The Brushy Mountain Apple Festival is a one-day arts and crafts fair held annually in downtown
North Wilkesboro, North Carolina
North Wilkesboro is a town in Wilkes County, North Carolina, United States, approximately 80 miles north of Charlotte. The population was 4,131 at the 2020 US Census. North Wilkesboro is the birthplace and original home of Lowe's Home Improveme ...
. Founded in 1978, the fair is held on the first Saturday in October. Over 160,000 people visit the fair each year, and it is one of the largest single-day arts and crafts fairs in the Southeastern
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The fair is held to celebrate the
apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
harvest from the nearby
Brushy Mountains. Over 100 church, civic, and other non-profit organizations from Wilkes County and neighboring counties participate in the fair each year.
[Hubbard, Jule.]
Fall chill boosts 34th festival
, ''Wilkes Journal-Patriot
The ''Wilkes Journal-Patriot'' is a newspaper based in North Wilkesboro, Wilkes County, North Carolina and published weekly each Wednesday. At one time it was published twice per week (Tuesday and Friday). The paper has a circulation of 11,000 pa ...
'', October 3, 2011.
During the fair, the streets of North Wilkesboro's business district are closed to auto traffic for several blocks. This allows over 100 food concession stands to be set up, along with 425 arts and crafts concession stands and four large music stages. The food and crafts on display usually demonstrate the heritage and culture of the people of the Southern
Appalachian Mountains. The concessions include pottery, quilt-making, woodcarving, chairmaking, blacksmiths, apple cider, fried apple pies, dried apples, apple jam, etc. Pork barbecue and chicken barbecue are also popular food items. The four music stages are also dedicated to the musical heritage of the Appalachian region. Bluegrass, Folk, Country, and Gospel music can all be heard throughout the day. Square Dancing and
Clogging
Clogging is a type of folk dance practiced in the United States, in which the dancer's footwear is used percussively by striking the heel, the toe, or both against a floor or each other to create audible rhythms, usually to the downbeat with the ...
, forms of dance traditionally popular in the local mountains, are also displayed at the festival.
The Festival is sponsored and organized by the Brushy Mountain Ruritan Club. The
Ruritan Club is a US national organization with over 1,000 clubs and approximately 25 thousand members, providing helpful service for a large variety of communities.
COVID-19 impact
The 2020 Festival was cancelled on 3 August 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States is a part of the COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of COVID-19, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Uni ...
. The 2021 Festival, the 43rd, is scheduled for 2 October.
References
External links
Brushy Mountain Apple Festival websiteBrushy Mountain Ruritans Club websiteRuritan Club National
Festivals in North Carolina
Tourist attractions in Wilkes County, North Carolina
Fairs in the United States
Folk festivals in the United States
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