Fall Festival Calendar
If you’ve had your fill of apples (or just can’t get enough of fall festivities), make these events a part of your fall festival tour. Oct. 4-5: Fall Festival: John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children ages 12-17. Find out more at folkschool.org. Oct. 4-5, 11-12, 18-19, 25-16: Rocktoberfest: Rock City Gardens, Lookout Mountain, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through October. Rock City square transformed with German food, music and dance. Admission is $22.95 for adults and $12.95 for children ages 3-12.Find out more at seerockcity.com/rocktoberfest. Oct. 10-18: Georgia Mountain Fall Festival: Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds, Hiawassee, Ga., 10 a.m.to 8 p.m. Monday-Saturday. The nine-day event features arts and craft vendors, musical performances, educational demonstrations, a flower show and Georgia’s Official State Fiddlers’ Convention. Admission is $12 (includes music shows) for ages 13 and older. Find out more at georgiamountainfairgrounds.com. Oct. 11: Bark in the Park: Heritage Park, intersection of Jenkins and East Brainerd roads, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. This is a free community festival for dogs and dog lovers. Find out more at facebook.com/ChattBarkInThePark. Oct. 18-19: Ketner’s Mill Country Arts Fair: Powell’s Crossroads, between state highways 27 and 28 near Whitwell, Tenn., 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday. The event features more than 100 artisans sharing their products and demonstrations, over 20 food vendors, and entertainment for the whole family. Admission is $5 for ages 13 and older. Find out more at ketnersmill.org.
Crisp and colorful are the fall apples and days ahead. Fortunately for Chattanoogans, the Scenic City is a prime starting point for adventures leading to the acquisition of loads of apples and good times at these area festivals.
Georgia Apple Festival
Ellijay, Georgia
Celebrating its 43rd year, the Georgia Apple Festival draws around 60,000 attendees each year to the state’s apple capitol of Ellijay, about an hour and a half from Chattanooga. The first weekend starts Oct. 11 and features an antique car show, and the festival continues Oct. 18 beginning with a parade at 10 a.m.
Instead of lugging around apples at the festival, visit one of the apple houses nearby (try B.J. Reece or Aaron’s) and picking up some apples on your way in. Most of them are on Highway 82 on the east side of Route 5/76 in East Ellijay. Look for varieties that are not always found in grocery stores, such as Mutsu and Winesap.
If you’d rather just make one stop, at least five apple growers will be on-site at the festival, along with more than 300 craft vendors selling handmade items, says Taelar Bybee, information specialist for the chamber in Gilmer County where the festival is located. Attendees will also find cloggers, music, a zip line, pony and camel rides and other kids’ activities. “It’s a lot of fun, whether you talk to vendors, enjoy the live entertainment or grab some good bites to eat while you’re there,” she says.
The Georgia Apple Festival is also rumored to have some of the best festival food-much of which contains no apples, ironically-around. “I think the fried Oreos are the No. 1 reason locals come,” says Bybee.
For more information, visit georgiaapplefestival.org.
Cleveland Apple Festival
Cleveland, Tenn.
You can feel good about paying the admission fee ($5 for adults, $4 for seniors and children 4 and older, or $20 for a family of two adults and up to four children) at the Cleveland Apple Festival, a nonprofit that donates all proceeds to local charities.
The 13-year-old festival’s board of directors voted to allocate funds to 15 different charities last year, including Habitat for Humanity and the local Boys and Girls Clubs, says Cleveland Apple Festival Coordinator Sandi Martin.
You’ll find a wide range of vendors selling food and handmade crafts, and there will be lots of things for the kids to do. “It’s a great opportunity to have fun together as a family,” says Martin of the festival, held Oct. 18-19 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and from 1-6 p.m. Sunday.
Plus, if you’re feeling competitive, get out Grandma’s recipe box and sign up for the Apple Dessert Contest. You can enter up to three of your best apple-inclusive sweets-just be sure to register ahead online.
For more information, visit clevelandapplefestival.org.
LOCAL APPLE GUIDE
So you’ve enjoyed our local apple festivals and purchased a bushel-now what? Here are some apple varieties you might encounter in the area, and what to do with them when you get home. They are listed in the order they typically ripen. Gala Flavor: Mild and sweet Best for: Adding to salads, cooking, creating sauces Ginger Gold Flavor: Mild with a tart finish Best for: Eating, pies Detroit Red Flavor: Tart, juicy Best for: Cooking Ozark Gold Flavor: Mild, sweet, juicy Best for: Cooking Jonathan Flavor: Sweet Best for: Cooking Red Delicious Flavor: Sweet Best for: Eating, blending with other varieties for apple sauce and cooking Golden Delicious Flavor: Crisp, sweet Best for: Salads, apple sauce, apple butter, eating, pies, cobblers and baking Empire Flavor: Juicy, sweet Best for: Eating, salads, sauces, baking, pies, freezing Honeycrisp Flavor: Sweet, tart Best for: Eating Mutsu Flavor: Sweet, tart Best for: Cooking, eating Jonagold Flavor: Sweet, sour Best for: Cooking, eating Rome Beauty Flavor: Tart Best for: Pies Stayman’s Winesap Flavor: Crisp, medium-tart Best for: Cooking, dessert apples, adding to blended cider Granny Smith Flavor: Crisp, juicy best for: Baking pies, eating Fuji Flavor: Sweet, crisp Best for: Eating, apple sauce, apple butter and pies Braeburn Flavor: Sweet, spicy Best for: Cooking, tarts Arkansas Black Flavor: Fairly tart Best for: Jams and jelly Cripps Pink (Pink Lady) Flavor: Sweet Best for: Eating Yates Flavor: Sweet, juicy Best for: Cider