29th Annual Downtown Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival

Please join us for…

The 29th Annual Downtown Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival – September 30 - October 2, 2011.

The 29^th Annual Downtown Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival returns with three days of Entertainment, Food, Crafts, Rides, Apples and Much More

(Ithaca, NY) The 29^th Annual Downtown Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival returns September 30th – October 2nd on the Commons and the surrounding streets in downtown.  Perennial Apple Harvest attractions such as the Apple Pie eating contest, Craft Show and the Farmers Market return as the festival takes place from noon to 6:30 pm on Friday the 30th and 10:00 am until 6:30 pm on Saturday and Sunday.  In addition to the traditional Apple Harvest activities, this year’s festival will feature a vast array of entertainment including comedy, magic, theatre and dance.  New to the Apple Harvest Festival this year will be a special Collegiate Apple Harvest version of the popular game show “Minute to Win It.”  On Saturday at 5:00 pm teams of two students from Cornell, Ithaca College and Tompkins Cortland Community College will compete in a variety of one minute challenges in hopes to take home $100 in Downtown gift cards. 

The Apple Harvest Festival is free and open to the public and will feature more than a dozen area farmers and wineries over the course of the three day event.  Fresh farm produce and home baked goods will be available for sampling and purchase while numerous local vintners will be on hand providing tastings of some of the region’s finest locally produced wines and ciders.  In addition to the local culinary bounty, the Apple Harvest Festival will feature over one dozen unique food vendors featuring cuisines from Indian to Thai, Italian to Laotian. 

While opportunities to dine and indulge in a considerable selection of cuisine will abound at this year’s Apple Harvest Festival, the opportunity to shop and appreciate the visual arts will be equally as plentiful as the annual craft show will feature over fifty artisans.  This year’s Apple Harvest Craft Show will feature everything from fine art to textiles to some of the region’s most delicately crafted glass art and jewelry. Artisans from throughout the central New York region and the greater Northeast will be represented. 

Further events of interest taking place during Apple Harvest weekend are the Little Apple Fall Follies presented by the Rotary and the Savage Club at the State Theatre on Saturday October 1st at 7:30 pm. The production showcases local talent in a variety show format, with 22 acts aimed to please family members of all ages.  On Saturday evening the History Center presents their unique brand of haunted history tours beginning at 7:00 pm.  The History Center invites you to let the spooks chill you with tales of murder, jealousy, insanity and many more tragic horrors of Ithaca’s past.  Finally, on Sunday at 3:00 pm the State Theatre presents Dinosaurs!  Dinosaurs! features Fossil, the Dinosaur detective, who mixes fun and facts in this colossal show inspired by everyone's favorite prehistoric creatures.   

 A schedule of events and performers is below.

For more information please call the Downtown Ithaca Alliance office at 277-8679.