Where do you go in Clover on a fall Saturday? Two years ago the answer for the biggest one was easy. The 2024 Jaycees Auto Show and Fall Festival was held on Saturday, September 21, on Main Street in Clover. This year's version takes place on the lawn of an amphitheater on Memorial Drive. It is part of a larger pattern in how Clover's fall calendar is laid out.
The town's big festival days are now gathered at New Centre Park. Main Street has taken a smaller, more frequent role, with a monthly market, a pop-up shopping day and a row of storefronts that weren't all there a couple of years ago. The town's own spending has been following that downtown, one project at a time.
The Festivals Settled on Memorial Drive
The fall festival is the most recent event to move. By 2025 it was a Town of Clover event called Fall Fest & Classic Car Show, held on Saturday, October 11, at New Centre Park's amphitheater at 499 Memorial Drive. The town's announcements don't give a reason for the move. The host also changed that year, from the Jaycees to the town itself.
The 2026 Fall Fest stays put. It runs Saturday, October 10, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the New Centre Park amphitheater. Craft and commercial vendors, food vendors, a classic car show, and live music from John C. Riley and Coming Up Brass are all on the schedule. Kids get inflatables and face painting, and admission is free.
The Highland Games have been at the park much longer. A 2015 Herald report said the festival had moved to New Centre Park the year before, leaving Memorial Stadium. Town calendars list it at the park's amphitheater on November 9, 2024, and November 8, 2025. This year's Feis Chlobhair, the Clover Highland Games & Scots-Irish Festival, is on Saturday, November 14, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The town describes it as a celebration of Clover's ancestral ties to the British Isles, with Scottish and Scots-Irish arts, crafts, athletics, music and traditions.
The park's layout explains how these days run. The amphitheater opened with New Centre Park's second phase in July 2018. That phase also added the splash pad, a covered pavilion, a walking trail and restrooms, and the town described the green space around the amphitheater as large enough for up to 750 people. The whole park covers 50 acres, with four lighted soccer fields, disc golf and walking trails. On Highland Games morning, vendor vehicles have to stay on the paved walking trail, and no traffic is allowed on the festival route after 8 a.m. If you plan to walk the park loop that morning, plan around that.
What Main Street Carries Now
With the festivals on Memorial Drive, downtown's fall calendar is built around the first Saturday of the month. The Town of Clover Farmers Market runs from 8 a.m. to noon on the first Saturday of each month from May through October, skipping July. It's held at the American Thread Ball Field, 707 S. Main Street. The last market of 2026 is Saturday, October 3. That day's lineup includes live music from Frances Murphy, a balloon artist, a face painter, and animals from Happy Hooves and Feathers Farm.
The second half of that day moves north. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Pop Up & Shop sets up along North Main Street with more vendors and live music, and the town points visitors toward shopping and dining at local businesses. A pop-up only works as well as the storefronts behind it. North Main has more of them this fall than it did a few seasons ago:
- The Cattle Car, 111 N. Main Street, serves smash burgers, chicken sandwiches, wings and turkey burgers, with vegetarian and gluten-free options. The name refers to Clover's history as a railroad stop, when cattle cars carried livestock. It was operating by March 2026, when it had a routine county food inspection.
- KB Cakes Bakery, 125 N. Main Street, is Carlee Lane's shop. She opened it after more than ten years of selling baked goods. The bakery offers wedding cakes, cupcakes, brownies and cake pops, and takes custom orders. It had a routine inspection in early March 2026.
- Parkin' Latte began with coffee trucks based in Clover. Its online ordering site now lists a Clover location at 110 N. Main Street.
- Queen by King of Fire is still marked "Coming Soon to Clover" on its website. In January 2026 the town's architectural review approved a projecting sign for the restaurant at 115/117 N. Main Street. The announced menu includes Chicago cracker-thin, wood-fired, Grandma, Detroit and New York-style pizzas, plus house-made pastas and cocktails.
Those four sit within a few doors of each other on North Main. The south end of the street has a newer anchor too. The Mustard Seed, at 414 S. Main Street, is a farm-to-store grocery selling dry goods, produce and vegetable plants. The Clover Chamber held its ribbon cutting on May 13, 2026. Since the farmers market's ball field is also on South Main, a first Saturday can start with produce at one end of the street and finish with coffee or a burger at the other.
The Town Started With Parking
The town's spending follows the same downtown pattern, in a set order. At a January 2026 meeting, the Main Street Steering Committee noted that streetscape and Centennial Park work would pick back up once the Guinn Street parking lot was done. Paving on the lot was underway by April 13, and town minutes called it substantially complete by July 13, 2026.
The lot is open now. The town describes it as better parking and lighting meant to make local shopping more convenient, and it notes that a few project items are still being finished. That's useful on a pop-up Saturday, when North Main fills with vendor tables.
The next phase is on the books but has no dates yet. Council adopted the FY 2026–27 budget on June 25, 2026, and it keeps Main Street and Centennial Park revitalization as a Community Engagement priority. No construction milestones for the streetscape or Centennial Park work have been published. For now, the parking lot is finished and the rest is still a stated plan.
Clover's Fall, in Order
With the festivals on Memorial Drive and the regular Saturdays downtown, the season now alternates between the two. Here's the 2026 calendar as the town has posted it:
| Date | Event | Where | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 3 | Final Farmers Market of the season | American Thread Ball Field, 707 S. Main St. | 8 a.m. to noon |
| Sat., Oct. 3 | Pop Up & Shop | North Main Street | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
| Sat., Oct. 10 | Fall Fest & Classic Car Show | New Centre Park amphitheater, 499 Memorial Dr. | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Feis Chlobhair, Clover Highland Games & Scots-Irish Festival | New Centre Park amphitheater, 499 Memorial Dr. | 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Sun., Dec. 6 | Town of Clover Christmas Parade | Town of Clover | 3 p.m. |
A few deadlines matter if you're taking part rather than just attending. Highland Games vendor applications are due Friday, October 23. Fees range from $30 for clans, societies, commercial vendors and nonprofits to $80 for food vendors, and are due by November 6. Christmas Parade entries for floats, motorized vehicles, walking or marching units, and emergency vehicles are due Sunday, November 1. Sam Long, the town's Special Events Coordinator, handles both and can be reached at (704) 913-5080 or [email protected].
After October 3, Main Street's next full calendar day is a few weeks off. Between the season's last market and the parade, downtown runs on its storefronts: The Cattle Car, KB Cakes, Parkin' Latte, The Mustard Seed, and the space at 117 N. Main where Queen by King of Fire's sign is approved and its website still says "Coming Soon."
If one of these fall Saturdays has you looking at which part of Clover fits how you want to spend your weekends, from a short walk to North Main to an easy drive to Memorial Drive, Rhonda Taylor is glad to talk it through with you. Let's Connect.
