Johnny Appleseed Festival 2017 in Review
The first day of the Johnny Appleseed Festival in Fort Wayne, Indiana seemed to be a complete success! For the 43rd year in a row, the crowds were thick, the weather like summer, and the vendors plentiful! This year there was another perk, Mo Rocca from CBS Sunday Morning was in attendance, filming a segment for the upcoming show. Whatever you come to this festival for, it is surely to become a family tradition if you are local or close to the area! Where else can you eat apples 23 different ways, chat with Abe Lincoln, let your children play on true wooden rides, or listen to and see the music of this time period?
Mo Rocca at Johnny Appleseed 2017. OHFORKS
As for vendors, you get our areas best, and then some. Local honey vendors, like the Beehive and Sweet Life Honey Farm, LLC, provide multiple options for raw honey and beeswax. Fort Wayne staple businesses like The Old Fort Soap Company bring us the best smelling bath bombs and soaps around. Including their newly famous “unicorn farts” soap. We love it! And as for fresh, Indiana-tapped maple syrup, you’ll be covered by Maple Acres, with so many options, bottles, and sizes of this delicious, natural sweetener. On top of this, you’ll find some of the best handmade jewelry, leather stamping, wooden toys, gems and geodes, candles, clothing and more as you walk the miles of trees and hills, smelling the bonfires and gun smoke in the air.
Maple Acres maple syrup, Sweet Life Honey Farm honey, jawbreaker, necklace, stone from Johnny Appleseed 2017. OHFORKS
Food? Oh my, yes. There is food! Forty-three food vendors were there this year, and many of them back charities; so your food purchase is not only delicious, it benefits something important! Apple dumplings, apple fritters, apple fries, apple cider, apple rings, apple pie and more. Ham and beans, sausage six different ways, pickles on sticks, kettle corn, Sarsaparilla root beer and lemonade, fresh pork rinds, caramel apples, chicken dinners, and lots of nuts! With everything being cooked over open fire, in large kettles, steaming and smoking into the air, the scent of the Johnny Appleseed Festival is one that will stick with you. It’s like camping meets junk food alley. Or something similar.
Another great aspect of the Johnny Appleseed Festival are the activities for children. The Boy Scouts set up an “old time” playground for the children, including maypole, merry-go-round, swings, Jacob’s ladder, obstacle course, and more. There are candle making stations where they can dip wicks in wax, and make their own candle. Not to mention the views riverside and of the dam, and the playground that includes extra bouncy ground for safety. Bet you won’t have any trouble getting your children to eat their apples here!
We have attended this festival regularly for decades, rain or shine. It is something that our children look forward to, and have already declared they will attend with their own children someday far in the future. On top of mingling with family and friends, there are a myriad of great history lessons given by some super knowledgeable people in full time-period costumes. Parking costs $5 in the MC lots, but there are free locations, too. When you attend, bring your patience, your wallet, and your empty belly! Enjoy!
