Autumn in Gettysburg: Fall 2024 Essential Guide

Autumn in Gettysburg offers a wealth of activities for visitors and locals alike. The town’s remarkable historical past and quaint seasonal ambiance provide a diverse array of experiences to satisfy even the most discriminating traveler. Fall is a great time to visit Gettysburg if you’re a history enthusiast, a nature lover, or just a traveler searching for an exciting way to experience the stunning Central Pennsylvania harvest season!

Autumn Activities in Gettysburg

Tours

Bus Tours

Tour the Gettysburg Battlefield on an iconic open-air double-decker bus (weather permitting) or enjoy a climate-controlled coach. Both are available with a National Park Service licensed guide.

Tours depart from the Gettysburg Tour Center located at 778 Baltimore Street beside Ghostly Images of Gettysburg and near the National Cemetery. There is plenty of free parking at the Tour Center for your bus tour!

Click HERE for more info!

Sunset Double Decker Tour

Experience the evening serenity of the bucolic Gettysburg Battlefield aboard an open-air  Double Decker Bus. As you ride through the battlefield, listen to the narrative of a Licensed Battlefield Guide as they relate all the details of the famous battle, while experiencing the dramatic sunset across the scenic fields from the perfect vantage point. Tours run throughout the Fall. Planning a Gettysburg visit? Reserve your spot today!

Click HERE for more info!

Haunted Bus Tour

Join us for an unforgettable journey through the Gettysburg countryside with our exclusive Haunted Bus Tour, offered most Saturdays throughout the summer and fall. Journey past some of the most haunted locations around Gettysburg while your guide shares chilling tales. Beware, strange encounters await. You never know who or what might be waiting for you in the darkness…Are you brave enough to find out?

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Ghostly Images of Gettysburg Walking Tours

Interested in experiencing the supernatural side of this autumn destination? Ghostly Images of Gettysburg offers three walking tours… The Spirits of Jennie Wade Tour, the Haunted Orphanage Tour, and the Ghostly Encounters Tour where your guide will be a GHOST. You’ll have your choice of two haunted houses to explore during your 90-minute tour. It’s creepy fun for everyone!

Click HERE for more info!

Festivals

Tomato Festival

August 31, 2024

The Adams County Farmers Market is excited to be celebrating one of the most versatile, vine-ripened vegetables at our first-ever Tomato Fest! We want to highlight anything and everything tomato, from Beefsteak to Brandywine and beyond!

Click HERE for more info!

20th Annual Gettysburg Wine & Music Festival

Sep 7-8, 2024

Enjoy a fall weekend at Central PA’s premier wine festival. Savor hundreds of wines from a multitude of Pennsylvania wineries, spirits from Pennsylvania distilleries, and enjoy great live music.

Chairs, portable tents (with the proper ticket and in the designated areas), and blankets are welcome.

Click HERE for more info!

Fall Harvest Festival

Sep 14, 2024

Join in the fun on Opening Day of Fields of Adventure’s 15th annual Fall Harvest Festival, Saturday, September 14th. Enjoy activities for all ages and delight in all your favorite fall foods. The festival kicks off with over 25+ attractions including these new ones: Bubble Barns, Rooster Rollers, and a revamped petting zoo barn. There is a large corn maze and mini maze with different difficulty levels.

Click HERE for more info!

Adams County Heritage Festival 2024

Sep 15, 2024

The Adams County Heritage Festival is a celebration of ethnic music, food, and crafts that reflects the multicultural atmosphere of Adams County. It is a way of sharing our various traditions and appreciating the best that each ethnic group has to offer, as well as a commitment to community and the goal of living together in harmony.

Family-oriented entertainment features musical performances, storytelling, a dance/drum group, a bicycle parade for children, a special Children’s Activities area, and the highly popular Passport Program linked with international displays.

Click HERE to learn more!

11th Annual Sweet Potato Festival

Sep 21-22, 2024

Head out to Thomason’s Olde Thyme Herb Farm and Gift Shop for all things sweet potato!

Sweet potato fries, soup, funnel cakes, whoopie pies, and more. Live music both days, craft vendors, face painting, and alpacas. Come out for Food, Music, and Sweet Fun!

Click HERE for more info!

Street Food Fiesta! // ¡Fiesta de Comida Callejera!

Sep 14

The Adams County Farmers Market is excited to host our second annual Street Food Fiesta in partnership with Casa de la Cultura! This event is meant to be a celebration of Central- and South American culinary traditions as well as a chance to highlight Latino-owned businesses in our community.

Click HERE for more info!

