Apple Butter fest set for first weekend in October

How to go

OXFORD — Approximately five miles north of Oxford, festival-goers will soon be able to step back in time two centuries ago during the Apple Butter Festival.

The annual festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 2-3 at Pioneer Farm at Hueston Woods State Park. Admission for adults is $2; children younger than 12 are admitted free. Food service is available on-site.

The festival, now in its 47th year, provides guests with a glimpse of 19th century farm life and features the continual making and canning of apple butter, the same way pioneers did during their lifetime. Apple butter can be purchased at the festival, along with a wide variety of other seasonal items, such as: apples, cider, pumpkins and gourds.

“There’s something for everybody,” said Steve Flee, coordinator of the Apple Butter Festival. “This is an event for the entire family.”

Kids and adults are given the chance to help stir the apple butter.

Local crafters are invited to display their talents and wares; there will be a local blacksmith demonstrating his welding; and other local vendors will be selling their creations.

Among the vendors is a craftsman who sells wooden toys.

A naturalist from Hueston Woods will be talking about local birds of prey.

In previous years there have been turkey vultures, owls and hawks. Who appears at the event depends on which animals the park is rehabilitating, according to Flee.

This year’s main event is The Southern Singer Drum Group, a band of descendants of American Indians.

The band will educate guests about the culture of their fore fathers through dances, songs, chants, drums and story-telling.

The band will be performing at 11 a.m. and 1 and 3 p.m. Oct. 2, and 1 and 3 p.m. Oct. 3.

All proceeds benefit the historic preservation goals of the Oxford Museum Association.