Marshall FireAnt Festival

Marshall, TX · Quirky

When: October 9–10, 2026
Where: Downtown Marshall, Historic Harrison County Courthouse · Marshall · TX
Cost: Not confirmed
Status: Confirmed from the organizer's published schedule

Marshall throws a festival honoring the fire ant, the East Texas pest the town has embraced as a mascot, with a parade, a cook-off, and a Miss Fire Ant pageant around the historic Harrison County Courthouse. It has run since the early 1980s on the second Saturday of October. The festival grew out of local frustration with the invasive ant turned into civic self-deprecation.

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The history within reach

Marshall FireAnt Festivalsame spot
Marshall throws a festival honoring the fire ant, the East Texas pest the town has embraced as a mascot, with a parade, a cook-off, and a Miss Fire Ant pageant around the historic Harrison County Courthouse.
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