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Apple Fest returns to downtown Sandpoint

| October 15, 2021 8:27 PM

SANDPOINT — This is an event that's sure to become the apple of your eye.

And that's no pie-in-the-sky pipe dream either as the core of the Sandpoint Shopping District's Apple Fest, now in its second year, is all about fun and celebrating the harvest season.

All puns aside, downtown retailers are going all out for the event with live music, apple chucking, face painting, games and a mini-goat petting zoo. While several of the events, such as the apple chucking, are centered at the Cedar Street Bridge, a number of events and activities are planned throughout downtown Sandpoint, said Sherry Meekings, district board president.

Set for Saturday, Apple Fest 2021, activities begin at noon and continue through 4 p.m.

At the Cedar Street Bridge, there will be games, face painting, tastings of apple cider, apple butter and other apple-based items. In addition, there will be a petting zoo with two miniature goats, apple chucking and an apple pie contest.

In addition, various business in the downtown will be hosting events, specials and other apple-themed activities, Meekings said.

"There are just a lot of fun things taking place throughout the heart of Sandpoint," Meekings said. "We hope to grow this every year."

Among the more popular events at the inaugural Apple Fest was the apple chucking event, which gave participants a chance to place an apple in an oversized catapult slingshot contraption in attempt to hit one of several targets placed in the waters of Sand Creek.

The event, which starts at noon, will continue "until we run out of apples," Meekings said.

She estimated the event went through about 20 bushels of apples as everyone from young kids to the young at heart attempted to hit the targets.

"People loved it," Meekings said. "Everyone had so much fun."

Another crowd favorite is the apple pie contest, which Meekings said has attracted more than two dozen entries. While a panel of three judges has been assembled to taste the pies, she said the public gets to join in the fun as well. Samples of the pies will be placed in small cups and, for $5, the public will get to pick five samples to try.

The winner will receive a trophy and receives half of the money collected from the sale of the samples. Last year, Meekings said the other half was donated to a local charity.

Meekings said the idea for Apple Fest came about after she saw a number of apple trees around town and felt there should be something to both celebrate their fruit and its presence in the community but also something fun for the community.

"Why don't we celebrate our apples and try to like, make use of all that fruit?," she said. "We have an abundance of apples [and I felt] we should utilize all that fruit and do something fun with it. I really hope in the future that it really becomes a strong fall event for even the surrounding communities to come and celebrate harvest and have fun."

Response to the inaugural event was overwhelmingly positive, with a rough estimate of about a thousand people wandering around downtown taking part in all of the different activities, Meekings said.

For more information about the event, or for the latest schedule of activities, head over to the Sandpoint Shopping District's Facebook page at facebook.com/SandpointShopping .