FredFest 2026 is BACK!
Saturday, March 21st, 2026
8:00 am to 12 noon
Shake off those winter blues and join us for the first local Amateur Radio indoor hamfest of spring.
*** NEW LOCATION with LOTS of parking ***
Event location: AMVETS Post #2 FARM
9602A Baltimore Rd (be sure to include the “A” if using smartphone GPS)
Frederick, MD 21704
The Farm is about one minute off of Interstate 70, just east of the Monocacy River. See map here: AMVETS #2 Farm and the What 3 Words location is: ///fonts.stop.talent
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- General Admission is $7.00, with kids under 18 free.
- Tables are $15 for first table, and $10 for each additional, and includes admission for one person
- Seller setup begins at 06:00 am, doors open to the public at 8:00 am
- We are accepting table reservations – email K3MMM@arrl.net to reserve yours
- Raffle prizes throughout the morning – must be present to win
- Did we mention lots and lots of parking?
- Talk in on 146.73 (negative offset PL 141.3)
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PLEASE share with your friends and neighbors! The downloadable flyer is here: FF26 Flyer
Questions? Send me a note using my call sign @arrl.net
73!
Mike K3MMM
It’s been years since I’ve been to a Hamfest. But as I recall, in addition to radio equipment, people sold computer parts, Digital integrated circuits, transformers, power, supplies, etc. Is that still the case?
Hi Kevin,
We often have radio-adjacent gear being sold at FredFest. Cheers! Mike K3MMM
I picked up a late-model laptop at the last one!
I was looking for a table layout to see what is available.
Hiya Michael – we still have tables – I’ll send you an email. Cheers! Mike K3MMM
Will y’all be hosting a license exam? I know at least one prospective ham that’s ready to test.
We won’t be doing exams at this event. However, we are happy to refer you to the Antietam Radio Association (www.antietamradio.org), who has testing on the first Tuesday of odd-numbered months (i.e. Jan, March, May, etc) at 6pm. Tests and their club meetings are at the Maugansville Church in Maugansville (just NW of Hagerstown). The ARA also has a sister organization that is JUST NOW starting to support remote testing. If you’re interested in the remote testing, send me a note via my call sign @arrl.net and I’ll hook you up. Cheers! Mike K3MMM
What is “indoor tailgating”? Usually when tailgating I expect to not have to move my items but a few feet, if at all, whereas indoors usually implies a lot of moving of items.
If I want to tailgate will I need to move all my heavy items indoors?
Hi Doug – my honest first reaction was “where did he get “indoor tailgating” from? Then I looked at the post and it became clear(and have since removed the word “tailgate” from the post). And this is my error – there is no tailgating at all at FredFest, all of the vendors are indoors. The good news is that we’ll have volunteers to help move things. Let me know if you have other questions – send me a note using my call sign @arrl.net. Cheers! Mike K3MMM
The What Three Words location is: ///fonts.stop.talent