The 49th annual National Farm Toy Show starts Friday, November 6, but one of its doors opens hours before the others. Commercial Club Park, at 225 11th St. SE, opens at 8 a.m. Friday. The main show hours at Beckman Catholic High School and the National Farm Toy Museum don't begin until 5 p.m. that evening, according to the Toy Farmer show listing. Downtown, the Dyersville Area Chamber of Commerce Holiday Open House starts today, Thursday, November 5, and runs through Saturday.
The three show venues keep different hours. A church-hall breakfast and a library afternoon are on the calendar for the same Sunday. A toy outlet across town keeps its normal Saturday schedule. If you live here, each day is shaped differently, and the schedule shows where the room is.
Friday: The Park Opens First
Toy Farmer of LaMoure, North Dakota, owns and runs the show, and it has been held every year since 1978. The 2026 show uses the same three sites as the 48th show: the National Farm Toy Museum at 1110 16th Avenue Court SE, Beckman High School at 1325 9th St. SE and Commercial Club Park.
On Friday, those sites run nine hours apart. Commercial Club Park is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Beckman and the museum open for general hours from 5 to 8 p.m. The park closes at the same hour the other two open, so the whole show is never open at once on Friday. On the 2026 show map, the park section lists vendor tables such as Boyd's Pedal & Farm Toys, Clayton's Farm Toys, Marty's Toys, Zach's Toys, Sheets Toys and Stamp-N-Toys.
The TOMY Factory Outlet at 2021 9th St. SE keeps its usual weekday hours, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Friday the outlet is open from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., the same hour the park closes and the evening show hours begin.
Saturday: The One Day Everything Overlaps
Saturday is the only day when every piece of the weekend is open at the same time. Here is how the hours line up:
- 8 a.m. Commercial Club Park opens and runs until 5 p.m.
- 9 a.m. Beckman and the museum open for general hours, which run until 6 p.m. The TOMY Factory Outlet opens on its regular Saturday schedule.
- 10 a.m. The live auction, run by Cornwell, begins.
- 2 p.m. The TOMY outlet closes for the day.
- 5 p.m. Commercial Club Park closes.
- 6 p.m. Beckman and the museum close.
The Holiday Open House also wraps up Saturday. The Chamber says retail stores around town will have holiday selections, refreshments, discounts and displays. The listing doesn't name participating stores. The Chamber's shopping directory lists retailers such as Flamming Jewelry, Furniture-Land, Ideal Decorating, K & K Logo, Konrardy Florists and This & That Designs. If you plan to stop at a particular shop, check its own page or call ahead to see whether it is taking part.
Besides the auction, Toy Farmer lists a display contest, sanctioned National Micro Mini Tractor Pullers, the TOMY Factory Outlet and the museum among the weekend's highlights. Floor-rights passes will be sold at the show. For the 48th annual show, held Nov. 7–9, the Telegraph Herald reported $10 general admission and a $30 floor-rights pass that allowed early entry all weekend. The 2026 show page doesn't post this year's prices, so treat those figures as the 48th show's prices. That same preview said organizers expected more than 400 vendor tables for that show.
The 2026 show map also marks a "new kitchen area." If you plan to eat at the show, look for it when you arrive.
Sunday: The Show Winds Down as Town Events Begin
Sunday's hours are the shortest of the weekend, and they leave room for two hometown events. Beckman and the museum run 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Commercial Club Park opens at 8 a.m.
From 7:30 a.m. to noon, the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Daughters of the Americas serve breakfast at Columbus Club Hall, 111 3rd St. NE. The menu is pancakes, sausage, ham, scrambled eggs, toast, sweet rolls, milk, juice and coffee. Adults pay $12, children 5 to 10 pay $6, and preschoolers eat free. The hall's accessible entrance is in the alley on the south side of the building. Carryouts are available, and groups are asked to call ahead at 563-920-1700. The breakfast ends two hours before the show closes, so you can fit both into one Sunday morning.
Then, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., James Kennedy Public Library hosts a National S.T.E.A.M. Day celebration. It starts half an hour before the show's 2 p.m. close and runs past it.
This Year's Show Tractor, and the Factory Behind It
Each show has an official tractor. For 2026 it is the AGCOSTAR 8425 4WD from ERTL, made in 1:32 and 1:64 scales. The 1:32 model has "NFTS 2026" engraved on it and comes with a certificate of authenticity. For the 49th show, 49 orange-painted chase units are mixed randomly into the production run, according to Toy Trucker and Contractor's model page.
The ERTL name ties the show to Dyersville. According to the National Farm Toy Museum, Fred Ertl Sr. was an out-of-work journeyman molder who began making toy tractors in his basement in 1945 from war-surplus metal. The museum credits the company with helping put Dyersville on the map. TOMY, the company behind the ERTL brand today, still lists a Dyersville office at 2021 9th Street SE. Its outlet is attached to the warehouse and offices there, just off Highway 20 and Highway 136.
The outlet has two regular deals. Any box with a red tag is 20% off because of box damage, and the whole back wall is stocked with sale items the store calls "Backwall Bargains." Weekday hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday hours are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Those are the store's normal hours, so it keeps the same schedule after the show leaves.
After the Show, the Museum Is Still Open
The museum is one of the show's three venues, and it is open all year. Regular hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors 65 and older, $5 for ages 6 to 17, and free for children 5 and under.
The current exhibits include a History of CASE display on the upper level, which follows the company from Jerome Increase Case's 1842 threshing-machine start to farm and construction equipment. There is also a collectors' showcase of Bernie Kluesner's handmade wooden toys, built with Elmer's wood glue and no nails or screws. Past exhibits include "Ertl Land: Celebrating 75 Years" and "AGCO: The Evolution of a Company," which displayed a full-size Allis-Chalmers G.
The museum, the TOMY outlet and the downtown shops all keep regular hours the rest of the year.
The Weekend at a Glance
| Stop | Thursday, Nov. 5 | Friday, Nov. 6 | Saturday, Nov. 7 | Sunday, Nov. 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beckman High School and National Farm Toy Museum show hours | None | 5–8 p.m. | 9 a.m.–6 p.m. | 9 a.m.–2 p.m. |
| Commercial Club Park | None | 8 a.m.–5 p.m. | 8 a.m.–5 p.m. | Opens 8 a.m. |
| Toy show auction | None | None | 10 a.m. | None |
| TOMY Factory Outlet | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | 9 a.m.–5 p.m. | 9 a.m.–2 p.m. | Closed |
| Chamber Holiday Open House | Begins | Ongoing | Final day | None |
| KC and CD of A Breakfast, Columbus Club Hall | None | None | None | 7:30 a.m.–noon |
| S.T.E.A.M. Day, James Kennedy Public Library | None | None | None | 1:30–3:30 p.m. |
For questions about the show, Toy Farmer lists (701) 883-5206 and 1-800-533-8293.
If you get to Columbus Club Hall for pancakes on Sunday or find an orange chase unit in your AGCOSTAR box, I'd love to hear about it. Dyersville weekends like this one are part of what I enjoy about working in this corner of Eastern Iowa. When you want to talk about anything in town, from local happenings to what's going on with your own place, Jim Dix is happy to help. Let's Connect.
