Aviles Street Festival, St. Augustine Book Festival, Mortality & Mourning: Women in Black, Trick or Treat and Harvest Festival
St. Augustine, FL — The Ximenez Fatio House Museum, located at 20 Aviles Street in historic St. Augustine, Florida will be busy this fall season — with multiple events planned, including the Aviles Street Festival, the St. Augustine Book Festival, Mortality & Mourning tours, and the annual Trick or Treat Harvest Festival. Learn more at ximenezfatiohouse.org
The museum was recently awarded the TripAdvisor 2025 Travelers’ Choice Award, placing the house museum among the top 10 percent of businesses worldwide and recognizing the museum as a top “Thing To Do” in St. Augustine.
“This incredible recognition is a testament to the dedication, passion, and love that our visitors have shown us,” said Payson Tilden, Executive Director of Ximenez-Fatio House Museum. “A special thank you to the Tourist Development Council, St Johns Cultural Council, Institute of Museums and Library Services, Americana Corner, and the Jessie Ball duPont Foundation for their unwavering support.”
FALL EVENTS
St. Augustine Book Festival: The Third Annual St. Augustine Book Festival will be held on Saturday, September 20, 2025 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Discover a wide variety of authors and genres, including children’s books, fiction, Florida history, and more.
Enjoy author meet-and-greets, explore exciting new works, and take a ticketed tour of our 227+ year-old historic house. This event is free to all, and donations are appreciated to support the preservation of our museum.
Are you a Florida-based author with work focused on pre-1800s Florida?
As we prepare for America’s 250th anniversary, this year’s St. Augustine Book Festival is spotlighting authors whose work explores Florida’s rich history before the 1845. If this aligns with your work, we’d love to hear from you. Please reach out to us at 904-829-3575 or email museumshop@xfhouse.org for more information.
Aviles Street Festival: The Second Annual Aviles Street Festival celebrates Spanish Heritage Month on the oldest street in the oldest city in America — Aviles Street! Held on the 460th Anniversary of St. Augustine, the weekend festival takes place on Friday, September 5 from 4 to 9 p.m. (during First Friday Art Walk) and Saturday, September 6 from 12 to 9 p.m.
The merchants, museums, galleries, and restaurants along Aviles Street invite you to enjoy two days of fun, food, music, art, and history. Highlights include invited plein air artists, live music, flamenco dancers, sword dueling demonstrations, boutique shopping, and much more.
As you stroll down this beautiful, European-style street, you’ll be transported back to the atmosphere of 18th-century Spain and life during the Second Spanish Period, just before the birth of our nation. Experience real-life history with visits to the Spanish Military Hospital Museum, the Ximenez-Fatio House, and Father Miguel O’Reilly House Museum.
Take a peek inside historic buildings undergoing renovation, wander through the serene courtyard of the St. Augustine Historical Society, and learn more about the area’s rich heritage from the newly installed historic plaques beside the Aviles Street archway.
Treat yourself to delicious food at local favorites like Nonna’s Trattoria, Forgotten Tonic, and Gaufres & Goods, and top off your evening with a sweet stop at Peace Pie.
Don’t miss the chance to explore colorful boutiques and art galleries, including The Plum Shop, Acacia Tree Gallery, Bouvier’s Leather & Maps, Joel Bagnal Goldsmith, The BART Art & Wine Bar, and Ken Jensen Pottery.
Mortality & Mourning: Women in Black
Mortality and Mourning: Women in Black candlelight tours are held on select evenings from October 3-31. This hauntingly elegant experience builds on last year’s popular event, offering a deeper and more personal look into the ways women shape (and were shaped by) grief, death and mourning in Old St. Augustine.
Explore the 227-year-old Ximenez-Fatio House Museum draped in mourning, and uncover the roles women played as caretakers of the dead, keepers of memory, and practitioners of spiritualism from the Second Spanish Colonial Era through the Victorian Age.
Through powerful stories, period customs, and historic mourning attire, this immersive tour casts new light on how women lived with loss in the 19th century.
This is a new version of our “Mortality and Mourning” tour—spooky, family-friendly, and steeped in untold stories.
With the purchase of your Mortality and Mourning ticket, you will receive a coupon code giving you a 25% off discount for our Everyday Self-guided Audio tour giving you the chance to learn the house’s full history and see it in the daylight as well as by candlelight on your evening tour. For tickets please visit https://ximenezfatiohousemuseum.ticketspice.com/mortality-and-mourning-2025
Trick or Treat and Harvest Festival: Halloween is by far our favorite holiday here at the Ximenez-Fatio House Museum and we are so excited to announce the return of our FREE Community Trick-or-Treating & Family Harvest Fest on Saturday, October 25th from 1 to 4 p.m.
Join us for a family-friendly afternoon of safe trick-or-treating and fun activities for the whole family. This is a special community event that locals and visitors alike look forward to each year. Wear your spooky or not-so-spooky costume and play games, win prizes, and of course, collect lots of candy.
This event is free and open to all, but donations of any amount are warmly appreciated to help support future community programs like this one.
ABOUT THE XIMENEZ-FATIO HOUSE
The Ximenez-Fatio House Museum is an original coquina structure in historic St. Augustine, Florida. Self-guided audio tours and guided tours are available Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last tour leaves at 3:45 p.m.). The Fig Tree Gift Shop features a variety of items, including museum merch, fig jam from our historic fig tree on the property, books by local and Florida authors, and a variety of souvenirs that make great gifts. Learn more at ximenezfatiohouse.org
Ximenez-Fatio House Museum events are sponsored in part by the St. Johns Cultural Council and the St. Johns County Tourism Development Council.
The Ximenez-Fatio House is located at 20 Aviles Street in historic St. Augustine, Florida. It’s on the National Register of Historic Places and a Florida Heritage Landmark. The historic property was purchased in 1939 by The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in The State of Florida. Visit ximenezfatiohouse.org for more details.
