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Fun family fall festivals
Celebrate autumn’s harvest. Enter the apple pie contest, take in the entertainment at Darlington Apple Festival, Oct. 1 in Harford County. Fridays through Sundays, pick your own apples and pumpkins at Baugher’s Orchard and Farm in Westminster. Butler’s Orchard in Germantown presents its Pumpkin Festival on weekends. Western Maryland’s Autumn Glory Festival – a celebration of the splendor of fall foliage – runs Oct. 12-16 in Oakland. This 43rd annual event has two parades, concerts, art exhibits, and antiques and craft shows. |
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Fall food & wine festivals
Select Maryland seafood at participating restaurants during From the Bay, for the Bay Dine Out, Oct. 2-9; proceeds assist the Oyster Recovery Partnership. Dive in – feet first – at Sugarloaf Mountain Winery’s annual Grape Stomp, Oct. 1-2 and 8-9. In addition to a stomping contest, event offers tastings, tours and live music amid a stunning landscape. Enjoy live music and tastings from 18 Maryland wineries at the Autumn Wine Festival in Salisbury’s Pemberton Historical Park, Oct. 15-16. |
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Festivals by the water
Tilghman Island – “home of Maryland’s seafood industry” – celebrates Tilghman Day, Oct. 15. Come for the boat-docking competition, boat races, and oyster-shucking and crab-picking contests. At Sultana Project’s Downrigging Weekend, Oct. 27-30 in Chestertown, see tall ships, attend maritime lectures, enjoy concerts and sail on your dream vessel. Along the Patuxent in Southern Maryland, the Monster Rockfish Festival, Oct. 30 at Greenwell State Park (free admission), serves up live entertainment, food and drink, drag racing, and a Rockfish Cook-Off. |
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Oktoberfest festivities
Open October with Frederick’s Oktoberfest, Oct. 1-2 at the Great Frederick Fairgrounds. The town’s three breweries serve up 17 styles of beer. Wear your dirndl or lederhosen and get in free. Ocean City Oktoberfest, Oct. 14-15 at the convention center, includes an art & craft fair. Bratwurst and sauerbraten will be waiting at Charles County’s Oktoberfest, Oct. 22-23 at the fairgrounds. |
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Civil War stories
In 1861, Maryland was a divided state in a divided nation. Discover the impact of the war at these and other events during this 150-year anniversary of the start of the Civil War:
- The B&O Railroad During the Civil War, Oct. 1, Mount Clare Stable, Baltimore
- Songs and Stories of the Civil War, Oct. 8, Surratt House Museum, Clinton (Prince George’s County)
- Civil War Comes to St. Mary’s, Oct. 15-16, Historic St. Mary’s City (St. Mary’s County)
- Battlefield Hikes, Oct. 22, Monocacy National Battlefield, Frederick
- Children’s Experience Weekend, Oct. 22-23, Pry House Field Hospital Museum, Antietam National Battlefield (Washington County)
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