Let's look at some awesome events we have around here in the fall:

• The Unicoi Apple Festival — always a community favorite with crafts, food, and live music. The 2025 festival featured over 400 food and craft vendors and offered everything from handmade art and unique gifts to delicious festival fare from local food trucks and sweet apple treats. The events included an apple decoprating contents, a 4 mile road race and 3k race/walk, the annual baking contest with 3 categories: Apple Pie, Apple Cake, and Youth Candy Apple (ages 17 and under). And the Blue Ridge Pottery show and sale!
  
  
• The National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough — one of the biggest storytelling events in the country. considered the most prestigious storytelling event in the country. There are 5 venues where there are various different topics and stories being told. It’s truly one of a kind! On Friday and Saturday nights they have local ghost stories shared at 2 different stages.
  
  
• And Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion — a full weekend of music and downtown energy on State Street. With Bristol being the “birthplace of country music” this show stopping music festival brings some of the top talent to Northeast Tennessee! Bands and Performers like the Band Perry, Carly Pearce, 49 Winchester, The Red Clay Strays, Jason Isbell and the 400 unit, The Steeldrivers, Billy Strings and Colter Wall. One of my favorite parts about this event is Kids Day. They have tons of activities and even a stage designated for kids to jam out!
  
  

Planning to take a trip to the area in the fall? What to Plan For:

• If you are looking to travel into the area either for the fall colors or the fall colors are what peak your interest you need to know when peak leaf season is, so get your cameras ready — the colors are unreal across Northeast Tennessee and Western North Carolina. Consistently the 3rd to 4th week in October is when the foliage is at the absolute best levels 

Best Places to See the Leaves - there are numerous different trails but these are some of my favorite 

• The Virginia Creeper Trail — a 34-mile bike trail through the mountains with incredible scenery. You can catch the gorgeous fall colors while you walk, run, bike or horseback ride on the trail. There are also great spots to fish, and the official website even lists “people watching” as an activity on the trail.
  
  
• The Blue Ridge Parkway — millions visit each year for those spectacular panoramic mountain views. A 469-mile scenic road that gives access to amazing views, waterfalls, wildflowers and so much more! If you are looking to come to the area with your RV or motorbike, you have to plan a trip here!
  
  
• And Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park — one of the most popular drives for leaf-peeping and wildlife. Over 12 million visitors came to the great smokey mountains park last year making it the #1 most visited national park. The park Covers over 520,000 acres and has over 848 miles of trail. With the highest elevation being clingmans dome, at 6,642 feet. 
• Carver’s Gap – sitting at an elevation of about 5,512 feet on the border of Tennessee and North Carolina, offers one of the highest and most panoramic views of fall foliage in the southern Appalachians. Thanks to its altitude, the area often reaches peak color between late September and mid-October, up to two weeks earlier than lower elevations like Johnson City or Elizabethton. On a clear day, you can see up to 50 miles across rolling ridgelines, where more than 100 species of deciduous trees paint the Roan Highlands in brilliant shades of red, orange, and gold.

Fall Weather

• Fall weather here can be a mix — average highs near 80° at the start of the season, dropping to the 30s by late fall
• Fall in East Tennessee is one of the most comfortable and scenic times of the year. September typically brings highs in the upper 70s to low 80s°F and lows in the 50s, with crisp mornings and warm afternoons. By October, daytime temperatures cool to the 60s and low 70s, while nights dip into the 40s — perfect for sweaters and campfires. November ushers in a noticeable chill, with highs in the 50s and occasional frosty mornings in the 30s.
  • That's 3 months of flannel weather 
• Halloween & Trick-or-Treat Big for me since my family loves trick-or-treating, expect daytime temps around 60°, dipping into the 40s after dark — perfect hoodie weather for the kids. The last 2 years the highs have ranged from 80 to 53 but the lows have been consistent around the mid 30s. It is normally dry and a pleasant night to make memories with your family! 
• In Tennessee we call it fake fall. Us locals will get a cold snap, break out the flannel for the cool mornings, but by lunch time we are sweating! 
• You might even see a light dusting of snow in late October or early November. While our average snow fall in November is less than an inch, there has been a history of major snowstorms.
  
  

Where to Spend Your Fall Weekends

• Local farms and pumpkin patches are always a hit:
  
  
  • Fender's Farm in Limestone, TN— Ok, so this is my personal FAVORITE place to go with my family. They have so much to do including a corn maze, farmer’s market with locally grown and source food, a pumpkin patch, a wildflower garden to pick your own bouquet, a gem mine for the littles and over 50 different farm themed games and activities for your family! One thing to note is that the farm was completely rebuilt after the devastating 2024 flood, thanks to the strength of our community.
  • Stickley Farm — This farm is on the other side of Johnson City in Bluff City, but has everything you may need covered! Covered in your admission is a Corn Maze, Jump Pillow, Tube Slide, Petting Zoo, Playground Areas, Outdoor Mini Golf, Inflatables, Mini Bouncy Bull Ring, Basketball, Grain Cart, Horseshoes, Pumpkin Shack, Hayrides and More! They also over birthday parties and have a wedding venue. So you can pick a pumpkin, jump on the jump pillow, ride the bouncy bull and get married all in one day!
  • Laurel Pumpkin Patch – This location is the most central to Johnson City and offers a huge focus on pumpkin picking. They have carts ready for your haul of pumpkins. They also feature numerous different food trucks weekly in order to showcase what local foodies like! If you are looking to make your fall memories, this place has to be on your list! 

Football Season in East Tennessee

• It wouldn’t be fall without football!
  
  
• ETSU has a beautiful newer stadium — seats about 8,000, affordable for families, and it’s just a fun, small-town football atmosphere. The tailgating environment is so great that our local news station, WJHL, has an award for the “local tailgater of the week” from the Buc Walk to touchdowns in the endzone, this event will 
• And of course, a quick drive to Knoxville gets you into SEC country — Neyland Stadium, the 6th biggest football stadium in the world, packing in over 102,000 fans. But I am not a UT Fan, so that is all I am going to cover on that.
  
  
• Whether you’re tailgating or just soaking up the energy, it’s pure fall in Tennessee.

Ready to take the first step?

Text me at 423-393-9519 or email me at [email protected]!