Maine's 2026 events database lists 19 fall events, September through November. Fifteen fall in September alone, three in October, and one in November, so most of the planning problem this dataset can solve is really a September problem: four separate weekends where multiple fairs and festivals land at the same time, in different corners of the state.
This guide works from that dataset only, the dates, towns, counties, and published admission status for all 19 events, plus every same-weekend overlap in the data. Twenty-four overlap pairs show up across the season. Twenty-two of them pair events in different counties, meaning most weekend clashes are not a short drive between two nearby options, they are a choice between different regions of Maine.
How Maine's fall festival season breaks down by month
September carries 15 of the season's 19 events, October carries 3, and November carries a single event. That means five out of every six fall events on this list happen inside one month, clustered into distinct weekends rather than spread evenly.
The Labor Day weekend cluster
Labor Day falls on September 7, 2026, and four events run through that weekend. The Blue Hill Fair in Blue Hill, Hancock County, runs September 3 to 7. The Harmony Free Fair in Harmony, Somerset County, runs September 4 to 7. The Camden Windjammer Festival in Camden, Knox County, runs September 4 and 5. The Eastport Salmon & Seafood Festival in Eastport, Washington County, runs September 4 to 6. All four overlap each other, and all four sit in different counties, Hancock, Somerset, Knox, and Washington, which between them cover most of the state's geography.
The second weekend of September
A second four-way cluster follows immediately: the Clinton Lions Agricultural Fair in Clinton (September 10 to 13), the Litchfield Fair in Litchfield (September 11 to 13), the Eastport Pirate Festival in Eastport (September 11 to 13), and the Laudholm Nature Crafts Festival in Wells (September 12 and 13). This is the one cluster in the whole dataset where two of the four share a county: Clinton and Litchfield are both in Kennebec County. Eastport, in Washington County, and Wells, in York County, are the outliers in this cluster, on opposite sides of the state from Kennebec County and from each other.
Late September, the season's busiest stretch
From September 16 through September 27, seven events overlap in a rolling chain. The Oxford County Fair in Oxford runs September 16 to 19. The Camden International Film Festival, back in Camden, runs September 17 to 20. The North New Portland Fair in New Portland runs September 18 to 20. The Farmington Fair in Farmington runs September 20 to 26. The Common Ground Country Fair in Unity runs September 25 to 27. The Cornish Apple Festival in Cornish runs a single day, September 26, inside the Common Ground weekend. And the Cumberland Fair in Cumberland opens September 27, overlapping the last day of Common Ground.
Counties involved in this stretch: Oxford, Knox, Somerset, Franklin, Waldo, York, and Cumberland, seven different counties for seven events. Nothing in this run of overlaps shares a county.
October and November, the season winds down
The Freeport Fall Festival in Freeport, Cumberland County, runs October 2 to 4, overlapping the closing days of Cumberland Fair. Freeport and Cumberland Fair are both in Cumberland County, the second and last same-county overlap in the whole dataset. The Fryeburg Fair in Fryeburg, Oxford County, runs October 4 to 11, eight days, the longest run of any event in this dataset, and overlaps Freeport's closing day. The Damariscotta Pumpkinfest & Regatta in Damariscotta, Lincoln County, runs October 9 to 12 and overlaps the closing days of Fryeburg Fair. November holds one event alone: the Maine Harvest Festival in Bangor, Penobscot County, runs November 21 and 22, more than five weeks after the previous event on this list closes.
What kind of fall event this actually is
Category tags in the dataset split the season roughly into agricultural fairs and everything else. Eleven of the 19 events, Blue Hill Fair, Harmony Free Fair, Clinton Lions Agricultural Fair, Litchfield Fair, Oxford County Fair, North New Portland Fair, Farmington Fair, Common Ground Country Fair, Cumberland Fair, Fryeburg Fair, and Maine Harvest Festival, are tagged agricultural. Eighteen of the 19 are tagged family, the single exception is the Camden International Film Festival, tagged cultural only with no family tag. Four are tagged food-festival: Eastport Salmon & Seafood Festival, Common Ground Country Fair, Cornish Apple Festival, and Maine Harvest Festival. Three carry a cultural tag: Camden Windjammer Festival, Eastport Pirate Festival, and Camden International Film Festival, which is also the only event on this list with just one category tag total. Five carry a craft tag: Laudholm Nature Crafts Festival, Common Ground Country Fair, Cornish Apple Festival, Freeport Fall Festival, and Maine Harvest Festival, the same events that anchor the companion guide to Maine's 2026 craft fairs.
Admission: two published prices out of nineteen
Of the 19 fall events, none publish free admission, and only two publish a price at all: Cumberland Fair and Fryeburg Fair, both $15 for an adult. The other 17 do not publish an admission figure in this dataset, which means it was not available to record, not that entry is free. Budget for an unknown at every fall event except those two.
Towns that host more than one fall event
Two towns appear twice in the 19-event list, though never on the same weekend. Camden hosts the Camden Windjammer Festival September 4 and 5, then the Camden International Film Festival September 17 to 20, 12 days later. Eastport hosts the Eastport Salmon & Seafood Festival September 4 to 6, then the Eastport Pirate Festival September 11 to 13, five days later. Every other town on this list hosts exactly one fall event.
What the overlap pattern means for planning a trip
Across all 24 overlap pairs in the September to November data, 22 pair events in counties that do not match. Only two pairs share a county: Clinton Lions Agricultural Fair with Litchfield Fair, both Kennebec County, and Cumberland Fair with Freeport Fall Festival, both Cumberland County. Everywhere else on the calendar, a weekend clash means picking between two different counties, not two fairs a few miles apart. Maine's fall season is dense in September and thin by November, and it is spread wide enough east to west that a single overlap weekend can put a real choice between, for example, Eastport in Washington County and Wells in York County, two ends of the state, on the same three days.
