Gates open at 4 p.m. on Friday, November 6, and by 6 the ribbon gets cut on another season at the National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds on U.S. 231 South. The Darrell Qualls Band takes the Food Court Stage at 7. If you have lived in Dothan through a few Novembers, you already know the sound of that first night: barn animals somewhere in the dark, a band nobody outside the Wiregrass has heard of, and a crowd still figuring out where they parked.
What most people who grew up going to the festival do not do anymore is treat it as one trip. This year's run stretches from November 6 through November 15, ten full days under the theme "Ease on Down the Row," and the calendar the National Peanut Festival Association released earlier this month makes it clear that no two of those ten days are built for the same visitor. Save-the-date advice that says "go on a Saturday" is missing the actual structure of the thing.
The Concert Nights Aren't Priced the Same Way, and That Tells You Something
Three country acts anchor the All In Amphitheater this year: Corey Kent on Sunday, November 8, Lauren Alaina on Tuesday, November 10, and Tyler Hubbard on Thursday, November 12. All three shows start at 7 p.m., and all three require regular fairground admission to get in the gate. But the ticketing past that gate is not uniform.
Kent's set is included with fairground admission, with upgraded reserved and preferred seating available for those who want a better view. Lauren Alaina's general admission runs $10. Tyler Hubbard, the bigger national name of the three, carries a $20 general admission on top of gate price.
Read that lineup against the calendar and the logic shows itself. Kent plays the Sunday of opening weekend, already the softest night once the Friday-night ribbon cutting and Saturday's car show have pulled their crowds, so the free-with-admission concert exists to make sure Sunday still pulls a crowd. Alaina and Hubbard play Tuesday and Thursday, weeknights that would otherwise be the quietest stretch of the run, and both carry a cover because the festival is using name recognition to do the work a weekend date would normally do for free. If you are the kind of local who wants a big show without fighting for a parking spot, the weeknight tickets are the ones actually built for you.
The Days That Have Nothing to Do With the Concerts
Not every good night at the fairgrounds involves a stage. Saturday, November 7, is Peanut Proud Saturday: Hometown Pride, with a car show running 1 to 7 p.m. and two performances of Equestrian Chaos at BankPlus Arena, capped off by Big and Loud on the Food Court Stage from 7 to 9. This is the day for people who want the fair without the ticketed concert crowd, and it lands on the first weekend, which means it will also be the most crowded single day of the run if you show up without a plan.
Monday, November 9, flips the entire tone. That's Farmers Day and ALFA Members Day, when pre-registered farm families and their immediate households get in free and ALFA members pay just $5 with a membership card. The evening belongs to the Calf Scramble and Greased Pig Scramble at BankPlus Arena at 7 p.m. It is the one day on the calendar built around the festival's actual roots rather than its entertainment lineup, and it is the cheapest ticket of the ten days for anyone with an agricultural tie to the region.
The closing weekend changes character again. The NPF Parade steps off at 9:30 a.m. on Main Street in Dothan on Saturday, November 14, and by 2 p.m. the Demolition Derby is underway at BankPlus Arena, with a second run at 7 that night. Then Sunday, November 15, the festival winds all the way down: midway rides, Kiddieland, and concessions run just 1 to 6 p.m., a $33 ticket covering gate admission and a ride armband. If you have small kids who tap out by dinnertime anyway, the last day is built for exactly that schedule rather than fighting it.
Here's the full spread, day by day:
- Fri, Nov 6: Gates 4 p.m., ribbon cutting 6 p.m., Darrell Qualls Band, Food Court Stage, 7 to 9 p.m.
- Sat, Nov 7: Peanut Proud Saturday, Hometown Pride. Car show 1 to 7 p.m., Equestrian Chaos (two shows) at BankPlus Arena, Big and Loud, Food Court Stage, 7 to 9 p.m.
- Sun, Nov 8: Corey Kent, All In Amphitheater, 7 p.m., included with fairground admission.
- Mon, Nov 9: Farmers Day and ALFA Members Day. Free for pre-registered farms and immediate family, $5 for ALFA members with card. Calf Scramble and Greased Pig Scramble, BankPlus Arena, 7 p.m.
- Tue, Nov 10: Lauren Alaina, All In Amphitheater, 7 p.m., $10 general admission.
- Thu, Nov 12: Tyler Hubbard, All In Amphitheater, 7 p.m., $20 general admission.
- Sat, Nov 14: NPF Parade, Main Street Dothan, 9:30 a.m. Demolition Derby, BankPlus Arena, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.
- Sun, Nov 15: Final day. Midway rides, Kiddieland, concessions, 1 to 6 p.m. only. $33 combo ticket for gate admission plus ride armband.
Livestock competitions run throughout the ten days, covering cattle, dairy goat, lamb, hog, poultry, rabbit, and youth meat goat categories, which is a reminder that under the concerts and the demolition derby, this is still an agricultural fair that has run since 1938. The fairground attractions that don't move with the calendar, the Cowtown Petting Zoo and Farm Experience, the Mars Experience, Dinosaur Adventure, and the Grizzly Encounter, are there most days if you're bringing kids who care more about a petting zoo than a parade route.
The Lead-Up Starts Weeks Before the Gates Open
If your household has a kid in the pageant circuit or a Cub Scout with a car to race, the festival's actual first events happen before the fairgrounds even open. The Little Miss and Miss National Peanut Festival Pageants run October 10 and October 16 through 17 at the Dothan Civic Center. The Cubmobile Derby is October 24 back at the fairgrounds, and the Peanut Recipe Contest closes out the lead-up on October 29. None of that shows up if you only think of the festival as the ten days in November, but for families already plugged into those events, they're the real start of the season.
Picking Your Days Instead of Picking a Weekend
The old approach, pick a Saturday and go, still works if all you want is a corn dog and a Ferris wheel. But the 2026 calendar rewards a little more intention. A farm family gets more for less money on Monday. A couple wanting a date night without a crowd should look at Tuesday or Thursday, not the free Sunday show. Anyone who wants the parade and the derby without worrying about a concert ticket should circle the 14th. And if your kids are young enough that a five-hour window of midway is plenty, the last Sunday is built for you specifically.
Dothan changes a little every fall around this event, and if you've lived through more than a couple of these festivals, you already know the parking lots fill differently depending on which night you pick. This year's schedule just makes the pattern easier to plan around instead of guessing at it.
If you're weighing a move that would put you closer to Main Street for parade morning, or you're trying to figure out which side of town gets you to the fairgrounds without fighting festival traffic, that's the kind of local detail the Gilley & Co Home Team works through with buyers and sellers across the Wiregrass every day. Schedule a free consultation and we'll talk through what a specific address actually means for your daily routine, festival season included.
