Hurricane City Peach Days
Thursday, September 2, 2027 – September 4, 2027 · All day
Downtown Hurricane & Hurricane City Rec Center
A Festival Built Around the Peach Harvest
Hurricane Peach Days fills the town of Hurricane over Labor Day weekend, tying a modern community celebration to the orchards that gave the town its name. Hurricane's peach and pecan orchards trace back to church-operated fruit ground planted in the early 1900s, watered by the Hurricane Canal, an irrigation ditch finished in 1904 that turned the bench above the Virgin River into farmland. Peach Days grew directly out of that harvest, and it remains the valley's biggest end-of-summer gathering.
From a 1909 Fruit Fair to a Modern Homecoming
The tradition dates to 1909, when Hurricane and St. George jointly staged the Dixie Fruit Exhibit and Festival, essentially a county fair built around the season's crop. Hurricane split off its own "Elberta Day" celebration in 1910, named for a popular peach variety, and ran it separately through 1914. The event was renamed "Peach Day" in 1915, added boxing matches in 1923, and picked up its parade and beauty pageant in 1939, though storm-ruined crops canceled it outright in 1916 and 1917, and again in 1937, when the dedication of a new bridge over the Virgin River took its place instead. By 1950 the festival was in financial trouble; Washington County agreed to underwrite it only if it was renamed the Washington County Fair, with Hurricane as the fair's home base, a change made in 1951. The event as it exists today is a later revival: Tom Hirschi, Jarolyn Stout, and other Hurricane residents brought it back in 1999 as "Peach Days: A Celebration of Our Heritage," a name the festival still carries. Some of that heritage is on permanent display at the Hurricane Valley Heritage Park and Museum, a short walk from the festival grounds.
The Shape of the Week
On the dates: Peach Days is anchored to Labor Day — Thursday through Saturday immediately before the holiday, which put it on August 28-30 in 2025 and September 3-5 in 2026. Hurricane City confirms each year's full schedule closer to the time.
Peach Days now runs a full week rather than a single day. It opens with a golf tournament on Tuesday and a pickleball tournament that carries into Wednesday, when a wagon train rolls down Hurricane Hill from Sheep Bridge to the community center for root beer floats and a free evening concert. The festival proper opens Thursday afternoon with quilt and craft displays, food and vendor booths, a carnival, and three stages of continuous entertainment, plus a theater production that runs through Saturday. The separately organized Peach Days Rodeo runs alongside for three nights. Friday adds a foam dance and a movie screening in the park. Saturday is the marquee day: a fun run and a 12K race, guided treks along the historic Hurricane Canal, the Peach Days Parade through downtown, a Pioneer Corner and farm display, and the Peach Cook-off, all closing out with fireworks Saturday night.
Parade Route and Parking
The parade starts at 400 South Main, turns onto 100 South, and runs the length of 300 West before finishing at 400 South. For festival week, 100 South becomes a one-way street for spectator safety. Parking is free along the surrounding downtown streets and in the Hurricane High School and Red Brick Church lots, with shuttles running between the lots and the festival grounds at the Hurricane City Rec Center.
Who Peach Days Suits
Peach Days suits families and anyone who wants a slower, small-town counterpart to St. George's bigger events, the same spirit behind the city's list of free things to do. It works well for visitors staying along the Zion corridor: Hurricane sits on the route covered in our guide to Hurricane and La Verkin, and travelers can pair a Peach Days visit with a look at where to stay near Zion for the rest of the trip. Because it lands on Labor Day weekend, Peach Days also marks the informal close of the area's summer events calendar before the fall shoulder season begins.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hurricane Peach Days free to attend?
Walking the festival grounds, watching the parade, and taking in the carnival and stage entertainment costs nothing. The rodeo, the theater production, and entry into the fun run, 12K race, or Peach Cook-off are registered and priced separately through their own links on the city's Peach Days page.
How do I enter the parade, the race, or the cook-off?
Each has its own entry form on the city's Peach Days page: parade, 12K race, cook-off, and rodeo are separate sign-ups. Display entries such as quilts, crafts, and pioneer items need no advance form; you just drop items off at the rec center the week the festival opens.
What's the difference between the fun run and the 12K race?
They are two separate Saturday-morning events with their own registration links, not two distances of the same race. Sign up for the one you want directly rather than through a combined form.
Is the Peach Days Rodeo included in the festival admission?
No. The rodeo runs the same three nights but at its own grounds near the Hurricane airport, with its own schedule (a youth rodeo the first night, then traditional rough-stock and timed events) and its own tickets. It's a companion event to Peach Days, not part of it.
Does Peach Days end after the Saturday parade and fireworks?
The main festival closes Saturday night, but an Advanced Canal Hike along the historic Hurricane Canal runs as a bonus outing the following Monday for anyone who wants a longer trek than the Saturday canal treks offer.
Is there accessible parking at Peach Days?
Yes. A dedicated handicapped parking lot sits at 100 S 100 W, and shuttles run from the general parking areas at Hurricane High School and the Red Brick Church to the festival grounds for anyone who needs a shorter walk.
Address
63 S 100 WHurricane, UT 84737