01/29/2026
We’re excited to share an important update for 2026!
As many of you know, the Feast of the Hunters’ Moon has always had to work around the Purdue football schedule. Holding the Feast during a Purdue home game weekend creates a significant strain on local infrastructure and emergency response services—so careful planning is essential every year.
With the football schedule now released, we worked collaboratively with our friends at Colonial Market Days (Lebanon, Indiana) to coordinate dates that avoid overlap and support our shared living history community.
The official 2026 Feast of the Hunters’ Moon dates are October 24–25.
We’re grateful for the cooperation and community-minded approach that made this possible, and we look forward to welcoming you back for another unforgettable weekend at the Feast.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Colonial Market Days and Feast of the Hunters’ Moon Coordinate 2026 Dates to Avoid Overlap and Support Attendees, Participants, and Public Safety
West Lafayette, Indiana / Lebanon, Indiana — The Feast of the Hunters’ Moon and Colonial Market Days are pleased to announce a coordinated scheduling effort for their 2026 events, ensuring that participants and spectators can enjoy both gatherings without conflicting dates.
For many years, the Feast of the Hunters’ Moon has operated at the mercy of the Purdue University football schedule. Holding the Feast during the same weekend as a Purdue home game creates substantial strain and added risk for local infrastructure and emergency response services.
We now have the final component of the date-selection process: the Purdue football schedule.
With that information in hand, organizers are balancing non-game weekends, coordination with Lafayette-area community partners to ensure adequate resources are available, and the regional historic events calendar. While some weekends may appear “open” on paper, not all are realistically workable when multiple large events overlap and draw from the same shared services.
In a collaborative effort, organizers from the Feast of the Hunters’ Moon and Colonial Market Days have worked together to identify dates that support both events and avoid overlap. This coordination allows vendors, reenactors, demonstrators, and the visiting public to participate fully in each event—without having to choose between them.
“This was a practical and positive collaboration,” said Casey Samson, representing Colonial Market Days. “We want people to be able to attend and enjoy both events, and coordinating dates helps strengthen the living history community as a whole.”
Brooke Sauter, of the Feast of the Hunters’ Moon added, “Public safety and community resources have to remain part of the conversation when scheduling a large event in West Lafayette. Working with Colonial Market Days allowed us to plan responsibly while still serving the many people who look forward to these weekends every year.”
Through this collaborative effort, the official 2026 Colonial Market Days dates are October 10–11, with the Feast of the Hunters’ Moon following on October 24–25.
Both events remain committed to historical education, immersive interpretation, and preserving early American heritage through engaging programming, skilled artisans, and meaningful community participation. Additional details—including program highlights and vendor information—will be released in the coming months.
