The Apple Festival brings community to Cleveland

Fall is in the air in Downtown Cleveland. A bright and breezy Sunday invites the perfect environment for the annual Cleveland Apple Festival. 

Entering the gates, residents see vendors lining the streets with a variety of goods, while having community with fellow residents of Cleveland and surrounding areas. The Apple Festival gives one the opportunity to have a fun afternoon with friends, shop locally, support non-profits and be a part of the Cleveland community. 

For 24 years, the Apple Festival has taken place on the third weekend of October. 

Jill Brown is the director of the event, a role she stepped into ten years ago. Planning for this event is year-round and is worth it to Brown when she has her team working alongside her. 

“We have a great team that works together for the year and for the weekend, and we just feel like its part of being salt and light in the City of Cleveland, spreading the goodness of what the Lord has given us and giving it back into the community,” Brown said. 

The mission behind the festival is to raise money and give to local nonprofits within the city. Paying $8 for entry offers an opportunity to be outside during fall and pay it forward to the community. 

“We are a nonprofit that exists to support the local nonprofits here in the City of Cleveland. We have a list of over ten nonprofits that we give back to. All of our proceeds from the gate entrance fees go back out into the city of Cleveland,” Brown said. 

Upon entering the festival, one can already see Brown's vision for guests and vendors coming to life. 

“It's something we can do to bring people together to have a good time, safe family fun, and get together with neighbors or friends – and at least have a time to share life together. We've had a lot of similar vendors come, and they feel that same way, and that's why they keep coming back because of that community touch,” Brown said.

When going to different vendor booths it is clear that they were not just selling to customers. 

Gail Blake, owner of Knoxville-based Cozy Escape Boutique, was a vendor at the festival. She and her husband offered a welcoming smile along with sewed creations and candles for sale. 

This was Blake’s second year attending the festival as a vendor. After hearing about the Cleveland Apple Festival from another vendor at a previous event, Blake was excited and recognized that people in charge, like Brown, made it easy to want to participate. 

“This one is much more vendor friendly… there's great communication and wonderful people helping us set up – they've been wonderful,” Blake said.

Forming relationships with other vendors is also a positive in Blake’s experience.  all have a sense of commonality within the festival, wanting to help each other in any way they can. 

“You get to know people and you meet up with vendors that you've met two years ago. Everybody’s so helpful. If somebody needs to take a food break, we always help each other out. It's kind of universal that you know vendors are always really good to one another,” Blake said.

It is common for Cleveland residents to look for a Sunday activity after church, and the was an easy choice for Lee University alumnus Mallory Dake. 

For Dake, the visit was filled with fellowship and time with friends, while also trying new things such as apple cider and apple butter. 

“I really just enjoy walking around with my friends, chatting about stuff, and trying different kinds of food with them,” Dake said. 

Trying different apple-based goods led Dake to purchase some for herself.

“I’m going to find a recipe later that I can make with this apple butter, so I'm super excited to try that,” Dake said. 

The Apple Festival welcomed Fall into the city of Cleveland. It allowed the planners to execute the vision they had through non-profits and raise money for ten different causes, provided community and commerce for vendors and allowed residents to spend time with one another while doing something out of the ordinary. 

Anyone who wants to attend next year’s Apple Festival should mark their calendars for the third weekend of October.