You’ll certainly be able to eat enough apples to keep the doctor away this weekend, as the annual Apple Butter and Cheese Festival returns to Wellesley Village on Saturday.
Festival chairman Bob Reid says there will be all the traditional favorites, like candy apples and the smorgasbord dinner, but also a couple new additions.
“This year we’re going to hold a 50/50 draw, which is the first time we’re trying it to see how it works. They can buy tickets on Queen’s Bush Road near the apple vendor. We added a blacksmith demonstration and he will be up situated at the Wellesley Home Hardware. We don’t change too much. We have been very successful with what we’ve been doing, so we try to keep it the same,” Reid said.
He said as a small village they don’t have any extra space to allot to people to bring in more activities. Parking is always a problem, with cars parked on every side street to be found. The weatherman is still calling for good weather though, so they should be able to provide parking on the soccer fields.
The day begins with a pancake breakfast at 7 a.m. The craft and vendor marketplace will be set up inside and outside of the Wellesley Arena from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. with more than 115 different vendors. Queen’s Bush Road will be filled by the popular food mall, with candy apples, apple pies, and of course, apple fritters.
“We’ve added more items for the little kids to play on like a bouncy castle and a couple other similar things they can play on,” Reid said. “We’ve also opened up our new accessible playground and that has been very popular through the last couple months. I’m sure that if kids are antsy and need some way to get rid of some steam they can take them up there. It’s very well used. There are probably 20 or 30 kids on it every day and every night.”
The final three Wellesley Idol competitors, plus the fan favourite, will perform from 2-3:30 p.m. on the Queen’s Bush Road main stage. Other performers at the festival include Karli June, Byron Shantz, and Kyle Geraghty.
Antique cars will be on display at the Wellesley Public Library all day, along with antique tractors at the Wellesley Home Centre. Quilts made especially for the festival will be auctioned off from 12:45 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the main stage.
“We consider it a real family day because you don’t have to spend any more money than what you’re going to spend on purchases or food,” Reid said. “You can come to the festival and not have to pay out a lot of money to enjoy it and you get a feel of the country life.”
He adds the boat regatta with remote controlled boats on the pond is a fun event for all ages.
And you can’t forget to stop by the booth selling all the Wellesley apple products made right in Wellesley. Reid notes they’ve supported the festival year after year.
The festival raised around $28,000 last year. They still have funds available to dole out when it comes to request time.
“I think we had record profits, we had record attendance. I was very well sunburnt,” Reid said.
Funds have gone toward projects like renovating sport fields, recreation, and helping Wellesley Public School purchase Smartboards and Chromebooks. They’ve committed some money to refurbishing the tennis courts, and helped support the accessible playground.
“We’re expecting a fairly good crowd because of the weather report. All festivals are subject to the weather. If we get inclement weather we’ll get smaller crowds. But we’ve been lucky for the last several years. Even if it’s rained a bit it hasn’t put a real damper on the visitors,” Reid said.
The ABC Festival runs September 26 from 7 a.m., right though the afternoon. Admission and parking are free and a full schedule of events is available at
www.wellesleyabcfestival.ca.
