Brushy Mountain Apple Festival 2024 in North Carolina

The annual Brushy Mountain Apple Festival, held in early October, attracts over 160,000 visitors to the heart of North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, as they gather to celebrate the apple harvest. In addition to a variety of apple products, the festival fills the streets with arts and crafts booths, vibrant music stages, dancing, and an abundance of entertainment. With around 100 food vendors and four stages featuring diverse music genres, there’s something for everyone to enjoy throughout this lively event.

Tickets & Schedule

The Brushy Mountain Apple Festival is free to the public and takes place from 8 am to 5 pm on a Saturday in early October in downtown North Wilkesboro, NC. This year, the Brushy Mountain Ruritan Club is proud to host the annual event featuring a variety of festivities throughout the day. Pre-festival activities kick off with "Apple Jam" at 6 pm on Friday, offering an evening of live entertainment at the Brushy Mountain Ruritan Club's festival park.

Vendors & Events at the AppleFest

The festival showcases over 425 arts and crafts vendors and 100 food concessions. Attendees can enjoy performances on four different music stages featuring genres such as Bluegrass, Country, Folk, Gospel, and Appalachian Heritage. The lively atmosphere is enhanced by cloggers, folk dancers, rope skippers, and square dancers, providing additional entertainment for festival-goers.

Crafts & Traditions

Highlighting the region's rich traditions, the festival showcases Appalachian Heritage crafts, including woodcarving, chair making, soap making, pottery throwing, and quilting. As visitors stroll through the vibrant streets, they are surrounded by the enchanting sounds of Appalachian dulcimers and the tempting aromas of a diverse array of foods. Apples are a central theme of the event, with local growers setting up stalls to sell fresh apples, apple cider, and dried apples. This celebration not only offers a feast for the senses but also pays tribute to the hard work of apple orchardists from Northwestern North Carolina, honoring the fruit harvested each fall.

History of Brushy Mountain Apple Festival

Brushy Mountain Ruritan Club, the festival owner, claims the event is listed among Wilkes County's biggest fundraisers and generally among the largest one-day arts and crafts fests across the Southeast. Overall, the festivities enlist a hundred civic, church, and other non-profit organizations participants.