Tallahassee Events Calendar and Guide

The big Tallahassee events of the coming season are the North Florida Fair in November, the Winter Festival and Market Days in December, and Springtime Tallahassee and the Chain of Parks Art Festival in April 2027.

Sources for the table: North Florida Fair, City of Tallahassee Winter Festival, Tallahassee Museum, Springtime Tallahassee and Chain of Parks. The Tallahassee dates that collide are the ones to plan around: the Winter Festival downtown and the first day of Market Days at the fairgrounds are both on Saturday, December 5, 2026.

Last verified: October 15, 2026, on the North Florida Fair, City of Tallahassee, Tallahassee Museum, Springtime Tallahassee and Chain of Parks websites.

The 2026 North Florida Fair runs November 5 to 15 at the North Florida Fairgrounds on Paul Russell Road in Tallahassee, with general admission of $10 for adults (North Florida Fair).

The fairgrounds address is 441 E. Paul Russell Road, Tallahassee, FL 32301, the same grounds that host Market Days in December.

Youth 6 to 12 pay $7 and children 5 and under get in free, and advance sale tickets are sold until November 5 at 5:00 p.m. (North Florida Fair). Daily specials include Opening Night Free Gate Admission and Carload Night, and ride prices vary by night. Parking on the Tallahassee fairgrounds is free but limited: the Stadium Lot off Paul Russell Road is paved, and the Tram Road Lot off Tram Road is grass, with handicapped parking in both.

The North Florida Fair office phone is 850-878-3247 (North Florida Fair).

Deeper Tallahassee guide: the North Florida Fair guide covers the November fair on Paul Russell Road and the fairgrounds debate.

The 40th annual Tallahassee Winter Festival fills downtown on Saturday, December 5, 2026 from 3 to 10 p.m., with food vendors, arts and crafts merchants and holiday displays including Candy Cane Lane in McCarty Park (City of Tallahassee).

Evening times on the 2026 City page: 6 p.m. for the Lighting Ceremony beside Bloxham Park, 6:15 p.m. for the Jingle Bell Run and 7:10 p.m. for the Nighttime Holiday Parade, with four downtown stages of live entertainment (City of Tallahassee).

Candy Cane Lane stays open nightly through December 20, and the Holiday Stroll fills Cascades Park, 1001 South Gadsden Street, with music on Saturday, December 12 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. (City of Tallahassee). Registration for the parade, entertainment, vendors and exhibitors closed October 12, 2026.

Market Days, the Tallahassee Museum's arts and crafts show, runs December 5 and 6, 2026 at the North Florida Fairgrounds (Tallahassee Museum). General admission is sold only at the gate: $10 for ages 13 and older, free for 12 and under, Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Early Bird tickets cost $30 online and are limited to 1,000, for shopping Saturday from 8 to 10 a.m., with entrance at the Monroe Gate.

Market Days is volunteer run and held rain or shine, and its proceeds support the Tallahassee Museum's education programs, living wildlife collection and historic buildings (Tallahassee Museum).

Deeper Tallahassee guides: the Winter Festival guide covers the Jingle Bell Run, the lighting ceremony and the holiday parade, and the Market Days guide covers the Tallahassee Museum's December show.

The 59th annual Springtime Tallahassee festival is April 2 and 3, 2027, with a music festival on Kleman Plaza on Friday and the Grand Parade and Jubilee on Saturday (Springtime Tallahassee).

The Grand Parade steps off at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 3, 2027, on Monroe Street just south of Brevard Street, then travels south through downtown past the Florida Capitol before ending at Madison Street (Springtime Tallahassee). Springtime Tallahassee says the parade will feature more than 100 participating units, including floats, marching bands and dance groups. The first Springtime Tallahassee parade was held in 1968.

A small inconsistency on the Springtime Tallahassee website is worth knowing: the home page calls the 2027 parade the 58th annual Grand Parade and says the festival dates from 1967, while the parade page calls it the 59th Annual Grand Parade and dates the first parade to 1968 (Springtime Tallahassee). The festival office is at 114 East 5th Avenue, Suite B, phone (850) 583-9613.

Deeper Tallahassee guide: the Springtime Tallahassee guide covers the parade, the Jubilee and the krewes.

The LeMoyne Chain of Parks Art Festival is April 17 and 18, 2027, under the live oaks of Bloxham, Lewis and Randolph parks in downtown Tallahassee, and it is free to the public (Chain of Parks).

The festival says its work comes from over 170 nationally juried artists and that Sunshine Artist Magazine ranked it the #5 Fine Art Festival in the Nation, including #1 in Florida (Chain of Parks). The same About page, which notes that some content may still reflect 2026, lists the Garden Guardian upcycled sculpture exhibit in LeMoyne's gardens from March 16 through April 16 before it moves to the festival for a silent auction.

The festival's parking page, posted August 24, 2024, lists free festival shuttles from the Kleman Plaza Garage and the Eastside Garage, each with $5 event parking, dropping riders at Monroe St. and E. Park Ave. or on Calhoun St. behind the Main Stage (Chain of Parks). The Cascades Garage is a short walk away but is not served by the shuttle. Tallahassee shuttle questions go to the City of Tallahassee at (850) 891-2607.

Deeper Tallahassee guide: the Chain of Parks Art Festival guide covers the April fine art festival on Park Avenue.

Each Tallahassee events guide answers one question, and the Red Hills Horse Trials guide covers the history of that equestrian event and Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park, which the City of Tallahassee lists at 4600 North Meridian Road (City of Tallahassee).

Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park is a 670 acre tract on the eastern shore of Lake Jackson, bought in October of 1992, with over 600 acres used for passive recreation and environmental education, phone 850-891-3866 (City of Tallahassee). The Meadows Soccer Complex on Millers Landing Road sits inside the Tallahassee park as well.