Gatesville’s 52nd annual Shivaree draws community to courthouse square

Gatesville’s 52nd annual Shivaree brought the community back to the courthouse square all day Saturday, June 6, and the local paper described the event as a success for the city of Gatesville. With a Color Run starting at 8 a.m., vendors opening at 9 a.m. and live music anchored by Clayton Landua before the Josh Abbott Band, the festival again turned the Historic Coryell County Courthouse Square into the center of downtown life.

That matters in Gatesville because Shivaree has never been just another summer event. The first one was held Aug. 3, 1974, on the courthouse square and was sponsored by the Greater Gatesville Chamber of Commerce as an expansion of an older midsummer fiddler’s festival. More than 50 years later, the same square still serves as the event’s focal point, tying the celebration to the city’s civic identity rather than to a temporary venue or passing trend.

The 2026 schedule showed how much the festival still depends on a full downtown footprint. The Miss Shivaree Pageant was set for June 5 at Gatesville High School Auditorium, while June 6 featured the color run, vendors and live entertainment on the square. The event’s own description calls Shivaree a full-day downtown gathering built around music, shopping, food, family fun, local vendors, children’s activities and community showcases.

That mix of programming helps explain why residents continue to treat Shivaree as a community anchor. In 2024, the 50th annual event stretched around the downtown square and Raby Park and included a concert, car show, carnival rides, a petting zoo, a 5K and 10K color run, a pickleball tournament and vendors. The scale showed how the festival has grown while still keeping downtown Gatesville at its center.

For Coryell County, the annual turnout is about more than entertainment. Shivaree draws people into the heart of town, supports local vendors and gives Gatesville a shared summer ritual that has lasted since 1974. The 2026 festival did exactly what long-running courthouse-square traditions are supposed to do: fill downtown, bring neighbors together and leave the city with a reason to call the day a success.