Between Thursday, October 22, and Saturday, October 31, downtown Greeneville has two festivals put on by two different organizations. Around them are a park Halloween night, a two-night paranormal investigation, a car show, a countywide bike ride, and a hay bale trail that runs the whole time. The new piece is the Appalachian Autumn Festival. The Greene County Partnership is running it for the first time on Saturday, October 24, on the same streets that hold the Iris Festival every spring.
That puts most of downtown Greeneville's fall into about ten days. If you plan your October around what's happening downtown, this is the stretch to keep open.
A festival on the Iris Festival streets
WGRV first reported the festival on August 22. The plan is 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Depot Street, College Street, and Academy Street, with local artisans, fall food and drinks, a car show, live mountain music, and big screens showing football all day. The car show is the Sundown on Depot Car Show Fall Event, which the Town of Greeneville's calendar lists from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Depot and Main.
The Partnership's vendor page shows how the event is organized. It's a juried festival, so every vendor request goes on a waitlist until it's approved. All crafts are eligible, traditional or contemporary, including photography and painting, as long as the work is the exhibitor's own. Booths cost $110 for crafters, $225 for food vendors, and $350 for merchant sponsors. By the time the page was captured, the Partnership had already filled its spots for lemonade and drink trucks and for bakeries.
Setup runs Friday, October 23, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. and Saturday, October 24, from 7 to 9 a.m. If you live or park near Depot, College, or Academy, expect vendors loading in on Friday evening, a full day before the gates open.
As of early October, nobody has published the music lineup or stage schedule. We also haven't found a posted street closure schedule. WGRV pointed readers to GreeneCountyPartnership.com for updates, and that's the place to watch as the date gets close.
Four days in a row, Thursday to Sunday
The festival is the middle of a longer stretch. The Greeneville Greene County History Museum's listing for its paranormal tour says the tour happens "during downtown Greeneville's fall festival week." Here's how that week looks on the Town calendar.
| Day | Event | Time | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu., Oct. 22 | TCAT Greene County campus ribbon cutting | 1–2 p.m. | 4800 E. Andrew Johnson Hwy. |
| Thu., Oct. 22 | Halloween at Hardin Park | 5:30–8 p.m. | Hardin Park, 602 Crescent Dr. |
| Fri., Oct. 23 | The Greeneville Files: Paranormal Investigation Walking Tour | 6:30 p.m. | Starts at the History Museum, 101 W. McKee St. |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Sundown on Depot Car Show Fall Event | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | Depot and Main |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Appalachian Autumn Festival | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. | Depot, College, and Academy |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Fall Pickleball Classic | 8:30 a.m. start | YMCA of Greene County, 404 Y St. |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Paranormal Walking Tour, second night | 6:30 p.m. | Starts at the History Museum |
| Sun., Oct. 25 | BRAGco Bicycle Ride Across Greene County | 8:30 a.m.–noon | Countywide |
| Sun., Oct. 25 | Fall Pickleball Classic, day two | Noon start | YMCA of Greene County |
Greeneville Parks & Recreation runs Halloween at Hardin Park, with live music, a costume contest, a haunted maze, and a spooky trick-or-treat trail. All parking is at Hal Henard Elementary School, and you walk in from the paved path at the far end of that lot. Businesses and organizations can sign up to hand out candy along the trick-or-treat trail by calling 423-638-3144.
The paranormal tour runs both Friday and Saturday nights. Paranormal investigator Susan Sheets leads guests through three historic downtown locations over about four hours. The listing says plainly that it's a hands-on investigation where guests learn to use the equipment, and that it isn't a ghost-story tour. Total walking is about 25 minutes with a few slight inclines. There's a stop partway through to rest and buy food and drinks, and the night ends inside the historic Capitol Theatre. Space is limited, and ticket details were still to come when the listing was captured.
That Saturday is the busiest downtown day of the month. The car show starts an hour before the festival, the pickleball tournament fills the YMCA across town, and the paranormal tour starts its second night just as festival vendors pack up. Registration for the pickleball tournament closes Wednesday, October 21.
