The 35th Annual Apple Butter Festival takes place this weekend (10/11/08 and 10/12/08) in Berkeley Springs, WV.  This is West Virginia, so you know there’ll be good eating, like apple dumplings, pepperoni rolls, bean soup, fresh-pressed cider, and sandwiches stuffed with country ham.  Plus, they do some big cooking as sides of beef and whole hogs are prepared and served, and there will be 30 feet of grills cooking up chicken halves.

Of course, the star of the festival is dark and spicy apple butter cooked over open fires in giant copper kettles.  The butter is poured hot into jars late in the afternoon, and there’s always a line of customers ready to purchase them as soon as the tops are twisted closed.  After the kettles contents is put into jars, the insides of the kettle are wiped clean with fresh-baked bread!

Activities?  The Apple Butter Festival parade attracts thousands Saturday morning.  There’s a turtle race, and women will judge male facial hair!  Sunday’s hog calling is said to be very popular.  There’s an apple cake contest and an apple butter contest, an egg toss, crafts and antiques vendors, a raffle for the official apple butter quilt, and a farmer’s market.  There will be live bluegrass and old-timey music too.