Reisterstown's fireworks, Baltimore's oldest holiday at Fort McHenry, and the Seafood Festival's 60th

Two big weekends collide this Saturday. The 39th Reisterstown Festival takes over Hannah More Park with a parade, a hundred vendors, and fireworks after dark, free both days. And September 12 is Defenders' Day — Fort McHenry marks the 1814 battle that saved the city and wrote the anthem, on its 100th year as a national park.

There's plenty underneath: the Maryland Seafood Festival's 60th at Sandy Point, live jousting in Pasadena, a free art-and-monsters afternoon at the Walters, morning harbor fishing, robot-building for tweens, and the first weekend of fall-harvest season at Weber's. Rosh Hashanah begins Friday evening, too.

Top Pick

The 39th Annual Reisterstown Festival — Hannah More Park, 12035 Reisterstown Rd, Reisterstown (Baltimore County) Saturday and Sunday, 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM ET | All ages | Free

This is the one to build Saturday around. The Main Street parade kicks off at 9:00 AM ET, then two full days of more than a hundred vendors, live bands, laser tag, a kids' train, a petting zoo, pony rides, and fireworks Saturday around 8:45 PM ET. A real once-a-year community festival.

Quick Weekend Wins

Free, and you can just show up

1. Family Day: Myths and Monsters at the Walters Art Museum, 600 N Charles St, Baltimore City Saturday, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET. Free. Hands-on art-making around ancient myths, heroes, and monsters, with performances and gallery games — all indoors.

2. Community Fishing Day with Outdoor Afro at Masonville Cove, 1000 Frankfurst Ave, Baltimore City Saturday, 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM ET. Free. Morning fishing on a restored stretch of the harbor with Outdoor Afro; gear is typically on hand. A quiet, no-cost way to start the day before the festivals get going.

3. Touch-A-Truck at Chick-fil-A Forest Hill (Harford County) Saturday, 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM ET. Free. Climb-in fire trucks, work vehicles, and food-truck-adjacent snacks — a low-key, no-ticket afternoon for the crane-and-digger crowd.

4. Piney Orchard Street Festival — Piney Orchard, Odenton (Anne Arundel County) Saturday, 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM ET. Free. A neighborhood-scale street festival with local vendors, live music, and kids' activities, plus a beer-and-wine tent for the grown-ups.

Ticketed This Weekend

Maryland Seafood Festival — Sandy Point State Park, 1100 E College Pkwy, Annapolis (Anne Arundel County) Friday 5:00 – 9:30 PM ET, Saturday 11:00 AM – 7:30 PM ET, Sunday 11:00 AM – 6:30 PM ET | All ages | Adults $25 Sat / $20 Sun; kids 12 and under free The festival's 60th year, right on the Chesapeake at Sandy Point: crab-focused food, live music, arts and crafts, and a kids' area.

Made in Maryland Festival — Kurtz's Beach, 2070 Kurtz Ave, Pasadena (Anne Arundel County) Sunday, 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM ET | All ages | $15 adults, kids free A waterfront market of Maryland artisans, food vendors, and local wineries and breweries, with live jousting — the state sport and the real reason to come.

Budget-Friendly Finds

Family and Friends Day at Historic Hancock's Resolution — 2795 Bayside Beach Rd, Pasadena (Anne Arundel County) Sunday, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM ET | All ages | Free A colonial-era stone farmstead opens its house and grounds for a free afternoon of living history — artifacts, the family graveyard's stories, and open space to roam. The quiet, zero-cost Sunday option for families who've had enough of crowds.

Weber's Johnny Appleseed Festival & Fall Harvest Days — Weber's Cider Mill Farm, 2526 Proctor Ln, Parkville (Baltimore County) Opens Saturday | All ages | $15 per person, under 2 free Fall-harvest season starts this weekend. Admission covers the barrel-train ride, hillside slide, hayrides, and farm animals; cider donuts, gem mining, and face painting cost extra.

