Author’s Note: in 2015, the festival moved to the Warren County Fairgrounds in Lebanon to allow for expansion.
I returned to the festival in 2022. You can read about that experience at
https://ohiofestivals.net/country-applefest-lebanon/
This post documents my experience on September 25, 2010.
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Lebanon is another town that I need to return to and explore. Settled in 1776 by Ichabod Corwin, Bourbon County (KY) resident and builder of Ohio’s oldest hotel, The Golden Lamb Inn, Lebanon is full of history and tourist opportunity. Apart from the 12 American presidents (and other celebrities) who have stayed at the hotel, the movies Harper Valley PTA and Milk Money were both shot there. It also doesn’t hurt that Woody Harrelson and Neil Armstrong lived there for some part of their lives.
But, if you wanted a peaceful, relaxing stroll through Lebanon, I wouldn’t recommend coming during the one-day Country Applefest…
…because the world is there to help explore it with you.
An estimated 30-40 thousand people come to Lebanon’s one-day event each year…
…and you notice it.
Fortunately, getting through the crowd was the festival’s only real drawback…
…because in Lebanon…
…it really was an applefest!
Even with the only real apple vendor being Iron’s Fruit Farm…
…I was happy with this festival because vendors and groups went apple crazy…
…with rotten apple cupcakes, fudge-covered apples…
…butter…
…dumplings…
…various other baked goods…
…and apple candles.
And although the Applefest was a pet-free festival…
…two different booths catered to dogs with apple products or drink.
But dessert wasn’t the only food served to those thousands of hungry festival goers. They had a great selection of food, including…
…German American, lamb products…
…and turkey legs galore.
Enough food and sweets to demand a long leisurely browse through a large amount of vendors selling jewelry, crafts…
…and other interesting items.
But if the food was too much, you could always stop…
… and take in the music from the gazebo…
…or on the street.
For kids, I didn’t see any inflatables or rides (a festival anomaly indeed!)…
…but they did have a cowboy magician…
…and a few caged alpacas to keep their attention.
Just a little bit of everything.
It’s just a matter of time before this one-day festival turns into a 2-3 day event. The festival grounds were so filled with vendors…
…that I found an apple themed bake sale going on just down the road from the festival.
Put on by the local Serendipity Society, they were having the sale to raise money for the Lebanon Food Bank.
With goodies so appealing, how could I resist?