The Ximenez Fatio House Museum, 20 Aviles St. in St. Augustine, 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% 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.
Here’s a look at events planned for the autumn:
St. Augustine Book Festival
The Third Annual St. Augustine Book Festival will be held 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20. 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 the 227-plus-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?
With the approach of 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, the museum would love to hear from you. Call 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 from 4 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 5, during First Friday Art Walk and noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6.
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 Oct. 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 the Mortality and Mourning tour: spooky, family-friendly and steeped in untold stories.
With the purchase of a Mortality and Mourning ticket, visitors will receive a coupon code giving them a 25% off discount for the everyday self-guided audio tour, a 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, go to https://ximenezfatiohousemuseum.ticketspice.com/mortality-and-mourning-2025.
Trick or Treat and Harvest Festival
Halloween is a favorite holiday at the Ximenez-Fatio House Museum, where the free community trick-or-treating and family harvest fest returns 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25.
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.
The Ximenez-Fatio House Museum is an original coquina structure. Self-guided audio tours and guided tours are available 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday (last tour leaves at 3:45 p.m.). The Fig Tree Gift Shop features a variety of items, including museum merchandise, fig jam from the 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.
