Kentucky Apple Festival facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Kentucky Apple Festival |
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| Genre | Horticultural |
| Dates | First weekend in October |
| Location(s) | Paintsville, Kentucky, United States |
| Years active | 1962–2019, 2021– |
| Website | Kentucky Apple Festival |
The Kentucky Apple Festival is a fun yearly event held in Paintsville, Kentucky. It takes place on the first Friday and Saturday of October. This festival began in 1962. It was created to help local farmers sell the many apples grown in the area.
The Festival's Story
The very first Kentucky Apple Festival happened on October 6, 1962. It was first known as "Apple Day." Elmon Davis helped guide its creation. He was a bank officer and also owned an apple orchard. Mr. Davis wanted to promote the county's apple farms. He also hoped to create a popular event.
The festival quickly became very popular. In June 2020, officials decided to cancel the festival for that year. This was because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fun Traditions and Events
While the main festival days are in early October, many activities happen during the last week of September. There are usually more than 45 different events!
Some of the exciting traditions include:
- The Junior and Miss Apple Blossom pageants.
- School contests in spelling, art, writing, and math.
- An old-fashioned costume contest.
- The "terrapin trot," which is a fun turtle race.
- Many concerts with different kinds of music.
- Cool car shows.
- The Ducky Derby, a rubber duck race on Paint Creek.
- The big Apple Festival Parade.
Before 2009, one of the biggest events was the Apple Bowl. This was an annual football game. It was played between Paintsville High School and Johnson Central High School. The game stopped after 2008. This was because the two schools had grown to be very different in size.
