Ely Apple Festival 2015

It’s that corking time of year again when people head to Ely with unidentified apples from their gardens and put into practise months of training to peel an apple to enter the record books.

Next Saturday (17 October) it is the city’s fifteenth Apple Festival organised and ran by East Cambridgeshire District Council and Watergull Orchards.

Visitors to Palace Green between 10am – 4pm will be able to take part in a whole host of events such as:

• Apple identification and display – experts will be on site capable of categorizing the species of fruit simply by sight
• The longest peel competition, apple and spoon races and an apple shy
• There will also be a hog roast, apple related food from burgers to bangers served with apple sauce and a wide selection of apple juices and ciders.
• A variety of stalls containing everything from rural crafts to live folk music and apple related wares for sale.
• Folk music and Morris dancing will be performed throughout the day

Tracey Harding, Tourism and Town Centre Services Manager at East Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “It is staggering to realise we are now holding our fifteenth annual Apple Festival in celebration of the great British Apple. The original idea was the brainchild of Watergull Orchards, apple producers and previous traders at Ely’s Farmers Market. They attended many other Apple Festivals in the region and thought it would be an excellent idea to do one in Ely. Our event has now developed into one of the best festivals in the area with hundreds of visitors descending onto the Cathedral Green.

“There is always so much to do at our event from the experts from East of England Apples and Orchard Project identifying any apples that people bring along to the challenge of nerve and skill which is the apple peel competition. Apparently, it is easier to identify if you can bring a long part of the stalk and/or leaf as well as the actual apple so if you have been mystified as to what kind of apples were growing in your garden all these years, bring a sample along. So come along to Ely next weekend and have a day to remember.”

Further information; please contact Ely Tourist Information Centre on 01353 662062, www.visitely.org.uk or via @visitely.