You wanna find some places to indulge this fall season? The Murphysboro Apple Festival is an event that you shouldn’t miss out on. Let’s head up to Murphysboro and indulge in countless fun activities and apple treats.
Celebrating the apple harvest, Apple Festival is a four-day festival held in Murphysboro of Illinois on the second weekend after Labor Day. The festival features numerous activities and events, from arts & crafts fairs, nightly entertainment, parades, walk/run races, apple pie-eating contests, and much more.
The Murphysboro Apple Festival is the oldest and largest alcohol-free festival in , attracting more than 45,000 visitors each year.
1. The Murphysboro Apple Festival 2021 Marks Its 70th Anniversary
The Apple Festival is ready to come back after a scaled-back event in 2020. This year, organizers will celebrate its 70th anniversary with both old and new traditions.
Running through a long time, the fest has achieved a lot of success, continuing to maintain its core value.
It’s educating the local and regional populace on the importance of local horticulture and orchards in general, providing scholarships, promoting and supporting various charitable, governmental organizations.
2. Interesting To Do At The Apple Festival 2021
The Murphysboro Apple Festival is celebrated in the fall season, which is the best time to go out to enjoy the nice weather and have fun. You would love to dive in drawing large crowds and watch live music shows while enjoying apple-theme dishes.
There is also a carnival with concessions, contests including apple pie eating, the crowning of Apple time Royalty, marching bands, to name a few. Here are some of the most outstanding activities that you might love.
- Apple Pie Eating Contest: The annual pie-eating contest takes place at Apple time Stage on Thursday night. It would be a real apple treat for anybody!
- Festival Funland: To join in all the fun, let’s head to the middle of downtown Murphysboro. Funland is open from 5 pm to 10 pm on Wednesday and Thursday, 4 pm to 10.30 pm on Friday, and 11 am until 1030 pm on Saturday.
- Apple time Grand Parade: This is one of the oldest and longest parades in Illinois. The parade includes floats, marching bands, horses, visiting royalty, and plenty of fire engines. It usually kicks off at 11 am.
- A Taste of Murphysboro: Besides delicious apple-themed dishes, this event also features items from locally-owned restaurants. Make sure you do not miss out!
- Drums at Apple time: The annual marching band competition is a popular event during the Murphysboro Apple Festival. The competition features area schools of all sizes, offering great performance by musical talents of hundreds of high school students.
- Big Muddy Obstacle Fun Run: Locating in Riverside Park along the banks of the Big Muddy River. The run features 15 obstacles that include plenty of apples and tons of mud. Although it’s a little bit messy, the cheerful vibe could bring you a lot of laughs.
- Children’s Pet & Hobby Parade: On Friday, the “kiddie parade” will begin with decorated bicycles, wagons, tricycles along with pets dressed in costume. You may also see family-built floats that align with the festival’s theme.
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3. Some Added Information About The Murphysboro Apple Festival
If you’re not familiar with Murphysboro city, you may have several problems when you join the Murphysboro Apple Festival for the first time. These are some added information that you might need.
Public Parking Slots
You will see a lot of parking slots at 11th Street and Corner of Locust. There are also about 200 blocks of North 11th and North 12th street and along Walnut Street. But during the Kiddie Parade, parking is prohibited along Walnut Street so make sure to get your car in the right places.
Where To Buy Souvenir
You can find all festival-themed stuff like T-shirts, buttons, hats, mugs,… at the Apple time Emporium located in the middle of the carnival area just off Walnut street at South 13th Street. During the Grand Parade, the Emporium is closed so remember to buy things before the parade starts.
Where To Buy Local Apple, Food And Drink
To buy locally grown apples and apple treats, you need to visit the Kiwanis General Store in the concessions area near the Apple time Stage. You can find any kind of canned apple product there, from apple cider, applesauce, apple butter, gourmet caramel apples and even smoothies.
To buy freshly baked apple treats like cinnamon rolls, apple pie, cookies,… just visit the Apple time Bakery on South 13th street. Some items will be available for online pre-sale and some will just be available for pick-up during the Festival.
4. Some Useful Tips To Choose Your Festival Outfits
In the fall season, the weather is nice and a little bit cold at night. So if you will spend your whole day at the Murphysboro Apple Festival, you would want something comfortable and flexible. Remember the slogan: Simple is the best.
To fully enjoy the fest, just pair a sweater with skinny jeans or long pants and you’re ready. You probably should bring a jacket in case the weather becomes colder at night. Last but not least, don’t forget your feet. Boots or sneakers will be a great choice for the cool days in Fall.
Fall is coming soon and this is the best time to go somewhere, enjoying the cool breeze, taking part in fun festivities. We hope that this post will help you in planning for your visit to the Murphysboro Apple Festival.
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