"NOTE NEW DATE." That's the label the City of Leander put on the Bluegrass & Folk Festival in its October newsletter. The festival was first announced for Friday and Saturday, October 2–3, 2026, and it now runs Friday and Saturday, October 16–17. Hours are 6 to 9:30 p.m. both nights at Mason Homestead, 1101 S. Bagdad Road, and entry is free.
The move happened quickly. On October 1, Community Impact reported that the city was rescheduling ArtFest and the festival because of a National Weather Service watch for heavy rain across Central Texas. ArtFest moved to October 10 at Lakewood Park, and the bluegrass weekend moved back two weeks.
The new dates put the 21st edition of the festival at the beginning of the busiest stretch on Leander's fall calendar. The festival now opens a run of about two weeks when the city's season changes over from summer to fall, and part of that run lands on the festival's own Saturday.
The old date is still out there
Changing the date on a city calendar is easy. Every other page that copied the original date is harder to fix. Visit Leander's fall roundup, published August 28, still lists October 2–3, since it was written before the storm. So does the city's own 2026 vendor application. It still says "October 2 & 3, 2026," and its setup dates match that original weekend. The September issue of the city's Leander Connection newsletter, which plenty of households may still have in an inbox, also promoted the original dates.
The City of Leander's October event calendar and the October newsletter both show October 16–17. Those two are the current versions. If a neighbor mentions the festival happened "a couple weeks ago," they're probably going by one of the older pages.
Who's playing, by night
The published 2026 lineup, posted with the new dates, splits five acts across the two nights.
Friday, October 16
- 6:15 p.m. Midnight Grass
- 8:00 p.m. Cooper's Uncle
Saturday, October 17
- 6:00 p.m. Strawberry Flats
- 7:15 p.m. Bobby Giles & Texas Gales Band
- 8:30 p.m. Hot Pickin' 57s
Friday is the lighter night, with two long sets and a 6:15 start. Saturday starts fifteen minutes earlier and fits three bands into the same window. With 9:30 p.m. as the posted end time, Hot Pickin' 57s close out the weekend.
The lineup changes from year to year. The 2026 bill doesn't repeat any act from the 2025 festival, which the city's calendar called the 20th annual. If you went last fall, this year's music is new to you.
Parking where the library and the homestead meet
The festival's parking plan relies on the fact that the Leander Public Library at 1011 S. Bagdad Road and Mason Homestead at 1101 S. Bagdad Road are next-door neighbors on the same road. The published details are:
- General parking is in the grass field north of the library, along Sonny Drive.
- ADA parking is in the library lot itself. Spaces require an accessible license plate or placard.
- Overflow parking is at Camacho Elementary School, 501 Municipal Drive, with a free shuttle to the festival.
The grass field is the closest option, and it's also the one most likely to fill first on Saturday, when there are three sets instead of two. The Camacho shuttle exists for when it does.
Once you're there, you'll find food vendors and a fun zone. The city's newsletter mentions bounce houses for kids and a bar selling refreshments. Friendly, leashed pets are welcome, according to the event listing. Visit Leander's preview recommends bringing lawn chairs. The sources we reviewed don't cover coolers, outside drinks or blankets, so check the city's festival page before you pack those.
Saturday is now a two-event day
The storm moved more than the music. The same Community Impact report said the city's Residential Fall Cleanup, also delayed by the weather, now runs on October 17 from 8 a.m. to noon. The city's October newsletter lists the drop-off at Leander Public Works and includes an e-waste collection.
The two events don't overlap in time. Cleanup ends at noon, and Strawberry Flats starts at 6. But Saturday, October 17 has gone from an ordinary weekend day to one with a morning trip to Public Works and an evening at the homestead. If the old electronics in your garage have been waiting for the next collection, that morning trip is it. It also leaves the afternoon free before the music starts.
The farmhouse behind the stage
The festival stage sits on old family farmland. The City describes Mason Homestead as an "1860s-era restored farm house." It sits on part of a 300-acre tract Charles C. Mason's father gave him shortly after the Civil War ended in 1865.
Before the city owned the property, it had been designated a Texas Century Farm. In 2005, Christine Mason, granddaughter of Charles C. Mason, gave the 3½-acre homestead to the City of Leander.
The festival counts its 21st edition this year on land that came to the city about 21 years ago. The rest of the year, the city rents the homestead for weddings, reunions, retreats, meetings, anniversary parties and adult birthday parties, and lists historic artifacts and exhibits among its features. Festival weekend is one of the few times the grounds are open to anyone who walks up, with no reservation and no invitation.
The rest of the turnover
By moving the bluegrass weekend to mid-October, the storm put it at the front of a run of dates that closes out summer in Leander and kicks off the holidays. Here's what comes after it, from the city's calendar and facility pages:
- Saturday, October 24, 6–9 p.m. Tricks & Treats Spooktacular at Devine Lake Park, with trick-or-treating, food trucks and a fun zone.
- Saturday, October 31. The last day of the season for the Lakewood Park and Robin Bledsoe Park splash pads. The Lakewood pad came back on September 19 after a week of repairs and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. through October. Robin Bledsoe Pool already closed for the season on September 7.
- Friday–Saturday, November 6–7. The Fall Family Campout at Devine Lake Park runs from 5 p.m. Friday to 10 a.m. Saturday, with games, crafts, a movie and campfires.
- Wednesday, November 11, 10 a.m. Veterans Day Ceremony at Veterans Park.
- Saturday, December 5, 10 a.m.–9 p.m. Old Town Christmas Festival, with the Rudolph Run, a marketplace, a parade, Santa photos, performances and vendors.
Across the roughly two weeks from Friday, October 16 to Saturday, October 31, Leander holds its fall music festival, its fall cleanup and its Halloween event, and closes its last summer water amenities. Before the storm, the festival would have been an early October weekend of its own. Now it starts all of that, with Midnight Grass on Friday at 6:15 p.m. on the Mason family's old farm.
At Ealy & Company, we love the parts of Leander that still look like the farmland the town grew from, and Mason Homestead is one of the best examples. If seeing that farmhouse this weekend gets you thinking about land and history in your own next chapter, we'd be glad to talk it through with you. Inspire your next chapter. Schedule a consultation.