Pippinfest 2024

Sep 28-29, 2024

Welcome to the 43rd community wide celebration of the Pippin Apple Harvest. The Borough of Fairfield and the Pippinfest Committee invite you to join us for two days of fun, food, crafts and entertainment. Enjoy walking down Main Street full of craft vendors. Fun for kids located on Steelman Street. The Festival is held rain or shine.

Click HERE for more info!

National Apple Harvest Festival

Oct 5-6 & 12-13, 2024

Located in the heart of Pennsylvania Apple country, The National Apple Harvest Festival has been celebrating the fall season with beautiful handmade crafts, delicious food, and jam-packed entertainment for 57 years!

The Festival has something for everyone with special attractions ranging from steam engine displays, live music, antique cars, orchard tours,  pony rides, tastings, craftsman demonstrations, and nearly every apple food that comes to mind from apple pie to nontraditional treats like apple guacamole!

Click HERE to learn more!

Oktoberfest Family Fall Festival

Oct 26 & 27, 2024

Held on the grounds of the Historic Daniel Lady Farm. Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association proudly presents a wonderful event for the whole family! Come shop and browse the wares of 40+ craft vendors, while enjoying games, music, food, living history programs, and more.

Click HERE to learn more!

Museums

Jennie Wade House

Experience the historic tale of Jennie Wade, the only civilian killed during the Battle of Gettysburg. Authentically furnished from cellar to attic, the Jennie Wade House is a shrine to Jennie and her life during the American Civil War. Guides in period attire who are well-versed in the history of the home will captivate visitors with passionate retellings of the battle and Jennie’s fate. Artifacts from that fatal day in 1863 are on display to illustrate the events that befell Jennie and her family. History comes alive, as seen through Jennie’s eyes.

Click HERE for more info!

Shriver House Museum

Dedicated to civilian experience. Guided tour of Shriver family’s home and business: Shriver’s Saloon & Ten-Pin Alley. One of the wealthiest families in town, their home was occupied by Confederate sharpshooters; two soldiers killed in the house. Live civil war bullets discovered during 1996 restoration. Period garden; bullet holes. Allow 1 hour.

Click HERE for more info!

Seminary Ridge Museum

Gettysburg’s Seminary Ridge Museum features three areas of emphasis not focused on anywhere else in Gettysburg including the First Day Battle, July 1, 1863, on the very site where it happened, Civil War field medicine in the building that was the largest Field Hospital at Gettysburg; and the larger issues of Faith and Freedom.  Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

Click HERE for more info!

Gettysburg Heritage Center

Witness the town of Gettysburg through the eyes of the civilians. Interactive displays, 3-D videos, artifacts and storyboard panels tell the story in a way that will entertain and educate the entire family!

Included is the Civil War Trust’s award-winning “Gettysburg: Animated Map,” movie; the perfect orientation to the battle and the battlefield!

Click HERE for more info!

Gettysburg History Center Presents The Gettysburg Diorama

Stand face to face with those whose roles shaped and created the Battle of Gettysburg. Enlighten your senses with a walk-through of Pickets Charge as the battle unfolds around you. See the famous Gettysburg Diorama presenting the Battle of Gettysburg in a fully narrated, truly unique and original light and sound experience.

Click HERE for more info!

Gettysburg Beyond The Battle Museum

The recently opened Gettysburg Beyond the Battle Museum is located inside the new home of the Adams County Historical Society, a 29,000-square-foot complex. It features twelve galleries of immersive exhibits exploring more than three centuries of American history, all from the perspective of one very famous community.

In addition, the museum hosts frequent history programs for all ages inside a stunning event venue and education center overlooking the battlefield. The complex also includes an extensive  library and archives where researchers can access some of Gettysburg’s rarest archival holdings, including hundreds of civilian accounts from the Battle of Gettysburg and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

Click HERE for more info!

The WWII American Experience

This museum and education center strives to educate the public about American sacrifices made during the world’s largest conflict of the 20th century, both on the battlefield and on the Homefront. Here you can experience a wide variety of authentic WWII vehicles, uniforms and artifacts, arrayed in realistic dioramas and exhibits that portray not just the battlefield, but the Homefront as well.

Click HERE for more info!

Visit Gettysburg in Person

Plan your next excursion with us! Our bus tours of the historic Gettysburg Battlefield are active and ready to show you the sites of the historical battleground. Reservations can be made by calling our toll-free number at 877-680-8687. You can also purchase bus tour tickets online.  Tours depart from the Gettysburg Tour Center located at 778 Baltimore St., Gettysburg.