The 7 best annual events in and around Springfield, ranked
Robertson County Fair midway at dusk with lit rides and a Ferris wheel
Seven Robertson County and Middle Tennessee events ranked on whether you should plan a trip around them or just show up if you’re already here.
1. The Robertson County Fair, mid-August
The Robertson County Fair runs for a week in mid-August at the fairgrounds off Highway 41 south of Springfield, and it is the single event most likely to justify a trip here in its own right. What makes it the top pick isn’t the midway rides — they’re standard — it's the agricultural side: the tobacco judging, the livestock shows, the horse pulls, and the community exhibits in the main pavilion where actual grandmothers submit actual pies. Admission is around 10 dollars, parking is free, ride wristbands run 25 to 30 dollars.
Go in the evening, after the day's heat has dropped, and give it three to four hours. Wednesday and Thursday nights are the least crowded; Friday and Saturday are the full experience. The fair food is honest — ribeye sandwich at the Cattlemen's tent, funnel cakes, lemonade squeezed in front of you — and around 15 dollars covers a real meal. Ranked first because it is genuinely the town at its most itself, and because a visitor who catches it will understand Springfield in a way months of research can’t deliver.
2. Portland Strawberry Festival, mid-May
The Strawberry Festival at Portland runs the second weekend of May and pulls tens of thousands into a town of 12,000. There's a parade Saturday morning, a car show, a 5K, music on multiple stages, and — the point — actual strawberries sold by actual growers, along with strawberry shortcake made in a giant iron pan. Free admission, parking in donation lots for five dollars. Portland is 25 minutes northeast of Springfield.
Arrive by 9am Saturday to see the parade and get shortcake before the queue turns brutal. By noon the town is full and parking is a mile out. If crowds aren’t your thing, come Friday evening for the smaller version. The strawberry is the real thing here — this is genuinely the region's crop, not a marketing conceit — and the mid-May timing coincides with the actual harvest. Ranked second because the food and the calendar align, and because Portland does the community-festival format well without leaning corporate.
3. Springfield's downtown Christmas parade and lighting, early December
The first Friday evening of December is when Springfield lights the courthouse square and runs the Christmas parade down Main Street. Local high school bands, farm floats, fire trucks with elves, the whole thing. It sounds twee described in a sentence but the reality is a genuinely good small-town evening — the whole town turns out, the square is walkable and warmly lit, and the shops on Main open late with hot chocolate. Free.
Bring a folding chair or arrive by 5:30 to grab a curb spot. The parade steps off at 6pm and runs about an hour. Afterwards the square is at its best of the entire year — go into any coffee shop still open and pretend you live here. Ranked third because the atmosphere is unmatched in December in this county, but the event itself is short. Combine with dinner and it's a full evening; on its own it's 90 minutes of pure Christmas-card Tennessee.
4. The Bell Witch Fall Festival, Adams, late October
The last weekend of October in Adams is peak Bell Witch season — the cave farm runs extended tours, the school museum has extra hours, and the town puts on a small festival with vendors, storytellers, and a Saturday evening lantern-lit tour that sells out weeks ahead. Tickets for the lantern tour run around 35 dollars and it is the good version of what the site offers.
Book the tour in September. Around it, come Saturday afternoon, browse the vendor booths on Adams's main street, get dinner at Bell's Cafe if they’re doing extended hours, and do the tour after dark. The catch: Adams is a tiny town and parking gets tight, so arrive by 3pm. Ranked fourth because the tour itself is exceptional and Halloween-week timing gives it weight, but it's a narrower event than the fair or festival — you’re really coming for the Bell Witch specifically.
5. Springfield Farmers Market Saturdays, May through October
Not a single event but a recurring one that shapes the town's Saturday mornings from Mother's Day weekend through late October. The market runs 8am to noon on the courthouse square with 30-plus vendors: heirloom tomatoes in July, sweet corn in August, apples and sweet potatoes in September, sorghum and pumpkins in October. Prices are honest and the growers are the growers. Free.
Go by 9am for selection, by 10:30 you’re getting whatever's left. Combine with breakfast on the square and you have a legitimate reason to be in Springfield on a Saturday from May through October. The catch: winter closure means half the year has no market. Ranked fifth because it isn’t a single-day trip driver like the top four, but for anyone staying in Springfield on a Saturday between May and October this is the first thing to plan the morning around.
6. Springfield Fourth of July on the square
The town does a proper Fourth — daytime activities on the square, a small parade in the morning, food vendors, and fireworks from the fairgrounds after dark that you can see from most of downtown. It runs hot and humid and the crowd is families with kids, but it's the real thing rather than a corporate spectacle. Free.
The catch is that the Fourth is when Nashville draws every visitor and every dollar in a 100-mile radius, and Springfield's version is deliberately smaller and quieter. That's a feature if you want an American small-town Fourth without the parking nightmare of a city event; it's a bug if you want fireworks over a river or a symphony playing under them. Ranked sixth because it's a good event but it's competing with everywhere else in the region on the same day, and honestly Nashville does bigger fireworks.
7. The Christmas at the Courthouse holiday market, mid-December
A weekend market in mid-December, usually the second Saturday, that fills the square with craft vendors, food, and holiday music. It's smaller than the summer farmers market and leans gifts rather than produce — quilts, jams, wreaths, wooden toys. Runs 9am to 3pm, free, and pairs well with a lunch at Fat Belly's or a coffee at Yellow Door.
Come early — the good jams and honey sell out by 11. Give it 90 minutes plus lunch. Ranked seventh because it's the most modest event on the list and doesn’t stand alone as a trip driver, but for anyone staying in Springfield in mid-December it's a legitimate reason to be on the square that Saturday. Combine with the lighting the week before and you have two good downtown weekends bracketing your December visit.
Before you book
The questions people ask about Adams, answered with this month’s numbers.
The county fair in mid-August if you want the full Tennessee experience and don’t mind heat. The Christmas lighting weekend in early December if you want the town at its most photogenic in cool weather. Skip the summer choice only if humidity is a genuine dealbreaker for you.
The Bell Witch lantern tour in late October sells out weeks ahead and needs booking in September. The fair sells wristbands on-site with no advance requirement. Everything else on this list is walk-up and free or cheap. For lodging, book two months out for fair week and Strawberry Festival weekend — the small hotel stock in Springfield fills up.
All seven are family-safe. The fair and the Strawberry Festival are actively kid-oriented with rides and activities. The Christmas parade and lighting are aimed at families. The Bell Witch content is spooky rather than graphic and works for kids over about eight who can handle a ghost story.