Baltimore's Own Weekend: Defenders' Day at Fort McHenry

September 12 is Baltimore's oldest holiday — celebrated since 1815

Defenders' Day — Fort McHenry National Monument, 2400 E Fort Ave, Baltimore City Friday parade, Saturday and Sunday programming | All ages | Grounds free; Historic Star Fort $15/adult, under 15 free This is the weekend Baltimore marks the 1814 defense of the city and the writing of the Star-Spangled Banner, and this year Fort McHenry turns 100 as a national park. A War of 1812 encampment fills the grounds with music, games, and live cannon and musket demonstrations from the Fort McHenry Guard and Ship's Company, and ranger programs let kids help hoist the giant flag over the ramparts.

For Toddler Families

Playful Pandas Music Playgroup — STRŌB Apothecary (Anne Arundel County) Saturday, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM ET | Ages 0–4 | Free Built for exactly this age: songs, instruments, bubbles, and snacks in a small indoor room, an hour start to finish. The rare pick that needs no caveat — it's squarely toddler territory.

The Walters' Family Day (see Quick Weekend Wins) is the other easy toddler call — indoor, free, drop-in art tables you can leave the moment attention runs out.

For families observing the holiday: Bolton Street Synagogue holds a free Rosh Hashanah Tot Service Saturday, a short High-Holiday service made for little ones.

Straight talk on Sunday: there's no toddler-specific event on the calendar this Sunday. The Pasadena festivals work with a stroller, but if you want a room built for a two-year-old, Saturday's your day.

Tween-Approved

RoboMasterminds for Teens — Darlington Library, 1134 Main St, Darlington (Harford County) Saturday, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM ET | Free, registration required Build and program a robot with sensors to clear a real course. Free, hands-on, and genuinely brag-worthy on Monday — register ahead, library slots fill.

First Responders Showcase — B&O Railroad Museum, 901 W Pratt St, Baltimore City Saturday | Regular museum admission (about $24 adults, less for kids) A train ride out to a staged collision site plus hands-on emergency-response exhibits — a specific, physical hook that beats a standard museum walk-through.

The live jousting at Made in Maryland (see Ticketed This Weekend) is the other real tween draw on Sunday — armored riders at full speed, which reads a lot cooler at eleven than a petting zoo.

Worlds Beyond Imagination featuring TEO — Poe's Magic Theatre at the Lord Baltimore Hotel, 20 W Baltimore St Saturday, 8:00 PM ET | Ticketed A stage magic-and-mentalism show for the older end of the range — note the 8:00 PM ET curtain runs late for a school-night eve.

Mark Your Calendar

• Baltimore Book Festival — Waverly (Baltimore City). September 19–20, free. Six blocks of booksellers, authors, kids' events, and a Saturday farmers market.
• Talents Children's Business Fair — The Fields at Renaissance Park (Baltimore County). Saturday, September 26, free. Kids 5–17 set up real shops and sell what they've made; registration required.
• Kids Chromatography, ages 7–13 — BUGSS, Baltimore City. Saturday, October 3. A small-cohort hands-on lab; registration required.
• JCC Harvest Fest: Built to Celebrate — JCC of Greater Baltimore (Baltimore County). Thursday, October 1, $18. Sukkah building, inflatables, face painting, and music — more family-facing than the name lets on.

Local Intel

A Pasadena Sunday two-fer. The Maryland Seafood Festival at Sandy Point and Made in Maryland at Kurtz's Beach are about ten minutes apart and both run Sunday — pick one as the anchor and the other's an easy add if the day's going well.

If you're free Friday, two free options open the weekend: Towson Main Street Movie Night in downtown Towson, and Dancin' Under the People Tree, an all-levels outdoor dance session at the Columbia lakefront at 7:00 PM ET.

Rain plan. The Walters, the B&O Railroad Museum, and Playful Pandas are all indoors start to finish.

Also This Weekend

• The Maryland Renaissance Festival is open again this Saturday and Sunday in Crownsville and runs weekends through October 25 — no rush, it isn't going anywhere.
• Clark's Elioak Farm has its sunflowers in their last weekend, but note the field is part of the farm's paid admission (about $14–16), not a free stop.
• Flavor Friday at Prigel Family Creamery in Glen Arm runs Friday, 5:00 – 9:00 PM ET — free, with food trucks and live music on the dairy farm.
• The Ivy Bookshop hosts children's-author mornings both days (Hannah Salyer Saturday, Jessica Smith Sunday, 9:00 AM ET) — small rooms, reserve a seat.
• September Market at The Station in Severna Park runs Sunday, 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM ET — free to browse, good for a stroller lap.