The 44th Annual National Apple Harvest Festival near Arendtsville, PA is a two-weekend affair (first held in 1961).  The first weekend has already passed but there’s still plenty of festival to enjoy this coming weekend (10/11/08 and 10/12/08).  There will be tractor square dancing, arts and crafts vendors, working sheepdog demonstrations, puppet shows, clowns, antique and classic cars, pony rides, antique farm equipment, a photo contest, antique gas engines, a petting zoo, lots of kids activities, an antique shingle mill, hay rides, chainsaw carving, live entertainment, including bluegrass, karaoke, Mexican dance, clogging, Andean music (can there be an outdoor event anywhere in America without the pan flute?), dulcimer music, barber shop quartet, country music, a steel band, and a whole lot more.

On the subject of food (our favorite subject around here!) you’ll be able to witness scrapple making, see an antique cider press, participate in pie eating and apple bobbing contests, view apple art, take part in a pie baking contest and auction, purchase apple jellies, and watch the making of apple syrup.  To eat?  How about apple pancakes, ribeye steak sandwiches, applesauce, pork barbeque, candied apples, some of that freshly made scrapple, apple butter hot from the kettle, apple fritters, fresh apples, apple cookies, apple daiquiris, apple pizza, apple sausage, fried apples, hot apple cider, sliced caramel apples, funnel cakes (for once, actually made in their home PA Dutch region), chicken barbeque, open pit beef, country sausage and ham, kettle korn, and fried sweet potatoes.