Mark Twain Days Festival

2026 Information Coming Soon MARK TWAIN DAYS FESTIVAL RETURNS October 13-17, 2026 A Carson City and Virginia City festival celebrating the life of Mark Twain in Northern Nevada. “Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” (Mark Twain) CLICK HERE for the event website with full schedule of events including a special Twain Train VIP Rail Excursion to Virginia City, Bow Tie Ball, Ghost Tours, Literary Workshops & Performances, Live Music, Artist Vendor Fair, Regional Author & Rare Book Fair, and so much more. It was here in Carson City that Samuel Langhorne Clemens started signing his work under the pen name Mark Twain. Twain commenced his writing career with the Territorial Enterprise, writing letters to the editor. The first letter that he signed using his new pen name was a humorous description of a party that he attended at the home of the former California Governor J. Neely, a story that was published on January 31, 1863 – signed “yours dreamily, Mark Twain”.