The Unicoi County Chamber of Commerce will hold its 32nd annual Unicoi County Apple Festival on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 2 and 3, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day.
The festival, drawing more than 100,000 annual attendees, has been consistently named one of the Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 events in the southeast and is a three-year winner of the Northeast Tennessee Tourism Association’s Pinnacle Award.
The premier two-day event offers something for everyone - handmade crafts, antiques, entertainment, a large children’s area, a Blue Ridge Pottery show and sale, contests and a smorgasbord of food.
The craft festival, featuring nearly 350 vendors from around the country, will be lined along the downtown streets of Erwin showcasing their unique arts, crafts and foods.
Four stages will be included in this year’s festival line-up. The Toyota Gospel Stage and the Appalachian Community Federal Credit Union Stage will both consist of continuous entertainment on Friday and Saturday. Top gospel groups from around the nation will praise the Lord in song on the Toyota Gospel Stage located on the corner of Main Avenue and Love Street.
The Appalachian Community Federal Credit Union Stage, located in the Gathering Place Park, will feature primarily bluegrass artists from across the region.
The Chamber Stage, new to the festival this year, will be located at the end of Gay Street near the Nolichucky Street intersection. This stage will highlight local talent, dancers and contest winners.
A fourth stage will be added to the already large children’s area in the Erwin Town Hall parking lot. This stage will feature scheduled entertainment for children of all ages by the Unicoi County High School Drama Department.
The children’s area, sponsored by the Unicoi County Family YMCA, will also feature games and rides for the young and young at heart.
Bring your appetite and let it have a festival. You can enjoy everything from Chinese to Greek foods, traditional foods such as barbecue and homemade hamburgers to apple pies and apple fritters. For your convenience, two food courts, including tables and chairs, have been established.
To enliven one’s competitive spirit, the Unicoi County Apple Festival includes many activities and contests. For those with an appetite to cook, the University of Tennessee Agricultural Extension Service offers a cooking contest for both adults and youth.
The fifth annual Miss Unicoi County Apple Festival Pageant, taking place the weekend prior to the festival, will crown “Pageant Queens” in eight age divisions.
The Unicoi County High School Band will sponsor the Apple Dumpling contest, a fundraising contest for the band in which children may vie for the title of Apple Dumpling of the Year.
For the athletic competitors, a weeklong tennis tournament, sponsored by Farm Bureau Insurance will be held at Fishery Park. On Oct. 3, runners from across a five-state region will converge on the streets of Erwin for the running of the Nuclear Fuel Services Apple Festival four-mile footrace and two-mile race walk.
Partnering together for a third year, the Valley Beautiful Beacon Newspaper and the Chamber will host the third annual Apple Festival Photography Contest in which amateur photographers can showcase their work and compete for prize ribbons in various divisions.
The 30th annual Blue Ridge Pottery show and sale, held at the Unicoi County Middle School, is a must-see for Blue Ridge pottery collectors and admirers. Rare pieces can often be found during the show. Blue Ridge Pottery, now sought after by collectors worldwide, originated in Unicoi County.
The festival spans across a five-block section of downtown Erwin and includes adjoining side streets. From Interstate 26, take Exit 37 into downtown Erwin. Several parking areas around Exit 37 have been secured for festival attendees.
To ensure the safety of the large number of attendees, festival organizers ask that you please do not bring pets onto the festival grounds. Bicycles and skateboards are also not permitted on festival grounds.
For more information, call the Unicoi County Chamber of Commerce at 423 743-3000, or stop by the Chamber office located at 100 South Main Ave.