"The park has a full schedule of events planned throughout the summer," a city spokesperson told 13News Now in May, confirming what residents near Mount Trashmore had already suspected: the Summer Carnival, a fixture at the park for decades, was not coming back this year.
If you live in Bow Creek, Green Run, or Rosemont, that carnival was probably part of how you marked the season. It ran for weeks at a time, the kind of thing you'd drive past a dozen times before you finally stopped for a funnel cake. In 2025 it lasted three days before the city shut it down over staffing shortages and safety concerns. In 2026 it didn't open at all.
What actually replaced it is not one event. It's a longer, more varied string of them, run by a mix of the city and independent local organizers, spread across the whole year instead of concentrated into a single summer stretch.
What Ended, and What Didn't
The carnival's absence was confirmed, not implied. WTKR reported in May that the city would not bring the ride operator back for 2026, and the city's own statement leaned on the phrase "full schedule of events" rather than naming a direct replacement. That distinction matters if you're used to thinking of Mount Trashmore's calendar as one big summer draw plus some scattered smaller stuff. This year it's the reverse. There is no single anchor event. There's a rotation.
By the time the carnival would have opened, the park had already hosted Play All Day VA on June 21, a sunrise-to-sunset city event timed to Father's Day and Juneteenth. Free Fishing Days ran June 5 through 7, put on by the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, with agency staff on hand teaching people to fish and no license required those three days, a detail worth knowing if you've got rods in the garage and have been putting off the paperwork. The Fourth of July Celebration followed, live music and food trucks from 5 p.m. with fireworks at 9:30. Then the Sand & Surf 5K and 10K on August 9, and Beeps & Eats on September 19, a family event built around food trucks and a touch-a-truck setup for kids.
None of that is carnival-sized. All of it adds up to more scheduled reasons to be at the park in a given year than the carnival alone ever provided.
What's Still on the Calendar This Fall
Two more events stand out because they're not run by the city at all, or not entirely.
The Wandering Makers, a local events group, is bringing back its Fall Fest at Mount Trashmore for a third year, and this time it's expanding from one day to two. The event is sponsored by Westgate Resorts and built around local makers, artists, and small businesses, with food trucks and live music running both days. The organizers describe the first two years as having filled the park "from morning to night," which is the kind of attendance number that makes a two-day expansion a business decision, not just a scheduling one.
The city's own fall lineup includes Autumn in the Air on November 7, a one-day festival built around the season, and the Santa's Stocking Event, which returns for its 48th year across two weekends, November 14-15 and November 21-22, with a rotating slate of craft vendors each weekend rather than one static market. A separate America Recycles Day event lands on November 21 as well, though it's held at Larkspur Middle School rather than at the park itself, part of a broader push toward reducing waste that the city ties to Mount Trashmore's own history as a former landfill.
Here's how the year actually laid out, event by event:
| Date (2026) | Event | Run by |
|---|---|---|
| June 5-7 | Free Fishing Days, no license required | Virginia Dept. of Wildlife Resources |
| June 21 | Play All Day VA, sunrise to sunset | City of Virginia Beach Parks & Rec |
| July 4 | July 4th Celebration, fireworks at 9:30 p.m. | City of Virginia Beach Parks & Rec |
| Aug 9 | Sand & Surf 5K & 10K | Independent race organizer |
| Sept 19 | Beeps & Eats, family and food trucks | City of Virginia Beach Parks & Rec |
| Fall, date pending | Fall Fest, 3rd annual, now 2 days | The Wandering Makers, sponsored by Westgate Resorts |
| Nov 7 | Autumn in the Air | City of Virginia Beach Parks & Rec |
| Nov 14-15 & 21-22 | Santa's Stocking Event, 48th year | City of Virginia Beach Parks & Rec |
| Nov 21 | America Recycles Day (at Larkspur Middle School) | City of Virginia Beach Parks & Rec |
Count the rows. That's more entries on the park's calendar in a single year than the old carnival model ever had, even in its best summers.
Why One Big Event Became Several Smaller Ones
The shift isn't unique to Mount Trashmore. It mirrors something already happening in the neighborhoods that surround it. Green Run, built between 1968 and 1986 as the first Planned Unit Development in South Hampton Roads, runs its own calendar of resident-organized activity through the Green Run Homes Association, which partners with groups like Lynnhaven River NOW on community events rather than waiting for a single citywide draw to come to them. Thirty-six sub-neighborhoods inside that one PUD each have their own pool schedules, yard-of-the-month committees, and clubhouse rentals. The pattern at Mount Trashmore looks a lot like the pattern next door: fewer single mega-events, more frequent small ones, often co-produced with a private partner instead of run entirely by the city.
A carnival needs a ride operator, insurance, staffing, and enough consecutive weeks to make the setup worth it. A two-day maker's market needs a weekend and a sponsor. That's a lower bar to clear, and it shows in how quickly The Wandering Makers scaled from a one-day event to two in three years, filling a slot the carnival used to hold without trying to replicate it.
What This Means If You're Near the Park
If Mount Trashmore has been "the place with the carnival" in your mental map of the neighborhood, that map is out of date. It's now closer to a rotating schedule you check before making weekend plans, not a season you wait for.
A few practical notes for anyone within walking or short-drive distance:
- Free Fishing Days waives the license requirement for three specific days each June. Outside that window, the usual Virginia fishing license rules apply at the park's lake.
- The Fourth of July fireworks start at 9:30 p.m. after a 5 p.m. kickoff, useful to know if you're planning around bedtime for younger kids or trying to beat the parking crunch.
- The Fall Fest's jump to two days means double the vendor and food truck footprint at the park entrance area, worth factoring in if you're driving through rather than parking to attend.
- Santa's Stocking Event runs different vendors each of its two weekends in November, so the second weekend's crowd is shopping a different lineup than the first weekend's.
None of this requires you to do anything. It's just a more accurate picture of what's actually happening a few blocks from home than the one built around a carnival that isn't coming back.
I track changes like this across Virginia Beach neighborhoods as part of my Block by Block video series, the same way I'd want to know if my own park's calendar shifted under me. If you're curious what's changed in your specific corner of the city, or you're ready to see what your address is worth in this market, reach out through Alison Mccarthy any time.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
