Every year, the Downtown Ithaca Alliance throws an Apple Harvest Festival, more commonly known as Applefest. As a freshman, I have yet to experience the wonders of Applefest, but I have definitely heard a lot about it.
Over three days, Applefest attracts 35,000 people to visit over 100 different vendors all selling a variety of apples, donuts, cider and kettlecorn, and those are just the food options. Local artisans will be selling their crafts there as well, and on Sunday, from 10 a.m to 10:45 a.m., three different Ithaca College a capella groups will be performing! IC Voicestream, Ithacapella and Premium Blend will all be playing in the Bernie Milton Pavilion. So many people from all over New York come to participate in the festivities, so you know it has to be a great time.
Besides all the fun activities happening downtown, the thing I’m most excited for is the break from the dining hall food. Don’t get me wrong, the food at Ithaca College isn’t terrible, but it’s definitely not a home cooked mean. Combine my boredom of dining hall food with the hundreds of fresh apples, apple-themed desserts and at least a dozen local, unique food vendors, and it’s a recipe for an amazing weekend. I asked one of my freshman classes what they were most excited for, and they all agreed, apple cider, apple cider donuts and the endless option of apples. Everyone I’ve asked so far has said that Applefest is one of the best weekends to be in Ithaca for. It’s a weekend chocked full of fun and food, so needless to say, I’m incredibly excited.