On the Homestead Fair website, the directions page has a table of departure times. A family coming from Austin is told to leave by 6:35 a.m. to make the 9:00 gate on Friday or Saturday. Houston families should leave by 5:05 a.m. The times include 20 minutes to park and walk in, and the page asks everyone to add another 30 minutes for holiday traffic.
The table is written for people who make one long trip and try to see everything before the drive home. Your Thanksgiving weekend looks different if you live in Waco or nearby. You may have a turkey to finish, a guest room to clean, or relatives who sleep late. The fair runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday, November 27–29, at Homestead Heritage, 747 Dry Creek Road. One parking pass covers one vehicle for all three days. For a local host, that turns the fair into a series of short trips, not one marathon.
What the pass costs, and where the rest of the money goes
Admission is free. You pay for parking, and the pass is good for the whole weekend. The ticket shop calls it an Early Bird Parking Pass, regularly $35 and listed now at $17.50. The page doesn't say when the early-bird price ends, so buying soon is the safe move. If you use it on all three days, that's under $6 a day for the whole car. The directions page also points out that parking is charged per vehicle, so every extra passenger makes the trip a better deal. If you're hosting, you likely have a full car anyway.
Most of the weekend's spending happens after you park. Food, the make-your-own crafts and some rides are paid with tokens, sold in packs of 6 for $20 or 13 for $40. Here's how the costs break down:
- Free: concerts, the petting zoo, giant hay slide, maze, duck race, greased pig and pole, corn-hole tournament, and the craft demonstrations.
- Tokens: food, plus the Make-Your-Own Tent stations for dipped candles, soap balls, leatherwork, pottery, weaving and simple woodworking. Children must be with a parent.
- Separate tickets: a hand-milking experience at $30 per adult and $15 per child, a walking plow session at $35 for ages 14 and up, and farm tours at $25 a person. The orchard tour is listed at $35 on Friday and Saturday and $25 on Sunday in the ticket shop, but the visitor guide gives just $35.
The milking experience shows the local advantage most clearly. It runs 7:00 to 8:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, with only 10 spots a day shared between adults and children. A family leaving Dallas by 7:00 for the 9:00 gate can't make that slot. A household in north Waco can, and still be home for a late breakfast.
Splitting the weekend into short trips
The fair runs 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The directions page lists the anchor times: sheepdog herding at 10:40, barn raising at 1:30, and concerts at 2:30 and 7:00 on Friday and Saturday. Those times let you plan visits around your guests.
| Visit | Window | Anchor | Why it fits a hosting weekend |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friday early | 7:00–8:30 a.m. | Milking experience, ticketed | Done before most guests are up |
| Friday late morning | About 10:30 a.m.–2:00 p.m. | Sheepdogs at 10:40, barn raising at 1:30 | Lunch at the fair takes care of the post-Thanksgiving leftovers question |
| Saturday evening | Arrive by 7:00 p.m. | Heritage Choir and Orchestra | A night out with no long drive home |
| Sunday | 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. | Crafts and demonstrations, no concerts | Works after guests leave, but expect heavy road traffic |
The barn raising draws the biggest crowds. The fair puts up the timber frame of a 1,200-square-foot barn, and spectators can help when invited. The finished frame is auctioned for the fair. The day's demonstration list also includes cotton spinning, blacksmiths forging a fireplace poker, glass blowing, broom making, cheese making, rope making and soap making. The fair labels its schedule preliminary and subject to change, so check the times again the week of the fair.
The concerts are free and happen only on Friday and Saturday at the Heritage Center. The HYM Choir and Orchestra plays at 2:30 p.m. and the Heritage Choir and Orchestra at 7:00 p.m. The fair describes the HYM Choir as more than 200 young singers. The Heritage Choir is made up of adults singing traditional hymns and choral arrangements. The 7:00 show is the one out-of-town visitors give up when they want to be home before dark. Locals can stay for it without thinking about the drive.
Sunday is the shortest day and the one to plan carefully. The directions page calls it the heaviest travel day of the weekend and tells visitors heading home to leave before noon if they can. If your guests are leaving Sunday, the roads around the fair will be busy with everyone else's guests too.
Lunch for a table that can't agree
When your car holds three generations and a couple of dietary restrictions, the food lineup helps a lot. The fair's food page names these kitchens:
- Savory: Homestead Burgers, Red Skillet with beef or lamb street tacos, corndogs and chicken tenders, Brick Oven Pizza fired above 800°F, Red Wagon BBQ with oak-smoked ribs, The Curry Pot, and Waco Waffle Co. with sweet and savory waffles.
- Sweet: Donuts & Apple Cider with donuts made from fresh-pressed cider, Texas Cream with shakes and fresh-churned ice cream, Kettle Corn, and Craft Chocolate with single-origin bars.
- Drinks: Heritage Coffee, plus Boba + Leaf Co. for from-scratch boba milk tea and cold brew.
- Gluten-Free Kitchen: gluten-free pizza and dairy-free cookies, brownies and bagels.
Gluten-Free Kitchen is the most useful stop when one guest has a restriction and everyone else wants barbecue. A car can split up, and each person can get something they'll eat.
The drive from your side of town
The fair is north of Waco. The directions page lists about 15 minutes from north Waco and Bellmead, 20 from downtown and Baylor, and 30 from Hewitt and Woodway, assuming light traffic. Here's the official route:
- Take I-35 exit 343 onto FM 308.
- Go west on FM 308 for 3.1 miles to the flashing light at FM 933.
- Turn right and go north on FM 933 for 1.6 miles.
- Turn left onto Halbert Lane and follow the signs and volunteers to parking.
If you're coming from Hewitt, Woodway or south Waco, the drive goes through the My35 Waco South construction, where the northbound lanes are under construction. The fair notes that your GPS may route you off at exit 339 and up Gholson Road, which is FM 933, and says either way works. Baylor football plays at Houston on November 28, so there's no home-game traffic in town that Saturday.
The grounds are grass and gravel, so wear walking shoes. The fair goes on rain or shine, though some outdoor demonstrations depend on the weather. Bring layers. Fair-weekend lows average 42°F and highs average 65°F, but highs over the past 30 years have run anywhere from 37° to 83°. Add the pass to Apple Wallet before you leave home so you aren't searching your email at the gate.
The parts of Homestead Heritage that stay open after Sunday
Short visits also make sense because the place keeps going after the fair ends. Homestead Craft Village is open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., all year. Its shops include Heritage Forge, Homestead Fiber Crafts, the Woodworking Shop and Homestead Pottery. Homestead Heritage also lists Cafe Homestead, Homestead Market, the Homestead General Store, and Homestead Gristmill, which uses a water wheel to grind grain for the community. If a guest falls for the pottery tent on Friday, you can take them back to the pottery shop on a quieter weekday.
The Christmas market comes next, on December 5, 6 and 12, from noon to 10 p.m. each day. Free Christmas concerts are set for 7 p.m. on December 5 and December 12. Each concert needs a free ticket, with 3,000 available per evening. The site says the 2026 market lineup is still being set and its parking details are "coming soon."
The fair has grown a lot over the years. KWTX covered the 2024 event as the 37th annual fair. That same weekend, FOX 44 reported, citing Homestead Heritage, that the first fair had a couple of food booths and drew a few hundred people, and that the event now draws tens of thousands.
Before guests arrive, we're happy to suggest stops near the fair grounds, help you plan the rest of the holiday weekend, or answer any questions about life north of Waco. Reach out to WestLand Realty Group and Contact Our WestLand Experts. We'll pass along what we know about our corner of Central Texas.
