"After a week of hard hot work, Saturday was the day to come to town, see your friends, sample some special treats and have some fun." That line comes from the festival's own history page. It describes a Kerens where the cotton crop was the main source of income and three gins ran through the harvest. The same page is honest about what changed. Cotton is now harvested by machine, and only one nearby gin still operates.
The 22nd annual Kerens Cotton Harvest Festival is on Saturday, October 17, 2026, in downtown Kerens. The schedule is built to bring back that old Saturday, and it does it nearly hour for hour. A pancake breakfast at 7 a.m. comes first and the dancing on the brick main street ends at 11 p.m. Cotton is the subject in the middle of the day, and all the money goes to the Kerens library. If you know how the day is put together, you know when to show up for each part.
The Weekend Starts Before Saturday
Most of the attention goes to Saturday, but two parts of the festival begin earlier in the week.
The quilt show is at Stockton Hall. The 2026 entry form says quilts will be on display October 16 and 17. Entrants are asked to drop off their quilts on the Thursday before the show opens. On this year's calendar that is Thursday, October 15. Visitors vote for a People's Choice award, and there is also a Mayor's Choice award. If you can get there on Friday, you'll see the quilts without the Saturday crowd.
Friday evening also has its own event. God Bless America: A WWII Radio Hour, performed by Shellie O'Neal, is at the KESA Building on Friday, October 16. Soup is served at 5 p.m. and the show starts at 6 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door. The $5 difference makes buying ahead worth it.
Saturday, Hour by Hour
This is the official 2026 day schedule as the festival published it.
| Time | What's Happening | Location on the Schedule |
|---|---|---|
| 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. | KESA Pancake Breakfast | KESA Building |
| 10:00 a.m. | National Anthem by Camille Reed opens the festival | Not listed |
| 10:00 a.m. to noon | Live broadcast with TEXAS 99.1 KNES and the TEXAS 99 Cash Cube | Not listed |
| 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. | Announcements and music | Not listed |
| 11:00 a.m. | Paint Party with Janie Haydon | KESA Building |
| 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. | Cotton Gin Tours, narrated by Mayor Jeffery Saunders | Meet at the Main Stage |
| Noon to 2:00 p.m. | Dempsey Crenshaw and Danny Banda, blues and rock | Main Stage |
| 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. | Live broadcast with Carey Dean of 106.9 The Ranch | Not listed |
| 2:00 p.m. | Winners announced for the C.A.S.I. Chili Cook-Off, photo contest and quilt show | Not listed |
| 3:00 p.m. | Toilet Paper Plunger Relay | Not listed |
| 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. | Block Party with Carey Dean, live music by Leland Combs, plus limbo, cornhole, Jenga, dominoes and Connect Four | Not listed |
| 6:30 p.m. | Santiago Apostle Conchera Dancers | Not listed |
| 8:00 to 11:00 p.m. | Dancing on the Bricks with the Peter Sinclair Band | Not listed |
Except for the KESA Building and the Main Stage, the schedule doesn't say where each event takes place. The whole festival is in downtown Kerens.
Seen as a whole, the day has three parts. The early hours are for the tractors and the griddle. Midday centers on cotton and chili. The evening belongs to the street.
Early Morning Belongs to the Tractors and the Griddle
The first deadline of the day is in the antique tractor show. Tractors have to be parked for the show by 9:30 a.m. Entry costs $5, and plaques go to the oldest tractor, the one that traveled the greatest distance and the most original. In practice, anyone bringing a tractor is setting up while the KESA pancake breakfast is still serving. The breakfast runs from 7 to 9 a.m., so if you want both pancakes and a look at the tractors, plan on 8:30 a.m.
The car show is the other early draw, and its 2026 classes cover a century of driving. Best of Class awards go to pre-1950s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000-to-present cars, with separate pickup and motorcycle classes and a Best of Show. Neither the flyer nor the day schedule lists arrival or judging times. If you're entering a vehicle, the flyer gives a contact named Patrick at 903-477-2486.
