Tehachapi Apple Festival, Oct. 16-17

After a most trying year of cancellations of concerts, events, festivals, movies and all forms of family fun and activities, we are so glad to be planning our 2021 Tehachapi Apple Festival for Oct. 16 and 17. It will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday on S. Green Street in Downtown Tehachapi.

This festival was started as a celebration of apples in Tehachapi. As the years have progressed we have fewer and fewer apple producers in our wonderful town but the festival still features vendors with apples, apple pies, apple drinks, apple fritters, apple nachos, candy apples and many more things apple-related.

We've grown the festival to include many booths with games for kids, including some for the younger ones. We have a pool and fishing poles so they can try to catch ducks, a petting zoo, face painting, knock down the cans, ring toss, balloon car races, golf putt, frisbee toss and virtual reality, all located in the kids area between E and D Streets on S. Green Street. Everything is free.

In addition, this year we have joined forces with the Greater Tehachapi Chamber of Commerce, which will also be presenting carnival rides during this same weekend.

When we learned that the Chamber could not have the carnival during their regularly scheduled Mountain Festival and that the carnival was not available to Tehachapi until the weekend of Oct. 15-17, the Apple Festival moved mountains to change our festival so that our community and those surrounding us would have all the more reasons to spend time with us in Tehachapi.

We are proud of our relationship with the Chamber and with our community.

At the other end of the festival, on the lawn at the Tehachapi Train Depot Museum, we will have a bunch of bounce houses. A bracelet costs $10 for unlimited use of the area and bounce houses.

On S. Green Street there will be over 60 vendors with commercial goods, candles, soaps, craft items, clothing, kids items, food and beverages. There is something for everyone and the timing of this festival is great for early Christmas shopping.

The festival features live music from 11 a.m. until closing and in Centennial Plaza there are tables with umbrellas where you can eat and relax, enjoy the music and a beer or wine for the adults if they wish. Plus, we have continuous apple bobbing for kids and adults alike in the plaza.

Just outside the plaza on the street on Saturday afternoon we'll have our Apple Pie Eating Contest, which is always fun to watch or maybe even compete in. How silly to see people stick their entire face into a pie pan and eat the pie with no utensils or hands. It's a race to be the first one to finish. There are first, second and third place prizes.

On Sunday, again on the street in front of the plaza, we'll have a pie baking contest. People who love to bake and feel they have the best apple pie recipe deliver pies that are then tasted by local dignitaries. They decide which is the best pie by a set criteria. Again, we have a first, second and third place prizes. Each participant bakes two pies and the second one is then auctioned off with the proceeds going to a selected charity. The Loop newspaper sponsors this event.

Things are happening all day long. We hope you will join us and enjoy hours of fun for the whole family.