These 9 Virginia Towns Have The Most Unique Festivals

Virginia may be for lovers, as their license plates proudly proclaim, but it is also for festival lovers. From oysters out of the bay to old-time fiddle music, peanuts roasting under carnival lights to daffodils blooming every spring, across the Commonwealth, communities have perfected the art of celebrating history, culture, and small-town spirit. Every season, these nine Virginia towns host the most unique festivals, rolling out the welcome mat with celebrations that are as special as the people who keep them alive. Big on charm and even bigger on heart, Virginia proves that when it comes to festivals, nobody does it quite like the Old Dominion.

Urbanna Oyster Festival, Urbanna

Most of the time, the population of the square-mile town of Urbanna, Virginia, hovers around 500 residents, but not on the first consecutive Friday and Saturday of November, when the Urbanna Oyster Festival draws over 50,000 people from across the United States. While entry is free, and it is a pay-as-you-slurp festival, there are plenty of opportunities to upgrade your experience to VIP status with access to hospitality tents, wine and beer tastings, oyster shooters, private restroom facilities, and more.

The Urbanna Oyster Festival was an evolution of “Urbanna Days” that first began in 1957. By 1988, the event was declared the “official” oyster festival of the Commonwealth, a title it still holds today. Whether you come for raw, steamed, Rockefeller, stewed, or baked in a pot pie, the event is all about the oysters. In between slurping and participating in the Oyster Shucking Contest, there is a parade with a beauty queen and floats, arts and crafts, an antique car show, children’s activities, and exhibits on the conservation of the Chesapeake Bay. The 68th Annual Urbanna Oyster Festival takes place on November 7 to 8, 2025.

Old Fiddlers’ Convention, Galax

The “World’s Oldest and Largest Old Fiddlers’ Convention” celebrated its 89th annual festival from August 4 to 9, 2025, in the town of Galax, with a gathering of country and music lovers who traveled from across the US to celebrate Appalachian and bluegrass music. The convention originated in the spring of 1935 when members of the then-new Moose Lodge #733 wanted to raise awareness and funds and held two conventions. When the event outgrew its original indoor facilities, organizers moved it outside to Felts Park, where it has been held every year, except during World War II and the pandemic of 2020.

Next year’s cherished week-long event takes place from August 3 to 8, 2026, and features nightly competitions, jam sessions, and outstanding performances on fiddles, banjos, autoharps, dulcimers, mandolinas, and harmonicas. It will be the 90th anniversary of the Old Fiddlers’ Convention.

Suffolk Peanut Festival, Suffolk

The Suffolk Peanut Festival is one of the oldest peanut festivals in the United States, dating back to 1941. Only the National Peanut Festival held in Dothan, Alabama, is older by three years, having debuted in 1938. The Suffolk Peanut Festival takes place in the “Peanut Capital of the World,” thanks to Suffolk’s long history with popular peanut company, Planters Peanuts, founded there in 1906 by Amedeo Obici from Italy. While the company was initially headquartered in Wilkes-Barre, the manufacturing side of the business moved to Suffolk, where Mr. Peanut was also born in 1916, the brainchild of a schoolboy who submitted the drawing in a contest for a brand icon. The iconic top hat, monocle, and cane came later.

Today, the 4-day festival draws over 125,000 people with concerts, amusement rides, completions, a demolition derby, peanut cup races, live music, fireworks, and more. The 47th Annual Suffolk Peanut Fest is scheduled for October 9 to 12, 2025.

Neptune Festival Boardwalk Weekend, Virginia City

2025 marks the 51st anniversary of the Virginia Beach Neptune Festival Boardwalk Weekend, which attracts hundreds of thousands of festivalgoers to the Virginia Beach boardwalk between 1st and 25th Streets. There are over 30 blocks of activities to choose from, including displays by over 200 artisans in the Nepture Festival Art and Craft Show. Add to that a Dock Dogs Show where dogs leap through the air, a Surfing Classic, an International Sandsculpting Competition, an Atlantic Regatta, a Volleyball Tournament, and so much more fun in the sun.

The festival began in 1974, when the president of the Virginia Beach Chamber of Commerce asked local businessman Fred Napolitano to come up with an idea to celebrate the city’s heritage and attract tourists to the area. The inaugural festival attracted 50,000 people, and over the years, it has only grown in size, with celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor and Chuck Norris serving as Grand Marshals of the parade at one time or another. The Neptune Festival produces over 40 events each year in Virginia Beach, with the Boardwalk Weekend being its signature event. This year’s beach party kicks off on Friday, September 26, at noon and coasts through Sunday, September 28, 2025.

