On the Friday of last year's festival, the Green Hill Sewing Club started its 92nd annual boil at 6 a.m., nine miles west of McConnellsburg along Route 30, and began serving food at 9. This year, the fairgrounds schedule runs until the Steam Engine Pull at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Fulton County Fairgrounds on Lincoln Way East. Over that span, the Fulton Fall Folk Festival changes almost completely. It moves from church kitchens and farm lanes to grandstand bleachers, and from pancakes to horsepower.
This year the festival weekend is October 16 through 18, six days from now. Most event guides list it as one festival. Put the schedules side by side and you get two festivals, one after the other. The county side is front-loaded into the morning. The fairgrounds holds its main events for dusk and later, and it charges more to get in after 5. If you plan the day in that order, you can see a lot of both.
The Half That Publishes to the Minute
The fairgrounds side belongs to the Grease, Steam and Rust Association, which is running its 45th Annual Antique Tractor, Small Engine and Machinery Show over the festival weekend. The full schedule is already posted on the GSR festival page, and it reads like a timetable:
Friday, October 16
- 9:00 a.m. Equipment and displays open; Farm Toy Show in the Rabbit Building
- 7:00 p.m. Truck and Semi Pulls
Saturday, October 17
- 9:00 a.m. Farm Toy Show, Rabbit Building
- 10:30 a.m. Parade, downtown McConnellsburg, rain or shine
- 1:00 p.m. Steam Engine Games
- 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. Zac Grace performs
- 6:00 p.m. Farm Stock and Hot Farm Tractor Pull
- 8:00 p.m. Steam Engine Pull
Sunday, October 18
- 8:00 a.m. Non-denominational church service, Red Barn
- 10:00 a.m. Modern, Classic and Antique Tractor Pull
- 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Farm Toy Show, Rabbit Building
Through the day, the grounds run steam-powered threshing, a sawmill, a shingle mill, a stone crusher, a Baker fan, a husker shredder, and blacksmithing. There's also a craft show, a flea market, a hospitality tent, and fresh-pressed, bottled apple cider. The 2026 feature tractor is Oliver. Last year's feature was Massey Harris/Ferguson, so anyone with an Oliver in the barn has a reason to haul it in this time.
Saturday night has gotten bigger. Last year's directory listed one evening event, the Farm Stock and Steam Engine Pull at 6 p.m. This year, the Farm Stock and Hot Farm Tractor Pull takes the 6 p.m. slot, and the Steam Engine Pull gets its own 8 p.m. start.
The admission prices show where the weekend's weight sits. General admission is $2. After 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday it's $5, and children under 12 get in free. The higher price lines up with the pulls. On both nights, the biggest draw starts after the price goes up. If you come at 4:30 on Saturday, you pay $2, catch the last stretch of Zac Grace's set, and already have a seat when the 6 p.m. tractor pull starts.
Parking has changed this year. GSR says it has expanded its display and parking areas. Visitors are directed to the main gate on Lions Park Drive, with the north entrance reachable from 6th Street, East North Street, Lions Park Drive, or Reservoir Road, across from Lions Community Park. Trucks and trailers should use the fairgrounds main drive to reach the loading dock and the designated truck and trailer lot. Pets are not allowed on the grounds.
The Half That Starts at Breakfast
The rest of the festival is spread across Fulton County and runs on very different hours. The Fulton County Chamber of Commerce & Tourism puts together the festival guide, and in late June the Chamber was taking ad submissions for the 2026 edition. Until you have the 2026 directory from the Chamber's site, last year's edition is the best guide to how the county side runs. The pattern holds even if some stops change.
These are last year's Saturday hours, as the 2025 directory listed them:
| Stop | Location | 2025 Saturday hours |
|---|---|---|
| Stone Hollow Farm Country Breakfast | 16937 Great Cove Road, McConnellsburg | Breakfast 7 to 10 a.m., vendors 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. |
| Wild Annie's Restaurant | 300 Lowry Dr., McConnellsburg | Festival breakfast 7 to 10 a.m., dinner 3 to 8 p.m. |
| Burnt Cabins Grist Mill buckwheat cakes and sausage | 582 Grist Mill Road, Burnt Cabins | 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
| American Legion Post 561 gun and vendor event | 411 North Fifth Street, McConnellsburg | 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Green Hill Sewing Club | Route 30, 9 miles west of McConnellsburg | 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. |
| Fulton County Arts Council exhibit and Library book sale | Fulton County Library, 227 North First Street | 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
Look at where the hours fall. Both breakfasts were done at 10, half an hour before this year's 10:30 parade time. The Grist Mill stopped serving pancakes at 1. Green Hill closed at 3, and the Library and the Legion at 4. Stone Hollow's vendors were the only stop on the list still open at 5, when the fairgrounds price goes up. Wild Annie's split its day around the same gap, serving breakfast until 10 and opening again for dinner at 3.
