News

Will there be a 2021 Apple Festival?

By Amy B. McCraw, Special to the Lightning, Published: May 9, 2021

The North Carolina Apple Festival over Labor Day weekend in Hendersonville will likely include the traditional street fair on Main Street this year.

Organizers canceled the popular street fair featuring arts, crafts, food and entertainment last year due to concerns and restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Apple Festival Executive Director David Nicholson said he expects the street fair and focus of the festival will return to downtown this year after the festival’s board meets next week to consider plans for the festival.
“It’s going to happen. I’m almost positive it’s going to happen,” he said. “I’m confident we will have a street fair.”
This year’s Apple Festival, with the theme of Blossoms to Baskets, will be held Sept. 3-6. It will be the 75th Apple Festival.
“We’re excited about that,” Nicholson said.
Nicholson said organizers chose the Blossoms to Baskets theme in a nod to the festival’s origins as an apple blossom festival held years ago in Saluda. The festival eventually moved to Hendersonville and became known as the North Carolina Apple Festival, he said.
The pandemic forced organizers to cancel the street fair last year and refocus the festival on apple growers and their farms.
Growers opened their farms to visitors and many included food trucks and arts and crafts. Some included children’s activities. Growers also offered apples at roadside stands.
Some growers have always had a strong presence at their farms during the festival while others offered activities at their farms for the first time last year, Nicholson said.
Nicholson said the festival will continue to promote apple farmers and their products through social media. But the festival’s focus will return downtown. Many details remain to be worked out in the coming months and some activities on Main Street including entertainment might look a little different this year, he said.
The festival’s website, www.ncapplefestival.org, asks visitors to check back for announcements.