Loblolly Festival 2026: Where to Stay in Laurel, MS

The Loblolly Festival takes over downtown Laurel on Saturday, October 3, 2026, from 9:00am to 4:00pm, and it is free to attend. It lands on the first Saturday in October every year, and it is the one day where a town that is usually a pleasant, easy walk becomes genuinely, joyfully packed.

What Loblolly actually is

The festival takes its name from the loblolly pine and the sawmill money that built this town — Laurel was a lumber boomtown before it was anything else, and the Georgian Revival houses on Fifth Avenue exist because of it. Loblolly is the day Laurel celebrates that history in the most Mississippi way available: closing the streets, filling them with vendors and food and music, and letting everybody walk around downtown until mid-afternoon.

Practically speaking, expect craft and maker booths down the closed streets, food that justifies skipping breakfast, live music, and a crowd that skews family-heavy and good-natured. Doors open at 9, it winds down at 4, and downtown stays busy well past that.

Make it a two-night weekend

Here is the thing most first-timers get wrong: they come for Saturday and leave Saturday night, and they miss why people move to this town.

Laurel is Home Town country. The Laurel Mercantile Co. and the Scotsman General Store are both downtown and both worth an unhurried hour. The Lauren Rogers Museum of Art — Mississippi's oldest art museum, and a genuinely serious collection for a town this size — is a few blocks away. And the historic district itself is the kind of place where the walk between the two is the point.

Festival Saturday, then a slow Sunday morning on a porch before you drive home. That is the weekend.

Where to stay — and what is left

We keep more than thirty homes, suites and lofts in Laurel, which is more than anyone else in town, and a good share of them are inside the walkable downtown core.

Checked against our live calendar on August 18, 2026. Laurel is going faster than Starkville is for the same Saturday. Already booked for Loblolly weekend: Heart of Historic Laurel, Crescent Loft, Heritage House, Birdie Jacks, and both Loving Lofts. Still open as of this morning were Bany Kates (sleeps 4), Gertie Belle's (sleeps 2), and Kalmia Suite A (sleeps 2).

If you want a downtown bed for October 3, this is not a decision to sit on for another month. See what is actually open on our Laurel page — that calendar updates the moment something books.

One Saturday, two Mississippis

Worth knowing if your family is split: October 3 is also the day Alabama plays at Mississippi State in Starkville, about two and a half hours north. Same Saturday, completely different weekend — one is 60,000 people and a cowbell, the other is a free street festival and a porch. We host both, so if half your group wants Davis Wade and half wants downtown Laurel, we can put you in either.

Book direct

Booking direct at stayca.life skips the 12–15% guest service fee the big platforms add at checkout — same home, same beds, less money. We are family-owned and Mississippi-based, running 4.95★ across more than 3,300 guest stays. Come stay awhile.

Frequently asked

When is the Loblolly Festival in 2026?

Saturday, October 3, 2026, 9:00am to 4:00pm, in downtown Laurel. It is always the first Saturday in October.

Is there an admission fee?

No. Walking in is free.

Where should I stay?

Downtown if you can — park Friday, walk everywhere, drive home Sunday. Our Laurel homes are here.

Is one night enough?

Two is better. The festival is Saturday, but the Mercantile, the Scotsman, and the Lauren Rogers Museum need a Sunday.