Historic Appomattox Railroad Festival, Appomattox

The Historic Appomattox Railroad Festival is a family-friendly fall event that celebrates the history and heritage of the region. The festival has been held every year since 1972 on the second full weekend of October to commemorate the gift of the Train Depot to the town of Appomattox. The railroad has played an essential part in Appomattox since 1854, transforming it from a quiet rural stop into a thriving commercial center, and later carrying soldiers and supplies through the region during the American Civil War.

In addition to its railroading history, Appomattox is also famous as the place where the American Civil War effectively ended. On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at the McLean House in the Battle of the Appomattox Court House. Perfect for train enthusiasts and history buffs, this year’s two-day festival runs from October 10 to 12, 2025.

Highland County Maple Festival, Monterey

The Highland County Maple Festival is one of Virginia’s sweetest traditions, held every March in Monterey and throughout Highland County, nicknamed “Virginia’s Little Switzerland,” thanks to its high elevation, perfect for growing sugar maple trees. Since 1959, the festival has celebrated the county’s maple sugaring heritage, when freezing nights and thawing days create ideal conditions for sap to flow. Festivalgoers can tour “sugar camps” to see how maple syrup is made the old-fashioned way, before tasting it poured over hot buckwheat cakes or drizzled on fresh doughnuts.

The festival also features arts and crafts vendors, bluegrass music, and plenty of small-town charm, drawing over 50,000 visitors each year to the quiet mountain county of about 2,500 residents. In 1999, the Library of Congress designated The Highland County Maple Festival a “Local Legacy.” The 66th Annual Maple Festival will take place over two weekends in 2026: March 14-15 and March 21-22, with over 100 artisans and crafters, delicious food, live entertainment, and lots of maple syrup.

FloydFest, Check

Even though FloydFest has been entertaining thousands of music lovers since 2002, it’s experienced a renaissance lately after relocating in 2024 from its original 70-acre site on a scenic plateau along the Blue Ridge Parkway to a new 200-acre site sixteen miles away. FloydFest is a five-day outdoor music and arts festival held every summer in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Floyd, Virginia. Renowned for its eclectic mix of bluegrass, folk, rock, reggae, and world music, the festival has even more to offer beyond the stage with onsite camping, nearby hiking and biking trails, arts and craft vendors, and wellness workshops.

Kris Hodges and Erika Johnson founded the festival with the vision of blending a world-class music lineup with the natural beauty and creative spirit of the Blue Ridge. More recently, it has been run by Across-the-Way Productions. The musicians are already tuning up for the next FloydFest to be held just outside Floyd, in Check, from July 22 to 26, 2026.

Graves Mountain Apple Harvest Festival, Syria

The annual Graves Mountain Apple Harvest Festival is celebrating its 56th year over the first three weekends in October 2025: October 4 to 5, 11 to 12, and 18 to 19. Held at Graves Mountain Farm and Lodges, the family-oriented, old-fashioned festival features bluegrass music, a hay maze, pony rides, apple picking, and a petting zoo, not to mention an abundance of apple products, including fresh-pressed cider, fritters, apple butter, and more.

The festival began in the late 1970s as a way for the Graves family, a local family who has farmed in Madison County since the 1850s, to share their apple orchards, mountain setting, and community spirit with visitors. It has since grown into one of the longest-running festivals in Virginia.

Daffodil Festival, Gloucester County

The small county of Gloucester is celebrating its 40th Annual Daffodil Festival on March 28 and 29, 2026. The event brings together over 200 vendors on the town’s Main Street, featuring arts, crafts, delicious food, and live music all weekend. Meanwhile, the star attraction, the Daffodil Show, is hosted at the Newington Baptist Church, with categories in Photography, Horticulture Blooms, and Artistic Arrangements. There is a parade with floats, a Daffodil Queen, Daffodil Princesses, and a Little Miss Daffodil.

Daffodils began to flourish in Gloucester County back in 1651 after it officially broke with neighboring York County, and the Daffodil Festival has been around much longer than 40 years. It premiered on April 6th, 1926, as an informal garden party held by a local family to show off their daffodil garden. During the 1930s and 1940s, the blooms were so prominent that Gloucester was known as the “Daffodil Capital of America.” Today, the popular festival attracts flower lovers from all over Virginia to celebrate the county’s rich history of daffodil farming.

Discover Virginia’s Most Unique Festivals

From the mountains to the coast, Virginia’s most unique festivals are more than just community events. Whether it’s neighbors gathering over fresh maple syrup in the Highlands, music lovers jamming in the Blue Ridge mountains, or friends cheering on oyster shuckers by the Chesapeake Bay, each celebration reflects the personality of its town. For music fans, foodies, day trippers, apple pickers, and flower lovers, these festivals are reminders of what makes small-town life so special: old-fashioned family fun, local flavors, and the kind of community spirit that never goes out of season.