Downtown Hendersonville saw the start of the Apple festival on Friday morning. There are 14 apple orchards this year, the most since Hurricane Helene hit in September of last year.
Josh English, the president of the NC Apple Festival board, stated, “I think everyone has Helene on their mind, and we’re about a year removed from that.”
“I believe this is our way of saying, ‘Hey, we’re still here.'” We are available for business. We have every Apple product. We’re excited to share those apples with the community this weekend, as our apple grower of the year on stage just announced there are plenty of them.”
English said the three-day festival, which has closed several blocks of downtown, is expected to draw at least 250,000 visitors.
You might Like also –Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are officially engaged! Trending Photos on Google
Apple cider slushies and caramel apple slices, among other crowd favourites, are being served by vendors and orchards.
“Apple fritters, apple doughnuts, and apple slushies are available whenever the Apple Festival is happening. “My daughter loves these the most,” Wendy Castrillon said.
According to English, the theme for this year is “Orchard Roots, Mountain Spirit.”
He remarked, “It’s kind of a nod to Helene, and that we’re just here, and we got plenty of apples.” “We’re prepared to share those with the community.”
This year’s festival features a number of apple growers, including Creasman Farms.
Regarding this year’s apple season, Dawn Creasman stated, “We’ve had some weather anomalies, but we’re bouncing back from that.” “That’s just a part of farming.”
According to English, Henderson County’s economy depends heavily on apples.
The festival, according to some, is a welcome return to normalcy.
Sage Cass remarked, “It’s great to see how the people of North Carolina, particularly those in western North Carolina, have come together and maintained their passion for our local communities.”
The King Apple Parade will take place on Monday, and the festival will be open until 9:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Creasman stated, “We’re just demonstrating to people that we’re mountain strong because we’ve experienced a lot of trauma in the past couple of years.”
“We are here, and we are open for business, so y’all need to come visit us. Come see the orchards.
