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September is finally here, and you know what that means: it’s fall festival season around Kansas City! And our metro has events to celebrate all the autumnal classics, including pumpkin patches, corn mazes, harvest season and Halloween.
We put together this guide to Kansas City’s favorite fall festivals and arts fairs, autumn activities and Día de los Muertos events of 2025. With a little bit of planning and determination, you can attend a fall-themed festival each weekend from now ‘til November.
Catch one we missed? Let us know and we’ll add it to the list!
Fall festivals and fairs
If you want to experience a rustic, small-town festival this fall, Kansas City has plenty of great options.
Louisburg Ciderfest runs for two weekends, Sept. 27–28 and Oct. 4–5. You can make a day trip of it and get lost in the Louisburg Cider Mill’s corn maze while eating your apple cider donut. Pair your cider with a pancake breakfast from 8–11 a.m. then enjoy pony rides, live cider and donut-making and rows of craft booths until 6 p.m.
Another small-town fall festival within a short drive is the Liberty Fall Festival on Sept. 26–28, which is a bigger celebration with carnival rides and a car show on Saturday.
If you don’t want to travel too far from the metro, the Overland Park Fall Festival is held in downtown Overland Park on Sept. 26–27, and it includes musical acts, kids’ entertainment, and an artisan fair.
If you still need more apple treats, you can also head to Weston Applefest on Oct. 4–5. It features the standard fall festival fare of crafts and food vendors, but the town’s specialties are apple butter and apple dumplings. If you aren’t too full of apples, afterward head to Weston Bend State to view the fall foliage.
You can also head to Baldwin, Kansas (about 50 minutes from Kansas City) to celebrate their 67th annual Maple Leaf Festival on Oct. 18–19. The festival features a parade, crafts, and even a quilt show.
There really is no shortage of fall festivals in the area — and theoretically you could hit all of them this season without too much stress. Belton Fall Festival is Sept. 13, and Blue Springs Fall Fun Festival is Sept. 19-21. Waldo’s 2025 Fall Fest is on Oct. 11.
And no true celebration of fall would be complete without Oktoberfest. Held at Crown Center on Oct. 3-4, KC Oktoberfest is Kansas City’s largest Oktoberfest event. The event features Bavarian and American eats, games and competitions, and plenty of German-style beer to enjoy.
If you’re searching for some family-friendly spooky season affairs, the KC metro is packed with Halloween-themed events and activities.
There’s Boo at the Zoo, an annual event that gives kids a chance to show off their costumes and snag some Russell Stover candy. It’s free with admission to the Kansas City Zoo on Oct. 25-26.
Also at the Kansas City Zoo is GloWild: Time Traveler, a mile-long nighttime light installation, open now through Dec. 28.
For an interactive, activity-packed family event, LegoLand Discovery Center hosts Brick-or-Treat: Monster Party daily from Sept. 25-Oct. 31. With a Potion Kitchen, 4D LEGO movie, scavenger hunt and more, it’s ideal for kids ages 3-12.
There’s also Merriam’s Monster Market Bash and Trick or Treat in Downtown Overland Park, both on Oct. 25.
Art fairs and artisan markets
Though not fall-themed, the annual Plaza Art Fair is a 94-year tradition and Kansas City’s unofficial welcome to the fall season. This year’s Plaza Art Fair will be held Sept. 19-21. Encompassing nine blocks of the Country Club Plaza, this nationally recognized fine arts fair features 240 artists, live music across three stages and over 20 local restaurants.
The following weekend, head to Kansas City’s historic jazz district for the 2025 18th & Vine Arts Festival, Sept. 26-28. This year’s festival theme is “A Renaissance on Vine: Celebrating Black Film, Television & Dandyism” — paying tribute to the “stories, style, and legacy of Black cinematic brilliance and cultural expression.” Visitors can enjoy curated screenings of indie Black films, live fashion installments, food trucks, music and much more.
For fall vibes with a vintage twist, Vintage Market Days hosts its 2025 Forever Fall artisan market Sept. 26-28 at the American Royal Association in Kansas City’s West Bottoms. This event showcases local, regional and national vendors with vintage and vintage-inspired furniture, art, decor, clothing and more, with live music and food vendors, too.
Lawrence, Kansas, hosts two arts-themed festivals this fall, starting with Lawrence Art Guild’s annual Art in the Park on Sept. 13-14. Dating back to 1964, this juried fine arts and crafts event is held in South Park on 12th and Massachusetts Street and features live music and food vendors.
Then, celebrate harvest season at Lawrence’s Autumn Harvest Festival on Oct. 5, featuring handcrafted goods made by local artisans.
More autumn activities
You can partake in harvest and pumpkin-themed festivities in almost every corner of greater Kansas City.
There’s Faulkner’s Ranch in Raytown, Carolyn’s Pumpkin Patch in Liberty, Kerby Farm Pumpkin Patch in Bonner Springs, the Fun Farm Pumpkin Patch in Kearney, and one at the Louisburg Cider Mill, too.
If you want to participate in the other Midwestern fall tradition of getting lost amidst some crops, all of these spots also have a corn maze (except for Faulkner’s Ranch, which has a “field maze” made of sorghum grass).
Liberty Corn Maze, adjacent to Carolyn’s Pumpkin Patch, is both family-friendly and a place where adults can cut loose. Each year the agritourism business uses GPS to cut several massive corn mazes. This year, the maze opens on Sept. 12.
Día de los Muertos
Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a holiday observed in Mexico and other Latin American countries on Nov. 1–2 to honor relatives who have died.
You can get an early start at the Kansas City Museum’s Día de los Muertos event on the evening of Oct. 18, which is hosted in collaboration with Mattie Rhodes Center. Another option is Guadalupe Centers’ Día de los Muertos Celebration on Oct. 31. Head to Kansas City’s Westside for an evening festival filled with face painting, ceremonial dancers, and food vendors.
You can also celebrate on Nov. 1 at Día de Muertos On Central Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas, a daylong celebration that will feature Walking Catrinas — or “elegant skulls” — and a parade at 6 p.m.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art hosts its annual Día de los Muertos Festival on Sunday, Nov. 2.
