The Western Maryland Scenic Railroad lists the Frostburg Flyer's season as May through October, so once the month turns, the depot at the bottom of town is done with Flyer arrivals for 2026. The railroad's big holiday ride, The Polar Express, runs from November 20 to December 24 this year. It leaves from Cumberland, so it doesn't climb the mountain to Frostburg.
That doesn't leave Frostburg quiet for the next six weeks. Its calendar moves indoors, to the Palace Theatre on East Main Street, the Pealer Performing Arts Center on the FSU campus, and a few rooms you wouldn't expect. Something confirmed is on almost every week between now and December 5, when Storybook Holiday brings the whole town back outside.
Two Stages Split the Season
Most of what follows happens in two buildings. The Palace Theatre at 31 E. Main St. runs a film series and hosts outside festivals. Pealer's Recital Hall, at 101 Braddock Road on campus, gets the professional touring acts booked through FSU's Cultural Events Series.
Keep that split in mind when planning. Palace shows are a walk from Main Street restaurants and bars. Pealer shows mean a drive up to campus and, for the Cultural Events Series, a ticket from the University Box Office in the Lane University Center. The box office is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., by phone at 301-687-3137.
The First Weekend of November Is Film Festival Weekend
The Mountain Maryland Film Festival, run by the Allegany Arts Council, takes over the Palace on Friday, November 6, and Saturday, November 7.
Friday is for student work. Doors open at 5 p.m., the Student Films Block starts at 6, and the audience award for best student short is presented after the screenings.
Saturday is the bigger night for anyone who lives here. At 5 p.m. the festival screens Frostburg Undermined, followed at 5:45 by a Q&A with filmmaker Robert Mugge. The juried shorts start at 6:30, audience voting is at 7:45, and the awards ceremony begins at 8. Doors open at 4 p.m., and the night wraps up at 9. Tickets are sold through Eventbrite, linked from the festival page.
Mid-November Packs Four Venues Into Nine Days
The festival is the start of a busy run. From November 13 to 21, Frostburg has six events across five nights, and on one of them two shows compete.
| Date | Event | Venue | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Nov. 13 | Maryland Symphony Orchestra, "Shakespeare in Symphony" | Pealer Recital Hall | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sat, Nov. 14 | One-Act Play Festival, FSU Center for Literary Arts | Palace Theatre | 7 p.m. |
| Thu, Nov. 19 | Citizen Kane, 1941 | Palace Theatre | 7:30 p.m. |
| Thu, Nov. 19 | Sheepdog, staged reading | F. Perry Smith Studio Theatre, Pealer | 7:30 p.m. |
| Fri, Nov. 20 | Mr. Burns: a post-electric play, staged reading | Gira Center Planetarium, Room 138 | 7:30 p.m. |
| Sat, Nov. 21 | The Thanksgiving Play, staged reading | Clatter Cafe, 15 S. Broadway | 7:30 p.m. |
The Maryland Symphony Orchestra concert opens the stretch. Conductor Elizabeth Schulze leads works inspired by Shakespeare: Mendelssohn's Overture from "A Midsummer Night's Dream," Tchaikovsky's Overture to "Hamlet," Walton's Suite from "Henry V" and Prokofiev's Suite from "Romeo and Juliet."
The next night, the One-Act Play Festival from FSU's Center for Literary Arts fills the Palace.
Thursday, November 19 is the night you'll have to choose. The Palace film series is showing Orson Welles's Citizen Kane, sponsored this year by Yoder-Hershberger Insurance. Palace films start at 7:30 p.m. unless noted, with doors and concessions opening 30 minutes earlier. At exactly the same hour, FSU opens a three-night reading series on campus.
The Free Seats Are in the Unusual Rooms
That series, "Three Plays in Three Days," is the most unusual thing on the November calendar. FSU's Department of Theatre & Dance stages three readings on three nights, each in a different room. Each one is followed by an audience talkback. All three start at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are free, subject to availability.
- Sheepdog, Thursday, November 19, in the F. Perry Smith Studio Theatre inside Pealer at 101 Braddock Road.
- Mr. Burns: a post-electric play, Friday, November 20, in Room 138 of the Gira Center, the campus planetarium.
- The Thanksgiving Play, Saturday, November 21, back downtown at Clatter Cafe, 15 S. Broadway.
One scheduling note. The description text on FSU's event pages gives the wrong weekdays for these readings. The dates above match the event listings: Thursday the 19th, Friday the 20th and Saturday the 21st.
The Saturday reading at Clatter Cafe also points to where the calendar goes next. It's a Thanksgiving-themed play, held a block off Main Street, one week before the holiday weekend.
Thanksgiving Weekend Moves Back to the Sidewalk
FrostburgFirst, the downtown Main Street organization, has set Small Business Saturday for November 28, 2026, and is taking vendor applications now. Shopper hours and a public schedule aren't posted yet, so check FrostburgFirst's Shop Small Season page as the date gets closer.
FrostburgFirst's fall local-business guide, updated September 29, features The Pour House Candle Bar & Lounge on Main Street. It mixes candle-pouring with cocktails and keeps family-friendly hours, which makes it an easy stop if you want something to do between shops. The Pour House says it's open seven days a week.
December 5 Is Storybook Holiday
A week after Small Business Saturday, FSU's Children's Literature Centre holds Storybook Holiday on Saturday, December 5. This year's featured author is Matt Tavares, who wrote Dasher, Dasher Can't Wait and Dasher and the Polar Bear. Last year was the event's 22nd anniversary.
The 2026 schedule hasn't been released. FSU's news story on last year's event laid out the day, held December 6, 2025, and it gives a good idea of how it usually runs, though times and prices could change:
- Breakfast with the Elves at Hotel Gunter, 11 W. Main St., with seatings at 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. Tickets were $8 per child and $14 per adult.
- A kickoff performance at 10:15 a.m., then the parade down Main Street at 10:30.
- Activities at City Place, 14 S. Water St., from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- The Festival of Trees and tree lighting at City Place from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
- A 7 p.m. film at the Palace Theatre. Last year it was Miracle on 34th Street, with $7 tickets pre-sold at Main Street Books.
If that pattern holds, the day starts at Hotel Gunter and ends at the Palace, both on Main Street, with the parade and City Place in between. That's tighter than mid-November, when the events moved between campus rooms and downtown. The Storybook Holiday page is where the 2026 times will be posted.
Holiday Music Fills the Next Three Days
The next afternoon, the music moves up to campus. On Sunday, December 6, at 3 p.m., FSU's music department holds its Holiday Concert in Pealer Recital Hall. A 3 p.m. Sunday start works well after a long Saturday downtown.
On Tuesday, December 8, at 7:30 p.m., The Hot Sardines return to Pealer with "Holiday Stomp." The program is inspired by "White Christmas" and "It's a Wonderful Life." It reworks "White Christmas" and "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and includes tributes to Louis Armstrong, Edith Piaf and Duke Ellington. It's part of the Cultural Events Series, so tickets go through the same Lane University Center box office as the November symphony.
So the five weeks after the Flyer's season ends go like this:
- A film festival with a screening of Frostburg Undermined
- A week of symphony, one-acts, a classic film and free readings in a planetarium and a cafe
- A Small Business Saturday
- A full day on Main Street
- Two holiday concerts on campus
Keeping track of the calendar after the train stops is part of knowing the town. If you have a question about Frostburg or the homes along these streets, Homes by Pamela Terry is always happy to talk, even if it's just which seating to book for Breakfast with the Elves. Work With Pamela.