Friday started even earlier last year. The Asbury United Methodist Church of Harrisonville served breakfast at 7404 Lincoln Hwy from 6 to 10:30 a.m. The Fulton County Historical Society hosted tavern games at the Fulton House, 112 to 114 Lincoln Way East, from noon to 4. Admission to the Fulton House and to the museum at 211 Lincoln Way East was free. The Fulton County News preview from 2025 added a Quilt Club show at the Fulton Theatre and an open stage at the Hustontown Firehall. Treat all of these as last year's lineup until the 2026 guide confirms them.
A festival ad in the Fulton County News lists a bake sale and lunch stand at St. Stephen Catholic Church, 303 Lincoln Way East, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on "Sat., Oct. 17." The ad doesn't print a year. October 17 falls on a Saturday in 2026, so the date fits this year's festival, but check it against the 2026 guide. If it holds, it follows the same pattern and closes at 1.
Saturday Morning Is Where the Two Halves Cross
For most of the weekend the two schedules barely touch. The one stretch where they overlap is Saturday from about 9 a.m. to early afternoon, and that's also when Cowans Gap State Park adds a third option.
Fall Heritage Day at Cowans Gap runs Saturday, October 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is free. The DCNR event listing includes drop-in archery from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., environmental and historical displays, cider making, ice cream, games, and crafts. The park calendar also lists an Open House at 3 p.m. that Saturday and Backyard Bass Casting on Friday, October 16, at 1 p.m. The park is at 6235 Aughwick Road, Fort Loudon, and is open sunrise to sunset.
Here's how that Saturday stacks up, with the county stops shown at their 2025 hours:
- 7 to 10 a.m. Breakfast at Stone Hollow Farm and Wild Annie's; pancakes start at the Burnt Cabins Grist Mill.
- 9 a.m. Farm Toy Show opens at the fairgrounds; Green Hill opens on Route 30.
- 10 a.m. Fall Heritage Day opens at Cowans Gap.
- 10:30 a.m. Parade in downtown McConnellsburg, rain or shine.
- 1 p.m. Steam Engine Games at the fairgrounds; Grist Mill pancakes end; archery at Cowans Gap ends.
- 2 to 3 p.m. Fall Heritage Day ends at 2; Green Hill closes at 3.
- 6 and 8 p.m. The two big pulls at the fairgrounds.
The parade is the one fixed point in the morning, and it runs through downtown McConnellsburg. The festival's parade ad tells participating vehicles to enter lineup via Maple Street off Route 522 and says no parade vehicles may come onto South First Street from Lincoln Way. That's staging guidance for entrants. It doesn't give road closures, so expect the downtown core to be busy from mid-morning until the parade clears.
That leaves a gap on Saturday between about 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. The county stops are winding down, Cowans Gap's Heritage Day is over, and the fairgrounds pulls haven't started. Zac Grace's set from 3 to 6 fills that window, and if you get through the gate before 5, it still costs $2.
Sunday Has One Quiet Hour
Sunday morning is the one time the fairgrounds runs at the county's pace. The 8 a.m. non-denominational service in the Red Barn comes with a firm rule from the organizers:
No running of tractors or equipment will take place during the service. Vendors will also be closed during this time.
The engines start back up for the Modern, Classic and Antique Tractor Pull at 10 a.m., and the Farm Toy Show runs until 4. On the county side, last year's Library hours were 1 to 4 on Sunday, the latest start of the weekend. If those hours hold, you can catch the Farm Toy Show's last few hours and the Arts Council exhibit on the same Sunday afternoon.
GSR notes that its schedule and events are subject to change. Check the fairgrounds times against the GSR page the day before. Check the county stops against the Chamber's 2026 directory, since that's where any changes to last year's lineup will show up first.
A weekend like this shows what Fulton County land is used for, from the sawmill and shingle mill running on steam to the threshing rig. If you own acreage here and are thinking about what it's worth or what comes next for it, Dustin Prievo and the team know this county's ground on foot and from the air. Contact us, even if it's after the pulls are done.
