Steelville’s 2026 Harvest Festival returns this year under the theme “Stars, Stripes and Small Town Pride.” This year, the festival will be held Tuesday, Sept. 8 through Sunday, Sept. 13, and packed with activities. Events are scheduled to take place along Main Street, the courthouse area, and other local venues like the Meramec Music Theatre. Highlights from the festival schedule include a Harvest Festival queen pageant, a street parade a rodeo, and community gospel sing.

The festival will kickoff from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 8, with family night on Main Street. The event, sponsored by Steelville R-3 School District, will include games, booths, food and sidewalk sales from local vendors. Also on Tuesday, the American Red Cross will be hosting a blood drive from 2 until 6 p.m. at the Steelville Presbyterian Church. From 9 a.m. until 7:30 p.m., the Crawford County Public Library’s Steelville branch will have a book sale that continues daily through Saturday.

On Wednesday night, Sept. 9, festivalgoers can enjoy a community gospel sing starting at 7 p.m. at the Meramec Music Theatre where groups and individual performers will lead the audience in song.

Thursday night, Sept. 10, Harvest Festival Queen Pageant contestants will take the stage at 7 p.m. at the Meramec Music Theatre. Attendees can pay the $5 admission fee at the door, with children three-years-old and younger entering for free.

The weekend portion of the festival will kick off on Friday, Sept. 11 with the Steelville Chamber barbecue at 11 a.m. at the Peoples Bank in Steelville. Chicken or pork steak dinners will be available. Then, Friday night at 8 p.m. The Ozark Trailblazers will saddle-up for a rodeo at the Ozark Trailblazers Arena. Tickets are available at area businesses or can be bought through the Ozark Trailblazers online.

Saturday, Sept. 12, Harvest Festival booths open starting at 9 a.m., where local vendors will sell crafts, food and trinkets. Then, the Main Street Parade will proceed through downtown Steelville. Parade forms are available at FCNB Bank and Peoples Bank. Events for Saturday will come to a close with another 8 p.m. round of rodeo entertainment at the Ozark Trailblazers Area.

On Sunday, Sept. 13, Harvest Festival activities will wrap up at Steelville City Park at 5:30 p.m. with a community-wide church service, with preaching and musical worship. The service is hosted by the Steelville Ministerial Alliance.