Delavan Scarecrow Fest and Harvest Weekend: September 16 to 22, 2026

Downtown Delavan turns Scarecrow Fest into a 2-day celebration. The Fat Tire Charity Ride circles Geneva Lake. Red Bull brings a mailboat-inspired obstacle race to Riviera Beach. Pearce’s Farm gives away sweet corn on Sunday, and Royal Oak starts AppleFest.

Saturday, September 19 is the traffic jam on the fun calendar.

You can spend it in Delavan with scarecrows, vendors and a Pink Floyd tribute. You can stay around Geneva Lake for the Fat Tire Ride and Red Bull Rush Delivery. Or you can point the car toward Walworth and Harvard for the first big harvest weekend of the season.

For last-minute changes, use the Lake Geneva Weekend Events Calendar.

The week at a glance

Delavan Scarecrow Fest gets a second day

The 26th annual Delavan Scarecrow Fest runs Friday and Saturday, September 18 and 19 in downtown Delavan.

This year the festival stretches across 2 days.

Friday night begins at 5 p.m. Travel Wisconsin lists the Friday program through 10 p.m., with line dancing, a bags tournament, food trucks and a beer garden among the activities.

Saturday starts at 10 a.m. with the bigger street-festival day.

Expect the scarecrows along Delavan’s brick streets, more than 100 vendors, food trucks, family activities, magic, bubbles and aerial performers. Admission and parking are free.

The Saturday finale is Think Floyd, a Pink Floyd tribute with a special light show, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Phoenix Park.

That finale changes how we would plan the day. Arrive late morning, walk the vendors and downtown, take a break for dinner, then end at the bandshell.

A note about Saturday hours

There is a schedule wrinkle worth knowing.

Travel Wisconsin currently lists Scarecrow Fest from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. Visit Delavan’s individual event listing displays a 4 p.m. Saturday end time, while the Delavan Chamber calendar lists the Think Floyd Scarecrow Fest finale from 7 to 9 p.m.

The evening concert is clearly scheduled. Check the Delavan Chamber or festival page before leaving home if a specific vendor or daytime activity is the reason you are going.

That is exactly why we recheck these events during festival week.

Thursday warms up the weekend

You do not have to wait until Friday.

The Delavan area has a Chili Cookoff Thursday, September 17 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Chamber lists it as a free community event.

Lake Geneva has a completely different Thursday option.

The Historic Baker House hosts an End of Summer Soiree with the Geneva Lakes Whiskey Club from 6 to 8 p.m. The event is free and 21+, with Windows Distillery bringing bourbon and rye samples.

And the theaters are busy.

Geneva Stage has JUMP: America’s Van Halen Experience Thursday night. The Belfry Music Theatre has its Bon Jovi Tribute at 7 p.m.

Pick chili, whiskey or guitars. Thursday has range.

Friday night: Scarecrow Fest or Taco & Tequila

Friday gives you 2 obvious directions.

Head to Delavan for the 5 p.m. Scarecrow Fest kickoff.

Or stay on the Lake Geneva side for the start of The Geneva Taco & Tequila Fest, which runs September 18 through 20 at House of Music Entertainment on County Road H.

The tourism listing describes it as a 3-day event built around tacos, tequila and live entertainment.

The Belfry adds a STYX Tribute Friday at 7 p.m.

If you are staying in Delavan, Scarecrow Fest is the easy call. If you are closer to Lake Geneva or Lake Como, Taco & Tequila keeps the drive short.

Saturday, September 19: choose your lane

Saturday is the biggest day of this WHATL week.

Trying to do everything would turn a good day into a windshield tour.

Pick a lane.

Lane 1: Delavan Scarecrow Fest

Start downtown with the scarecrows and vendors.

Stay for food and afternoon entertainment. Come back to Phoenix Park for Think Floyd from 7 to 9 p.m.

This is the best choice for somebody who wants one town, one parking decision and a full fall-festival day.

Lane 2: Fat Tire around Geneva Lake

The Fat Tire Charity Ride is Saturday, September 19.

The roughly 21.5-mile ride starts at 9 a.m., with riders able to begin at their own pace from Champs in Lake Geneva or The Ridge. The route moves through Lake Geneva, Fontana and Williams Bay with stops around Geneva Lake and Lake Como.

This is a charity ride, not a timed bicycle race.

Online preregistration is $45 through noon Tuesday, September 15. Day-of registration is $50. The ride runs rain or shine.

The pig roast at Champs runs from 2 to 7 p.m. and is included for registered riders.

For regular visitors, one practical point matters: expect extra bike traffic around the lake Saturday.

Give riders room. Be patient on the village streets. Geneva Lake roads were not designed by somebody with a 2026 Saturday traffic forecast in front of them.

Lane 3: Red Bull at Riviera Beach

This is the new one.

Red Bull Rush Delivery comes to Riviera Beach Saturday.

Doors open at 11 a.m. and the competition starts at noon. Watching is free.

The event takes Lake Geneva’s mailboat tradition and turns it into a timed obstacle competition. Athletes move through floating platforms and obstacles while carrying mailbags, borrowing the balance and speed that real Lake Geneva mail jumpers need every summer.

The setting matters.