Main Street Greeneville's festival follows six days later
Six days after the Appalachian Autumn Festival, downtown has a second festival run by a different group. Main Street Greeneville calls its yearly Halloween Happenings a fall festival. The Town calendar has it on Friday, October 30, from 4 to 6 p.m. on Depot and Main streets.
Check the date before you plan around it. An older Greeneville Sun fall roundup gives Halloween Happenings as Friday, October 31. October 31 does fall on a Friday some years, but this year it's a Saturday, and the current Town calendar lists the event on Friday the 30th.
Here's what else the calendar shows for that weekend:
- Friday, Oct. 30, 5–7 p.m. MECO Corporation's 5th Annual Trunk or Treat at 1500 Industrial Rd. The company says it's open to the community, with candy, music, games, food trucks, and a grill giveaway.
- Saturday, Oct. 31, noon–4 p.m. Scoops Boo Bash at Scoop Dog's Creamery, 1370 Tusculum Blvd., with Halloween activities, treats, and more than 30 vendors.
- Saturday, Oct. 31, 4–7 p.m. The 3rd Annual Community Trunk or Treat, hosted by the George Clem Multicultural Alliance with Kristin Anderson at George Clem School, Coach J.J. Jones Community Park, 312 Floral St. It's free for all children.
Count the dates. From the Hardin Park night on October 22 through the Floral Street trunk or treat on October 31, the Town calendar has public evening or weekend events on six of the ten days.
The hay bale trail runs through all of it
The Greene County Hay Bale Trail starts before that stretch and keeps going after it. Displays are up from Tuesday, October 13, through Friday, November 13. That means bales are already out by the time either downtown festival arrives.
This is the trail's second year. Last fall, the first Keep Greene Beautiful Hay Bale Trail had 36 stops at local businesses, schools, farms, and other organizations, split into three regions of the county. A Google Maps route and paper maps from the Greene County Partnership office at 115 Academy St. helped people find them, and visitors were asked to post photos with #HayKGB. Maple Grove Farm in Afton made one of the best-known displays. The maple syrup producers turned a hay bale into what looked like a stack of pancakes.
The 2026 change is who can take part. Last year's stops were businesses, schools, farms, and organizations. This year the Partnership is also inviting families and individuals to build a fall, festive, or spooky display. A bale in a front yard can now go on the same map as last year's farm and business stops. To sign up, contact J.B. Miller at the Greene County Partnership at (423) 638-4111 or [email protected].
The Town calendar also lists a "GCP - Hay Bale Trail Crawl" as an all-day event on Saturday, October 17. The Partnership hasn't posted a description, route, or format yet. If you want to drive the trail on the crawl date, call the Partnership office first so you know whether it's an organized event or a suggested day to drive it on your own.
Depot Street gets busy early
The festival week isn't Depot Street's first fall event. On Friday, October 9, from 6 to 10 p.m., "Shake, Rattle & Roll on Depot!" turns the area around The Gentry at 119 W. Depot St. into a 1950s and '60s party. Plans include oldies music, dance competitions, costume contests, classic cars, and ice cream from Creamy Cup. Last month the Town held Depot Nights Oktoberfest on Saturday, September 19, and closed West Depot and Irish streets from 2 to 10 p.m. for it.
New places on the block can also bring you downtown. Sleeves & Screens, a trading card shop and gaming lounge, scheduled its grand opening for September 12 at 110 W. Depot St. That's a few doors from The Gentry and right inside the Appalachian Autumn Festival's footprint.
With events on October 9 and October 17, then the stretch from October 22 to 25, then Halloween Happenings on October 30, downtown Greeneville has something on almost every weekend this month. The week of October 22 is still the busiest, because the new festival lands right next to the Hardin Park night, the paranormal tour, and the car show.
Planning to put a hay bale display in your own yard this year, or just trying to figure out where to park on festival Saturday? Jennifer and Matt at The Lusk Team love talking about Greene County weekends and are happy to help with the details. Let's Connect, and we'll see you on Depot Street on the 24th.
