Concord's own fall calendar takes up one Saturday, October 3. For the rest of the month, almost everything to do sits along Village Highway and Richmond Highway in one direction or the other. Right now the roads east of Concord are under construction. The roads toward Rustburg mostly aren't.
That split shapes October more than the miles do. Holliday Lake State Park has a full month of programs, but its usual front road is closed for bridge work. Appomattox's haunted corn maze nights are on Saturdays, and drivers headed home on westbound Route 460 can hit a one-lane work zone. Rustburg's corn maze, library trail and Thursday market have no construction notices against them at all.
October 3 Is the Day Concord Hosts
Concord's own events tend to come from its volunteer squads. In July the Concord Volunteer Fire Department and its auxiliary put on the 64th Fourth of July parade, with breakfast at the rescue squad and the parade starting and ending at the fire department on Richmond Highway. The fall version of that is on Saturday, October 3. The Concord Rescue Squad will hold a Silent Auction along with its Annual Brunswick Stew. The listing on the Historic Appomattox events calendar marks it as an all-day event and gives no start time or address, so check with the squad before you head over.
A lot of other things fall on that same Saturday:
- 10 a.m. Yoders' Farm in Rustburg opens its corn maze, pumpkin patch, snack shack and hayride for a 12-hour day that runs until 10 p.m. The farm store keeps shorter hours, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Holliday Lake State Park holds its Fall Festival, with crafts, games, animals, music and other family activities.
- Noon to 5 p.m. The tasting room at DeVault Family Vineyards, 247 Station Lane in Concord, is open. It keeps Friday and Saturday hours from April through December.
If you want the park festival too, go to Holliday Lake early. Its official page warns that day-use visitors can fill the park on weekends and holidays, that entry isn't guaranteed, and that early arrival is the way to get a parking space. The stew lasts all day, the maze is open until 10, and the vineyard pours until 5, which leaves room for both. The night before, Friday, October 2, the park holds a Welcome Campfire with fireside history from 7 to 8 p.m.
East of Concord, Plans Come With a Detour
Holliday Lake has more on its October calendar than any other place in this post. Its state park event listings for October and November show seven programs, all in October:
- Oct. 2: Welcome Campfire: Fireside History, 7 to 8 p.m.
- Oct. 3: Fall Festival, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Oct. 16: Bat Signals, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., then a Welcome Campfire from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.
- Oct. 17: Reptiles VS. Dinos, 2 to 3 p.m.
- Oct. 18: Fungus Among Us guided hike, 3 to 4:30 p.m., and a Pollinator Garden Volunteer Day, 3 to 5 p.m.
The road to the park is the catch. VDOT says Route 626, Holiday Lake Road, is closed to through traffic from Route 614, Forbes Road, to Route 24 for a bridge superstructure replacement, with a signed detour and completion expected in November 2026. The park's own notice is more exact about the dates and the way around:
From Sep. 11 to Nov. 20, Holliday Lake Road between Hwy 24 and the park will be closed for bridge construction. Please use Hollywood Road to bypass the construction area.
The park and beach are still open dawn to dusk every day. The office is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the boat house is open Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The concession stand has closed for the season, so pack food for any long afternoon. Cell service in the park is very limited, so look up the Hollywood Road route before you leave home. Public Wi-Fi is available at the contact station and the office. The campgrounds stay open through the first weekend in December.
Farther out on 460, Dark Leaf Farms at 185 Dark Leaf Road in Appomattox runs Haunted Corn Maze nights on October 10, 24 and 30 from 7 to 11 p.m. Its children's Spookley nights are October 16 and 23. If your drive home late on one of those nights uses the Appomattox Bypass, expect the work zone. VDOT says westbound Route 460 on the bypass is down to one lane, the speed limit is 45 mph, an automated photo enforcement system is running, and drivers should expect delays. The project is expected to finish in December 2026. That covers every Dark Leaf date on the calendar this year.
Rustburg Is the Open Road This Month
The drive toward Rustburg has no construction alerts this fall, and the things to do there spread across the whole week, not just Saturday nights.
Yoders' Farm is open five days a week all October, but the days differ. Here's the pattern from the farm's posted schedule:
- Tuesdays: 3 to 7 p.m. Corn maze, pumpkin patch and hayride, with no snack shack.
- Wednesdays: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., also without the snack shack.
- Thursdays: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. with everything open, except October 1, which runs 3 to 7 p.m.
- Fridays and Saturdays: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., everything open.
- Saturday, October 31: closes at 7 p.m. instead of 10.
The farm closes on Sundays and Mondays in October. Hayrides stop before dark, so the late Friday and Saturday hours are for the maze, not the wagon. The farm asks visitors to check its home page before coming out, since weather changes go there first. The farm's directions page gives the address as 1134 Browns Mill Road, but that page dates to 2020, so confirm it in your map app.
Thursdays in Rustburg also have the Rustburg Ruritan Community Farmers Market at 200 Colonial Highway, which runs 3 to 7 p.m. through October and plans an indoor winter series from November through March, according to the Altavista Journal. The linked article doesn't show a publication date, so check with the market before planning a stop.
The best Rustburg date for families is Saturday, October 24. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the county library system holds its Trick-or-Treat Trail on the Rustburg Village Trail off Carden Lane, behind the Citizen Services building. Booths, a StoryWalk, activities, a food truck and free children's books are planned. The trail also kicks off HallowGreen, a new county litter-pickup week from October 24 through November 1. Litter kits are handed out through county libraries, Recreation, and Public and Employee Relations. If you want to clean up your own stretch of Concord, the timing fits with a change at home. The Concord Convenience Center at 7525 Village Highway now accepts co-mingled recycling as part of the county's four-site expansion.
That same Saturday, Dark Leaf runs a haunted maze night in Appomattox and Yoders stays open until 10. A morning on the Rustburg trail and an evening at either farm both work on October 24.
What Stays in Concord on Weeknights
Some of October happens without leaving Village Highway at all. Campbell County Parks & Recreation runs a free beginner pickleball open gym for adults 18 and up every Thursday through October 29 at the Concord Elementary School gym, 9339 Village Highway. The county describes it as relaxed and low-pressure, built for new players, and registration stays open until the last session. Sign-up is at tinyurl.com/campbellpickleball2026.
For a quick meal close to home, Quik-E Food Store & Deli at 8907 Village Highway advertises a deli and grill serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with groceries and everyday items. The store's page isn't dated, so call ahead if you're counting on the grill.
DeVault Family Vineyards keeps its Friday and Saturday tasting hours, noon to 5, through December. That makes it the one weekend stop here that doesn't end with October. Holliday Lake's posted programs run out after October 18, the Yoders schedule ends on Halloween, and the Holliday Lake Road bridge work is scheduled to finish November 20.
October in Concord comes down to calendars, road closures and which way you drive, the same kind of everyday local knowledge Amy Carter (VA) has built over more than forty years in Virginia. If you're thinking about Concord, or about which side of 460 suits your weekends best, Amy is glad to talk it through. Schedule a free consultation and bring your questions.
