On the calendar · Updated October 20, 2026
The Lancaster
Ledger
Ledger
Ephrata is a borough in the northeastern section of Lancaster County, incorporated in 1891. It grew out of the Ephrata Cloister, a religious community Conrad Beissel founded along the Cocalico Creek in 1732 that is now a national historic landmark. The town is also known for the Ephrata Fair, a five-day street fair held the last week of September that began in 1919 as a homecoming for World War I veterans.
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The preserved grounds and buildings of a religious community founded in 1732, run by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Visitors can take a self-guided walk through nine buildings or join a guided tour that goes inside the Sisters' House and Meetinghouse.
A Friday market operating since 1932, with more than a hundred vendors spread across seven market buildings and outdoor areas. It also holds weekly hay and straw, household goods, and small animal auctions.
The Theodore R. Sprecher Museum shows artifacts made or used in the Cocalico Valley, along with a research library. The museum is open Saturdays from March through December, and admission is free.
About 8 miles of trail linking Ephrata Borough with Ephrata Township, Akron, Warwick Township, and Lititz. The borough lists benches, lighting, and trash cans along the route.
A 4-acre borough park with a spring-fed pond, a tennis court, and a play structure.
A theater company that started more than 45 years ago as a community theater and stages a full season of plays and musicals. It also runs youth theater programs and a summer camp.
A nonprofit art center with a craft and book store selling art and sewing supplies, wood crafts, books, music, and decor. It offers free art classes every Thursday morning and free activities whenever it is open.
A wine bar and tasting room on the grounds of a bed and breakfast, open to the public Thursday through Sunday. It pours local wines, craft beer, and cocktails, serves wood-fired pizza in season, and has live music on Saturday evenings.
A restaurant and bar in a building that started as a tavern in the early 1800s in what was once the village of New Ephrata, later renamed Lincoln. The menu is tavern fare with daily specials, and the upstairs rooms host parties.
The Lancaster Ledger sends the week's events, live music, and Lancaster County news three mornings a week. It's free.
Subscribe free →Places to go in Ephrata include Historic Ephrata Cloister, Green Dragon Farmers Market & Auction, Historical Society of the Cocalico Valley Museum & Library, Warwick to Ephrata Rail Trail. Each one on this page links to its own website for hours and admission.
Historical Society of the Cocalico Valley Museum & Library, Warwick to Ephrata Rail Trail, Brickyard Park are free to visit.
The Lancaster Ledger lists events and live music across Lancaster County three mornings a week. Anything happening in Ephrata shows up on this page once it's in an edition.