Festivals in Berks County

September 5, 2026 · Downtown Hamburg · Free

The Taste of Hamburg-er Festival is the pun Hamburg, Pennsylvania was born to make: a one-day burger festival that takes over four blocks of the borough's historic downtown on the Saturday after Labor Day. Restaurants, food trucks, and fire companies compete for burger bragging rights while bands play and the streets fill shoulder to shoulder. The festival started in 2004 as a block party for what organizers billed as the hamburger's 100th birthday, and it stuck. Now in its 23rd year, it draws tens of thousands of visitors to a borough of about 4,000 people - organizers put an average year around 30,000 - making it the biggest single day in northern Berks County. Every booth fee supports the Our Town Foundation, the nonprofit behind Hamburg's Main Street revitalization, so the funnel cake money goes back into the town. Admission is free; the burgers are not, and the lines for the famous ones move fast. Go hungry, go early, and expect to park a few blocks out.

September 11–12, 2026 · William DeLong Memorial Park, Bowers · $4 admission

The Chile Pepper Food Festival in tiny Bowers is one of Berks County's strangest and most beloved traditions: two days each September when a village of a few hundred people becomes Pennsylvania's capital of heat. The 2026 festival is the 30th annual. Vendors from across the region pack William DeLong Memorial Park with hot sauces, salsas, pepper-infused everything, and pepper plants by the thousands, most of it available to sample before you buy. The centerpiece is the jalapeno eating contest, scored by the weight of peppers eaten in thirty seconds, with cash prizes for the bravest stomachs. Admission is $4, parking is in a farm field, and the crowd is a mix of serious chiliheads chasing rare varieties and families who came for the food and stayed to watch someone regret the eating contest. It sells out nothing and hurries nowhere - that's the charm.

September 11–13, 2026 · Historic Joanna Furnace, Geigertown · Ticketed

The Hay Creek Festival is three days of living history at Historic Joanna Furnace, the 18th-century ironmaking community in southern Berks County that the Hay Creek Valley Historical Association has spent decades restoring. It's the association's flagship event and one of the region's best windows into how an iron plantation actually worked. Joanna Furnace made iron from 1791 into the Industrial Revolution, and during the festival the 26-acre site runs the way it once did: blacksmiths shaping iron in the smithy, the casting house explaining the furnace's ten-plate stoves, woodworkers cutting timber on a pit saw, plus a laundress, weaver, potter, tinsmith, gunsmith, and open-fire cooks working through the day. Threshing demonstrations, a working sawmill, and military encampments round out the grounds, alongside a contemporary craft market and festival food. It's ticketed, family-friendly, and paced for wandering - the kind of festival where kids watch a broom get made and adults leave knowing what a furnace moulder did. Proceeds fund the ongoing restoration of the furnace complex.

September 18–19, 2026 (to confirm) · Town Center, Boyertown · Free to attend; beer garden ticketed

A German-themed street festival in downtown Boyertown with beer, German food, live music and dancing, and vendors.

September 19, 2026 (to confirm) · West Main Street, Kutztown · Free

A downtown Kutztown fall street festival with vendors, food trucks, crafts, and live entertainment.

September 30 – October 4, 2026 · Reading Liederkranz, Pennside (Lower Alsace Township) · Ticketed

The Reading Liederkranz's five-day German heritage celebration, with an outdoor beer garden, authentic German food, polka bands, traditional dancers, and a market.

Early October 2026 (to confirm) · South Mountain Park, Wernersville · Free

A free township fall festival at South Mountain Park.

October 10–11, 2026 (to confirm) · Historic Joanna Furnace, Geigertown · Ticketed

A fall festival at the historic Joanna Furnace ironworks with apple foods and cider pressing, a large flea and craft market, an apple dessert contest, and 19th-century ironmaking demonstrations.

Mid-October 2026 (to confirm) · Sts. Constantine & Helen, 1001 E. Wyomissing Blvd., Reading · Free entry

The annual Greek food bazaar at Sts. Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church, with homemade Greek food and pastries, live music, Hellenic dancers, and church tours. 2026 dates are not yet posted; 2025 ran October 17–19.

November 6–8, 2026 · GoggleWorks and Reading Movies 11, Reading · Ticketed

An independent film festival screening features, documentaries, and shorts at the GoggleWorks and Reading Movies 11 & IMAX, with filmmaker events across the weekend.

Late January 2027 (to confirm) · Penn Avenue, West Reading · Free

A winter street festival on Penn Avenue with professional ice sculptures and carving, spicy food and drink specials, and family activities. 2027 dates are not yet posted; the 2026 festival ran January 24–26.

April 1–11, 2027 · Venues across Greater Reading · Ticketed concerts; some free events

A ten-day jazz festival with dozens of major ticketed concerts across the Reading area plus free live music at clubs and restaurants. The 36th edition is the first run by the new Berks Jazz Fest organization after the Berks Arts nonprofit wound down in 2026.

April 2027 (to confirm; 2026 ran April 4) · Reading Liederkranz, Pennside (Lower Alsace Township) · Ticketed

A German-American heritage celebration at the Reading Liederkranz club, built around the traditional spring Bockbier and a lighthearted goat parade.

April 2027 (to confirm; 2026 ran April 25) · Penn Avenue, West Reading · Free to attend

A Penn Avenue street festival pairing regional breweries with soft pretzels, food vendors, and live music.

June 2027 (to confirm; 2026 ran June 20) · Penn Avenue, West Reading · Free

West Reading's flagship outdoor arts festival: roughly 200 artists and makers across several blocks of Penn Avenue, with live music and food.

July 2027 (to confirm; 2026 ran July 2–5) · Kutztown Fairgrounds, Kutztown · Ticketed

The successor to the beloved Kutztown Folk Festival, which ended after its 2024 season. Four days of Pennsylvania Dutch craftsmen, vendors, speakers, live music, and food on the same fairgrounds, built as an open homage to the tradition it carries forward.

August 2027 (to confirm; 2026 ran August 15) · Penn Avenue, West Reading · Free to attend

A one-day Penn Avenue street festival built around the french fry, with dozens of vendors putting their own spin on it, plus food, drinks, and live music.