Date: August 29, 2017
Celebrate autumn with the Indiana Dunes Apple Festival at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore’s historic Chellberg Farm on Saturday, September 16 and Sunday, September 17, 2017 from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Fun is the theme of the weekend interleaved with the celebration of the all American Apple.
Enjoy lots of fall seasonal activities such as tractor-pulled hayrides, a Kid’s Corner with games and crafts, and even apple-chucking. Local musicians will provide continuous entertainment and the Northwest Indiana Storytellers will be spinning tales. Then help make cider using an apple press, learn how to cook apples for applesauce and apple butter, ferment apples into vinegar, make apple pomanders and discover dozens of other uses for apples. Free tasting of most of these products will be available. Or, purchase lunch or a snack from one of several food vendors and make a day of it.
Have you ever wondered why there are so many apple trees in Indiana? We can thank Indiana native, “Johnny Appleseed” Chapman for their abundance. During this festival, visitors can watch the classic Disney short on Johnny Appleseed and then help with the planting of apple trees as we reestablish an orchard at Chellberg Farm. The farm even has resident chickens now thanks to festival partners Dunes Learning Center and the Friends of Indiana Dunes.
The National Park Service, Dunes Learning Center, and Friends of Indiana Dunes partnered up last year to present the first Apples Festival as part of the year-long celebration of the national lakeshore’s 50th anniversary. It was so successful, drawing well over 2,000 people, that it will now be an annual event.
For information on this event or other anniversary programs being offered this year at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, call 219-395-1882 or check the park’s website at www.nps.gov/indu.