Parents of younger kids should note the 11 a.m. Paint Party with Janie Haydon at the KESA Building, the same building where breakfast is served.
Midday Is About Cotton
The Cotton Gin Tours are where the festival matches its history page most closely. They leave from the Main Stage at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Kerens Mayor Jeffery Saunders narrates them, and the schedule describes him as a third-generation cotton farmer. The history page tells of a town that once supported three running gins and now has one operating gin nearby. On the tour, a farmer whose family has worked the crop for three generations explains it in person, which is something you don't get from a plaque or a museum label.
The 1:30 p.m. tour falls in the busiest stretch of the day, so it's useful to know how the next hour plays out. The chili cook-off is sanctioned by C.A.S.I. Entry is $25, and chili is turned in for judging at 1 p.m. Winners of the chili cook-off, photo contest and quilt show are all announced together at 2 p.m. Dempsey Crenshaw and Danny Banda play blues and rock on the Main Stage from noon to 2 p.m. Carey Dean's 106.9 The Ranch broadcast starts at 1 p.m. If you take the 11 a.m. tour, you'll be back downtown for the music and in place well before the 2 p.m. announcements.
Evening Moves Onto the Bricks
The festival's history page describes the street this way: "The red brick main street once again comes alive with some of the old folks, some new folks, some city folks, but all folks looking to have a good time." The last act of the night is named after those bricks.
At 3 p.m. there is the Toilet Paper Plunger Relay. From 4 to 6 p.m., Carey Dean hosts a block party with live music by Leland Combs and street games: limbo, cornhole, Jenga, dominoes and Connect Four. The Santiago Apostle Conchera Dancers perform at 6:30 p.m. From 8 to 11 p.m., the Peter Sinclair Band plays for the event the schedule calls "Dancing on the Bricks."
The festival is advertised as running from breakfast until 11 p.m. If you're coming in from a lake community on the Richland Chambers side, you can make the trip twice. Come in the morning for the tractors and the gin tour, go home, and return around 6 p.m. for the dancers and the band.
Where the Money Goes
The cotton theme draws people in, and the money goes to the library. All festival proceeds go to Friends of the Kerens Library, which the chili flyer identifies as a 501(c)(3).
You can give most directly through the quilt raffle. This year there are two quilts, one made by Nancy Heath and one by Shelley Kilcrease. Tickets are $5 each or five for $20. You can buy them at the library, by calling the library and asking for John McAdams, or from committee members around town. The five-for-$20 bundle saves you $5, the same as buying radio-hour tickets ahead.
The 2026 sponsor list mixes old and new Navarro County. Title sponsors are Leeward Renewable Energy, Susan's Flower's & Gifts and The Stockton Hall. Gold sponsors include Powell Gin & Ag, AgTrust, United Ag & Turf of Athens and Ennis, Kerens Economic Development and the City of Kerens. Silver sponsors include First Baptist Church and Kerens Cowboy Church. Platinum sponsors include Sunraycer, Headwater Energy, Republic Services and Richland Chamber Progress, along with 106.9 The Ranch and 99.1 KNES, the two stations with live broadcasts on the day's schedule. Ag businesses, energy companies, churches and local government all appear on a single page.
Before You Head Downtown
- The date is Saturday, October 17. A June post on the festival site gives "Saturday, October 18, 2026." October 18 falls on a Sunday this year, though. The official day schedule, the chili flyer and the City of Kerens calendar all say October 17.
- Pickleball registration has closed. The deadline for the festival's pickleball tournament was September 30, 2026.
- Check photo contest categories with the organizers. The online announcement and the 2026 entry form list different categories. The form also says photos that placed from Best in Show through sixth place in earlier years can't be entered again.
- No parade is listed on the 2026 day schedule.
Our team spends most days on the lake side of Navarro County, but the October Saturday in Kerens is on our calendar too, and we're glad to see the library come out ahead every year. If you're spending the weekend at the lake and want suggestions for where to stay or how to plan the day, or you just want to talk about the east side of Richland Chambers, The Teel Team can help. We'll see you on the bricks.
