banks of the Comal River at Landa Park for ten days in November, with more than forty bands across five stages, traditional German food and beer, carnival rides, a craft beer garden, dance contests, and a children's area. Kids twelve and under get in free every day, and general admission is free Monday through Thursday. It is the biggest celebration of the New Braunfels year and a genuine Hill Country institution, well worth the weekend if you are in the market or just visiting.
More DetailsPlanning the Weeks Across the Hill Country
A few notes from my years around here that might help you plan the season:
- New Braunfels opens the season with the fair. The Comal County Fair and Rodeo runs September 23 through 27, and it is the warm, friendly kickoff of fall in that town. Wurstfest closes the season out November 6 through 15, so New Braunfels bookends the whole stretch.
- Gruene does a full October. Casey Donahew plays October 2 and 3 at Gruene Hall, Shane Smith and the Saints follow October 9, and the dance hall stays busy all month. Weekend shows sell out, so buy ahead.
- Canyon Lake has its big weekend October 10. Rocktoberfest is at Holiday Harbor that Saturday, and the Chamber's BBQ Cook-Off is the same day over near the community center. For buyers scouting the lake, those two days show you who lives here and why they stay.
- Wimberley is a first Saturday town. Market Days fills Lions Field on October 3 and keeps returning the first Saturday of each month through December. One morning there tells you more about the town than any listing page.
- San Antonio's Day of the Dead is a full weekend. Muertos Fest runs October 23 through 25 at Hemisfair, with the River Parade on the evening of the 23rd. It is free, it is beautiful, and it is an easy drive from the lake country.
“When someone asks me what it is like to live in the Hill Country, I tell them to come out for a season like this one. Every weekend there is a different reason to be outside, a different town to walk, and a different group of neighbors to meet. There is no better time of year to see what these communities are really about.”
Steve Giannone
If you are thinking about a move to any of these communities, pick two events and go. You will learn more about a town in an afternoon than any listing page can teach you. And whenever you want, I am happy to answer questions about the neighborhoods around any of them.
Thinking about a move to the Hill Country? Let us talk.