The air is cooler and the leaves are changing colours which means the annual Wellesley Apple Butter & Cheese festival will soon be spilling into the streets of the village.
The event takes place on the last Saturday of September, and this year will be no different.
Rain or shine the festival will take place on Sept. 29, starting with the traditional pancake and sausage breakfast followed by activities for the entire family, including an antique tractor and car show, a horseshoe tournament, quilt auction and the noon parade with the newly-crowned Wellesley Fall Fair ambassador, Katherine Baer, in attendance.
There will be a lot of children friendly events as well as the annual model boat regatta, a puppet show, pony rides, a mini-tractor pull and children’s entertainer Erick Traplin will be taking the main stage at 9:30 a.m.
The festival, now running close to 40 years, was formed by members of the Board of Trade, to promote the village of Wellesley as well as its major businesses, A.W. Jantzi & Sons Ltd and the Wellesley Brand Apple Products and the J.M. Schneider Cheese Factory. With the help of local service clubs, organizations and churches, several booths will be operated on the street mall with all profits going to the festival committee. Every dollar spent on an apple fritter or sausage at festival will go towards community projects and community improvement.
“It’s just a good time and people are always so friendly and smiling. I feel that is why we get a lot of people coming to the festival. We have a lot of return visitors and I think that has to do with Wellesley being such a friendly place,” said Bob Reid, chairman of the festival committee.
The main stage will see entertainers Dave Hoy’s Honky Tonk Piano, Kyle Geraughty, Karli Pucrell, Jampure, the Chord Spinners and the UUC Dance Group as well as the three finalists of the Wellesley Idol will perform at 2 p.m.
As always homemade apple fritters and fresh apple butter and cider from the local mill will be available for those that stroll through the street mall or decide to take a tour of the cider mill.
Other attractions at the festival will include a smorgasbord dinner of roast beef, pigtails and roast pork starting at 10:30 a.m. At the market artists will be holding demonstrations and selling their works of handmade arts and crafts. The five kilometer run or walk which is entering its fourth year will start at Wellesley Public School at 10 a.m.
“The run has grown year after year and last year the organizers say they had more runners than ever before. It is good to see newer events take off like that one has,” said Reid.
Admission to the festival is free, as is the parking.
