Only in Texas can an entire weekend revolve around watermelon seed-spitting, pickle juice drinking, or a championship goat cookoff. Across the state, summer and fall bring a packed calendar of food festivals celebrating everything from peaches and peanuts to black-eyed peas and barbacoa. These beloved events pair hometown traditions with live entertainment, quirky contests, and enough local flavor to fill a cooler.
Here's a calendar guide to Texas' best food festivals to visit in 2026:
Luling Watermelon Thump – June 25-28
Can you hear that thumping sound now? Home of the World Championship Seed-Spitting Contest, this juicy jamboree takes place just east of New Braunfels. Bid on champion-sized melons at the auction, wave hello to the Watermelon Queen, and see adorable tots wheeling in watermelons in wagons for the Lil Growers competition. Texans love our watermelon: You’ll also find the McDade Watermelon Festival (July 11), Hempstead Watermelon Festival (July 17-18), and the Naples Watermelon Festival (July 23-25).
Wave hello to the Watermelon Queen in the big Luling Watermelon Thump.Photo courtesy of Luling Watermelon Thump
Parker County Peach Festival in Weatherford – July 11
Stroll around Weatherford’s historic courthouse square and shop for fresh peaches galore from local growers. Browse 200+ arts and crafts vendors and sample treats like fried peach pies, peach ice cream, and peach wine. Slam down your winning tiles at the 42 domino tournament (the national game of Texas) and shop for just-picked peaches. Many people leave with several bushels! Peachapaloozas also erupt at Stonewall’s Peach JAMboree & Rodeo (June 19-21) near Fredericksburg and Fairfield’s Fuzzy Peach Festival (July 17-18).
Cheeseburger Festival in Friona – July 18
Just 35 miles from the New Mexico border, Friona is surrounded by cattle ranches, wheat fields, and dairy farms — which provide three of the essential ingredients for cheeseburgers. Saturday, July 18 is the big cookoff, where teams must make 200 cheeseburgers each, and the week leading up to it includes daily diversions like kite flying, archery lessons, Loteria games, and movie nights at the city pool.
Texas Monthly Taco Fest — July 25
Now in its second year, the event, which will be held at Discovery Green, includes many of the restaurants named to the magazine's list of the 50 Best Tacos in Texas. Participants include Houston favorites such as the Original Ninfa’s, Cochinita & Co., Maximo, Tacos Frontera, Huncho’s Tacos, and Papalo Taqueria, which ranked No. 7 on the list. In addition, look for Burnt Bean Co., from Seguin, ranked No. 1 on the magazine's top 50 barbecue joints list, and Ana Liz Taqueria, from Mission, the number one taqueria on the 50 Best Tacos list, among a host of others. Tickets are priced at $60 for general admission and $85 for VIP.
World Championship Goat Cookoff in Brady – September 4-5
Labor Day weekend brings more than 200 teams of goat chefs to this tiny town that’s smack in the middle of the state. But it’s not just about shining a light on an underappreciated meat; showmanship is also key. Cooking teams try to outdo each other with elaborate themed camps, giving the event a family-reunion-meets-tailgate-party atmosphere.
Texas Banana Pudding Festival in Slaton – September 5
The Banana Pudding Capital of Texas is way out west near Lubbock, and every autumn a local bakery hosts a ‘nanner puddin’ blowout in the historic town square. The street festival oozes small-town charm (think vintage tractor displays and pinewood derby races) with fantastic b-pudding flavors like Key lime pie and peanut butter.
Caldwell Kolache Festival – September 12
With tens of thousands of kolaches, nonstop polka music, and a parade with colorful folk costumes, this celebration honors Czech culture and heritage. Found close to College Station, Caldwell is called the Czech Capital of Texas, and its signature festival also features the Beseda (the national dance of the Czech Republic) and kolache baking and eating contests.
In a Pickle Festival in Helotes – September 19
Does the idea of dogs dressed like pickles tickle your fancy? The pickled pet parade is a highlight of this Hill Country brou-ha-ha, and so is the pickle juice drinking competition. Chug! Chug! Chug! Hungry now? Try pickle pizza, pickle ice cream, and freeze-dried pickles — and if you still haven’t had enough, there’s a second In a Pickle Festival in Mercedes each spring, and Garland hosts its Pickle Party on the Square with a Pickle University every June.
