Delmont group presses on through rain, welcomes many visitors to Apple 'n Arts fest
A steady rain poured on the 40th Anniversary Apple ‘n Arts Festival on Saturday in Delmont, but many still braved the soggy conditions to enjoy entertainment and sample food and browse crafts offered by about 140 vendors.
“We have more vendors than last year because people are coming back out of covid,” festival board President Brandy Walters said.
“Considering the weather, I think attendance is great,” she said. Although the festival on the grounds of the Shields Farm isn’t likely to hit its typical two-day attendance of about 20,000, “Everybody is coming out. They’re wearing their boots and their rain gear and bringing their umbrellas.
“We don’t have the level of mud we’ve had in previous years. The grounds are really in great shape because we had a dry summer.”
The Delmont festival will conclude Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Entertainment will include an apple bake contest at 2 p.m. and a Beatles tribute band, Beatlemania Magic, at 3 p.m.
The Fort Allen Antique Farm Equipment Association has been coming to the festival every year since 1980. Though excess moisture from the rain shut down the 1930s stone mill the group uses to grind buckwheat flour, it carried on with pressing fresh cider using a mixture of six varieties of apples shipped from Bedford County.
According to group member John Johnson of Mt. Pleasant Township, volunteers have been working up to 12 hours a day since Wednesday to produce about 5,000 gallons of cider. Shredded apples are spread in five layers before being squeezed by the association’s 1907 cider press.
“It takes about a half-hour for each cycle through the press,” Johnson said.
Sharon Bacha and her daughter, Sydney Bacha, make a yearly trip from Greensburg to attend the Delmont festival.
“Our main thing we come for is the cider,” Sharon Bacha said. “We like to support our local vendors and farmers.”
“I like the apple cider best,” agreed Melissa Chillinsky of East McKeesport. A frequent visitor to the festival, she attends with her husband and daughter, Willow, 4.
“We like it,” she said. “We’re drawn to all fall festivals.”
The Fort Allen group will hold a drawing Sunday for a children’s pedal-powered toy garden tractor.
Visit delmontapplenarts.com for more information.
Jeff Himler is a TribLive reporter covering Greater Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant Area and Derry Area school districts and their communities. He also reports on transportation issues. A journalist for more than three decades, he enjoys delving into local history. He can be reached at jhimler@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.