7 Unique Small Town Festivals Worth Traveling For

Small towns often have a reputation for being sleepy. But that’s not true of every small town — at least not all the time. Certain communities come alive for a weekend or two each year, when thousands of people — locals and visitors alike — gather to celebrate something special. Whether it’s honoring a frozen dead guy, reenacting war battles, or eating fungi, here are seven small U.S. towns with unique festivals you won’t want to miss.

Kennett Square, Pennsylvania 

Calling all mushroom lovers: The annual Mushroom Festival in Kennett Square celebrates everyone’s favorite edible fungi each September. There’s a reason for that: This small town home to about 6,000 people is known as the “Mushroom Capital of the World.” Farmers in the surrounding area of Chester County produce roughly half of the nation’s mushroom supply — to the tune of 500 million pounds per year.

The two-day event extends for a mile along Broad Street and draws anywhere from 80,000 to 100,000 people. Expect to try a variety of umami-packed offerings, including fried mushrooms, mushroom cheesesteaks, and ’shroom tacos. You can also learn how to cook mushrooms at culinary demos, buy gourmet mushrooms directly from producers, or explore specialty vendors, whose wares range from mushroom jerky to fungal skin care.

McCall, Idaho

The mountain town of McCall, Idaho, swells during Winter Carnival, a festival that celebrates snow, ice, and all things winter. Over the course of 10 days, more than 60,000 people flock to McCall for this annual winter tradition in late January and early February. It features snow sculptures, local art, hot food and drink, and live music. Formerly taking place over a single weekend, Winter Carnival proved so popular that town officials lengthened the festival to lessen the strain on the town’s 4,000-person population. The 10 festive days end with a Mardi Gras parade, complete with costumes, floats, and beads. 

Rockland, Maine

Scheduled annually for the first weekend in August, the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland is the perfect place to gorge on your favorite crustacean. Run entirely by volunteers, this food festival turns the sleepy coastal town into a veritable hot spot for one weekend a year — in 2024, there were a reported 100,000 visitors. The event, spread across five days, is jam-packed with activities that typically revolve around eating. In addition to a daily pancake breakfast, visitors can find all types of lobster in the food tent, plus a seafood cooking contest and lobster-eating contests for all ages. And don’t miss the International Great Crate Race, which strings lobster cages together for an unusual foot race across the harbor.

Twinsburgh, Ohio

Twinsburgh lives up to its name during the first weekend in August, when it comes alive for the Twins Day Festival. The three-day celebration hosts roughly 30,000 people annually — a figure that includes 2,000 sets of twins, triplets, and other multiples. The festival highlight is the Double Take Parade, an over-the-top event where twins are invited to march through town in identical outfits to celebrate their twinship. Other events include look-alike contests, a 5K run, and Twingo (that’s Twin Bingo).

Estes Park, Colorado

If you’ve never celebrated a frozen dead guy before, here’s your chance. Frozen Dead Guy Days originated 120 years ago in the small town of Nederland, Colorado. As the story goes, a Norwegian man requested that his body be cryogenically frozen after his death and kept in his family’s shed. The family overcame some logistical hiccups with local lawmakers and made a few concessions, and today the man remains frozen at the Stanley Hotel in nearby Estes Park, where the Frozen Dead Guy Festival honors him annually in late March. Attendees can partake in coffin races and polar plunges, or dance the night away at the Royal Blue Ball at the notorious Stanley Hotel, complete with spectacular, spooky costumes.

Gettysburg, Pennsylvania

The Battle of Gettysburg Reenactment transforms the town of Gettysburg each Fourth of July weekend, drawing thousands of people to the Pennsylvania town that hosted one of the most famous battles of the Civil War. Each day features a reenactment of the Gettysburg battle with participants dressed in full garb. The event also includes living history demonstrations of cavalry formations, daily camp life, and riflery skills. It takes place at the Daniel Lady Farm, the site of a former Confederate field hospital; tours are available of the historic home and barn, with daily speakers giving educational talks on Civil War history.

Port Aransas, Texas 

Sandfest has become Port Aransas’ biggest annual attraction, drawing tens of thousands of visitors to its sandy shores every April. With a population of roughly 3,000 residents, the small Texas town becomes an art mecca for a weekend, with master sculptors crafting elaborate art installations from local sand. The sculptures are built over the course of the three-day festival and judged on the last day, and artists travel from around the world to compete. There’s also an amateur contest, sandcastle lessons, an awards ceremony, and live music playing throughout the weekend.