Bertram Oatmeal Festival – September 26
Head to this Hill Country hamlet to meet Oatie, the festival mascot (a container of 3-Minute Oats) and his masked arch-nemesis, the Grits Guzzler (a corny cornmeal-pushing villain). Watch their shenanigans unfold down the street before you sign up for silly games like the tortilla toss and cow chip kick. Children can get ooey-gooey searching for prizes in the popular oatmeal dig, a kiddie pool filled with oats.
Southern Smoke Festival — October 3
Houston's most star-studded annual food event returns to Discovery Green with almost 100 participating chefs. As always, the roster is headlined by Aaron Franklin, who serves the brisket that made Austin's Franklin Barbecue one of the country's most celebrated restaurants. Other participants include Paul Carmichael, the chef behind the New York Times' no. 1 restaurant Kabawa; Serigne Mbaye, whose New Orleans restaurant Dakar NOLA ranked No. 4 on the new list of North America's 50 Best Restaurants; and the return of pizza master Chris Bianco. Tickets, priced at $225 for general admission and $550 for Lexus VIP, are available now.
Meet Oatie, the mascot of the Bertram Oatmeal Festival. Photo courtesy of Bertram Oatmeal Festival
Floresville Peanut Festival – October 6-10
The enticing aroma of roasting peanuts fills the air at this South Texas fest, which dates all the way back to 1938. It kicks off with Goober Games for children (like sack races and peanut tossing) and a Kiddie Parade with pint-sized floats. Then the serious fun begins: a grand parade, barbecue cookoff, and washer tournament — plus a panoply of peanutty treats, from old-school peanut brittle to newfangled inventions like fried peanut butter sandwiches.
Barbacoa and Big Red Festival in San Antonio – October 10-11
Inspired by a Mexican American weekend lunch ritual, this giant fair celebrates the uber-Texas combo of ice-cold Big Red soda and slow-cooked barbacoa. Thousands of fans flock to the Freeman Coliseum grounds and Expo Hall for this full-blown cultural festival with carnival rides and multiple stages of Tejano and country music.
Jamburgeree in Athens – October 16-17
Turtle races? Check. Mooing competition? Check. Hamburger-building contest? Of course! This Piney Woods party is two food festivals in one: the Black-Eyed Pea Jamboree and the Uncle Fletch Hamburger Festival — because Athens is the Black-Eyed Pea Capital of the World AND the Birthplace of the Hamburger. Vegetarians and carnivores can walk hand-in-hand through the food fest and enjoy the eats along with a black-eyed pea spitting contest, a farmer’s market, and a cornhole tournament.
Seguin Pecan Fest – October 24
Snap a selfie with the world’s largest pecan in this picturesque town along the Guadalupe River, the Pecan Capital of Texas and one of the state’s leading producers of our favorite nuts. Pecan-themed festivities include a Food Truck Throwdown with pecan-inspired dishes and a Get Crackin’ Contest for masochists who like to shell pecans. Last year’s bash also had llamas.
Of course there's a Pecan Fest in Texas.Photo courtesy of Pecan Fest
Crystal City Spinach Festival – October 29-November 1
Celebrate Popeye’s favorite food for four whole days in Crystal City, located about 100 miles southwest of San Antonio in Zavala County — Texas’ top spinach-producing county for more than a century. Naturally, there’s a spinach cookoff, as well as a parade, carnival rides, and the crowning of the Spinach Festival Queen. Don’t forget to pay your regards to the statue of Popeye, who popularized spinach during the Great Depression — transforming Crystal City’s economy and spurring the founding of the Spinach Festival in 1936.
Heritage Syrup Festival – November 14 in Henderson
Watch ribbon cane syrup as it’s made with antique, mule-powered equipment at this Easy Texas folk life festival. You’ll also see demonstrations of lace making, blacksmithing, rope making, quilting, spinning, and wood carving. Hayrides and square dancing complete the old-fashioned fun.
Poteet Strawberry Festival – Second weekend of April 2027 (date TBA)
Last but certainly not least, this massive event near San Antonio attracts over 100,000 fruit fanatics to the Strawberry Capital of Texas every spring. It has it all: fireworks, rodeo thrills, marching bands, carnival rides, and more than a dozen stages of entertainment from folklorico dancers to dueling pianos. But the star of the show is the sweet South Texas strawberry, a ruby-red gem that gets gobbled by the truckload.