This takes place near the same downtown docks used by the Lake Geneva Cruise Line. Bring a lawn chair or blanket and arrive early if you want a good viewing spot.

For somebody visiting Lake Geneva on Saturday, this is one of the easiest free events to add to the day.

Can you do Fat Tire and Red Bull?

Maybe.

A rider who starts Fat Tire early could finish the route and still catch part of the Red Bull event. That depends on your pace, stops and how long the competition runs.

We would not build a tight noon deadline into a charity ride around the lake.

Enjoy the ride first.

Harvest weekend starts at Pearce’s and Royal Oak

Saturday also flips the farm calendar into fall.

Pearce’s Farm Stand in Walworth holds its Customer Appreciation weekend September 19 and 20.

The farm is open 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. It has the corn maze, jumping bales, lookout tower, produce and fall farm activities.

Sunday gets the sweet-corn hook.

Pearce’s says it will serve free cooked sweet corn on Sunday, with music and dancing. Concessions are available for purchase.

A few miles south of the state line, Royal Oak Farm Orchard starts AppleFest September 19.

AppleFest runs daily through October 11 with U-pick apples, the Amaze ‘N Apples tree maze, bakery, Country Kitchen, free playground and petting zoo. Wagon rides, children’s rides and orchard tours run on weekends.

If the kids want apples, pumpkins and a farm day more than street vendors, this is your Saturday.

Our Best Apple Orchards and Pumpkin Patches Near Lake Geneva guide compares the fall farm choices around the region.

Wednesday starts with theater

Wednesday, September 16 is a good reminder that WHATL is a 7-day guide.

The Geneva Theatre Actors Guild presents The Georgia Peaches Back Again at Geneva Stage at 2 and 7 p.m.

Both performances are free.

The Belfry Music Theatre in Delavan goes another direction at 7 p.m. with Jesse Aron’s Roy Orbison Tribute.

The Belfry lists tickets from $78 to $94. The venue opens at 6 and doors open at 6:30.

Two stages. Same night. Very different soundtracks.

The Belfry has 4 straight tribute nights

The Belfry Music Theatre stacks 4 shows into this week:

• Wednesday, Sept. 16: Roy Orbison Tribute with Jesse Aron, 7 p.m.
• Thursday, Sept. 17: Bon Jovi Tribute with Bed of Roses, 7 p.m.
• Friday, Sept. 18: STYX Tribute with Renegade, 7 p.m.
• Saturday, Sept. 19: Steely Dan Tribute with Brooklyn Charmers, 7 p.m.

If you are staying west of Lake Geneva, the Belfry gives you an indoor evening option every night from Wednesday through Saturday.

Sunday, September 20: slow the pace down

Sunday looks better at half speed.

Pearce’s Customer Appreciation weekend continues, with the free cooked sweet corn scheduled Sunday.

Royal Oak AppleFest continues in Harvard.

The Geneva Taco & Tequila Fest wraps up at House of Music.

Over in Fontana, The Abbey Resort has Burnin’ Down the Docks from noon to 3 p.m. The September 20 performer is Julius Bindrim.

In downtown Lake Geneva, Topsy Turvy Brewery currently lists Brian Weber from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday.

Geneva Stage closes the weekend with The HIGHWAY MEN LIVE at 6 p.m.

This is the day to choose one afternoon stop and one evening stop. Saturday already did enough.

Monday, September 21: the quiet day

Our fan-out search did not turn up a major one-day regional festival for Monday, September 21.

Good.

After this weekend, a quieter Monday has some value.

Use it for the Shore Path, an orchard, downtown Lake Geneva or a drive through the farm country before the October crowds arrive.

The Lake Geneva Rustic Roads and Fall Color Drives guide is useful if you want to get out of town for a few hours.

Fall color will still be building this early in the season, so treat the drive as a country-road day rather than a peak-color promise.

Tuesday, September 22: Geneva Lake weddings in the Gilded Age

The week ends at the Geneva Lake Museum.

The museum’s Tuesday @ 2 program on September 22 is Weddings of Lake Geneva in the Gilded Age, presented by Chris Brookes.

The program starts at 2 p.m. at 255 Mill Street in Lake Geneva.

For people who like the old estates and families behind Geneva Lake history, this is a good Tuesday afternoon.

Check the Geneva Lake Museum for current admission or registration information.

If you only have Saturday

Here is how we would make the choice.

For a traditional fall festival: Delavan Scarecrow Fest.

For a Lake Geneva-specific spectacle: Red Bull Rush Delivery at Riviera Beach.

For an active day: Fat Tire Charity Ride.

For younger kids and farm time: Pearce’s or Royal Oak.

For live music after dark: Think Floyd in Delavan or the Belfry’s Steely Dan tribute.

One good plan beats 5 rushed stops.

If you are coming from Chicago

Saturday deserves an early start.

Downtown Lake Geneva will have the Red Bull event and Fat Tire traffic. Delavan has Scarecrow Fest. Fall farms are entering their busy season.

If Lake Geneva is your base, park once when you can and walk.

If Scarecrow Fest is your main event, go straight to Delavan rather than detouring through downtown Lake Geneva first.

And if apples are the reason for the trip, Royal Oak is south of Lake Geneva in Harvard. It makes little sense to drive into downtown Lake Geneva before the orchard unless you have another stop planned.

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