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The North Carolina Apple Festival, celebrating its 56th annual event this year, will honor the importance of Henderson County's apple industry this Labor Day weekend with the theme "The All-American Fruit." The festival will be held August 30 - September 2 in various locations throughout Hendersonville and Henderson County. The celebration will begin on Friday, August 30, with the annual Kiwanis Country Apple Breakfast at First Presbyterian Church. The breakfast will be held from 7 - 10 AM; tickets are $5 each. For tickets or more information, please call 828-692-2526. The festival's official opening ceremony will begin at 10 AM on Friday morning. Local civic and government officials will be on hand to officially open the festivities at the historic courthouse on the corner of Main Street and First Avenue. There will be apple recipes galore at the Apple Recipe Contest, also scheduled to be held on Friday, from 8:30 AM - 12 PM. The contest will take place at First Citizens Bank Plaza, on the corner of Main Street and 6th Avenue. For those who want a first-hand look at where this popular fruit grows, an Apple Orchard Tour will be held from 9 AM - 12:30 PM on Friday. There will be one tour only; the tour will leave from the NC Cooperative Extension Service parking lot at 740 Glover Street. Tickets are $4. For more information, please call 828-697-4891. One popular tradition of the NC Apple Festival is the Downtown Hendersonville Sidewalk Sale, where merchants on Main Street and the surrounding streets will be offering merchandise at reduced prices all weekend. Hours for the Sidewalk Sale are 9 AM - 5 PM on Friday and Saturday, 10 AM - 5 PM on Sunday, and 9 AM - 12 PM on Monday.
Foot traffic is sure to be heavy between 6th Avenue and Caswell Street from Friday through Sunday for the NC Apple Festival Street Fair. Great food, arts and crafts treasures, local non-profit organizations, and apples from area apple growers will all be available to festival attendees to sample as they make their way through the area. Hours for the Street Fair are 10 AM - 8 PM Friday through Sunday, and 10 AM - 5 PM on Monday. If someone in your crowd is yearning for a little more activity, try the Teen Challenge area at the Wachovia Bank parking lot. The lot will be filled with fun and exciting challenges for the younger set, including a gladiator joust, giant slide, a climbing/sliding apparatus called Adrenaline Rush, and a rock climbing wall. Hours for the Teen Challenge area are 5 - 9 PM on Friday evening, 10 AM - 6 PM on Saturday and Sunday, and 10 AM - 6 PM on Monday. Ticket prices will range from $1 - $5. For very young children, the Kiddie Carnival is just the thing. The Kiddie Carnival will be held in the Travel and Tourism parking lot, and will include inflatable activities such as Jurassic Park, a giant slide, and the Caterpillar Tunnel. Many more games, activities, and entertainment will be sure to keep the kids happy. Hours for Friday through Monday are 10 AM - 9 PM daily. Ticket prices will vary from $1 - $3 each.
No NC Apple Festival would be complete without the annual Apple Country Bike Tour. Suitable for all children and adults who can ride a bike (or children who can ride behind Mom or Dad in a child's seat), the bike tour will be held on Sunday, September 1, and will begin at 8:30 AM (the ride will conclude by 2 PM). Registration will begin at 7:45 AM, and the race will begin at the new Henderson County Courthouse. Live music will be playing downtown all weekend, but a special Christian Concert Night will be held on Sunday, September 1, from 5:30 - 10 PM at the Hendersonville High School football stadium (Dietz Field). A number of popular Christian music groups are scheduled to perform, including Skillet, Sonic Flood, Monday Morning, and KJ-62. The concert will be held rain or shine. Admission is free. For more information, please call 828-693-3493. Monday is sure to be a terrific day at the festival, with two parades, an antique airplane fly-by, and the annual Apple Festival Street Dance. The WNC Air Museum will sponsor the antique planes overhead, with the fun starting at about 1:50 PM in the sky over Main Street. The Children's Parade will begin shortly afterward, and the King Apple Parade is scheduled to begin at 2:30 PM and travel from Main Street (Five Points) to Caswell Street. The rush of activities will carry into the evening as the day and the festival conclude with the street dance (on Main Street between 4th and 5th Avenue) from 8 - 10 PM. Bring your own lawn chair, but plan on seeing some great square dancing, clogging, and exhibition dancing. Everyone is invited to join in, so don't be shy - bring those dancing shoes and celebrate a great Labor Day weekend at the NC Apple Festival. For complete information about times, locations, entertainment line-up, directions, parking, etc., please visit the North Carolina Apple Festival's web site at www.ncapplefestival.org. For a complete entertainment schedule, Click Here.
2002 Daily Schedules
Kiwanis Apple Breakfast Festival Official Opening Ceremony Apple Recipe Contest Apple Orchard Tour Downtown Hendersonville Sidewalk Sales Opportunity Arts & Crafts Fair/Bake Sale WNC Air Museum Open House & Sightseeing Rides NC Apple Festival Street Fair Mineral & Lapidary Museum Special Display 21st Annual Gem & Mineral Spectacular Railroad Days Open House Laurel Park Village Sidewalk Sales Teen Challenge At Wachovia Kiddie Carnival
Lion's Club Big Apple Country Breakfast YMCA Apple Festival 10K Run Apple Festival Special Postal Stamp Cancellation Station Downtown Hendersonville Sidewalk Sales Opportunity Arts & Crafts Fair/Bake Sale WNC Air Museum Open House & Rides NC Apple Festival Street Fair Mineral & Lapidary Museum Special Display 21st Annual Gem & Mineral Spectacular Laurel Park Village Sidewalk Sales Blue Ridge T-Riders Antique Car Show at laurel Park Village Railroad Days Open House Teen Challenge At Wachovia Kiddie Carnival Robot Fightin' Time Happy's Car Stereo & Neon Competition
Breakfast with the Elks Apple Country Bike Tour Apple Festival Worship Service Downtown Hendersonville Sidewalk Sales WNC Air Museum Open House & Rides NC Apple Festival Street Fair Mineral & Lapidary Museum Special Display 21st Annual Gem & Mineral Spectacular Railroad Days Open House Teen Challenge At Wachovia Kiddie Carnival Monday, September 2, 2002 Downtown Hendersonville Sidewalk Sales WNC Air Museum Open House & Rides NC Apple Festival Street Fair Mineral & Lapidary Museum Special Display 21st Annual Gem & Mineral Spectacular Kiddie Carnival WNC Air Museum Antique Aircraft Flyby Joe's Super Smiling Youth Parade MountainBank King Apple Parade NC Apple Festival Street Dance
For a complete entertainment schedule, Click Here. (Photos provided by the North Carolina Apple Festival.)
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The WNC Air Museum, located on Gilbert Street near the Hendersonville Airport, also participates in the Apple Festival by offering sightseeing rides and an open house during the festival. While there is a fee charged for the sightseeing rides, there is no admission fee to enter the museum. Festival-goers are encouraged to come by and see the vintage aircraft and memorabilia that are housed at the museum. To get to the museum, there will be a free shuttle bus service from downtown. The pick-up point will be on the corner of East Allen Street and King Street. For more information, please call the WNC Air Museum at 828-696-9151.
The Henderson County YMCA is sponsoring the Apple Festival 10K Run on Saturday, August 31. The race will start at Pro's Pizza on Spartanburg Highway at 8 AM; day-of-race registration will begin at 7 AM. Pre-registration is $15, and day-of-race registration is $20. For more information or to register, please call 828-692-5774/ext. 11.