Apple Festival returns to Bethabara this weekend

Moravian history and culture will be on display during the Apple Festival at Historic Bethabara Park in Winston-Salem. This year’s fest falls on the 270th anniversary of their arrival in North Carolina.

The Moravian Church got its first foothold in North America through settlements in Pennsylvania and expanded to North Carolina after getting a good deal on 100,000 acres of land. In 1753, a group of Single Brothers traveled the Great Wagon Road to what is now Bethabara where they found much-desired seclusion from non-Moravians, nearby creeks wide enough to accommodate a mill, an abandoned cabin to live in when they arrived, and fertile fields to be cleared for crops. Several acres were quickly planted with apple trees from seeds brought from Europe, and within a few years, the Bethabara hills were filled with orchards.

That tradition is now being celebrated anew with the Apple Festival. Assistant Historic Park Supervisor Diana Overbey says the fest will be similar to years past but with a twist.

"We do have our Robinson’s Racing Pigs coming back again, but this year they will not only be racing on land, but they will be swimming this year too," says Overbey. "We’ll have colonial games; we’ll have trade demonstrations like pottery, woodworking, and blacksmithing, craft vendors, orchards coming out."

There’ll also be live Old-Time music with a modern spin, bowed dulcimer performer Ken Bloom, food truck vendors, face-painting, and lots and lots of apples. The festival begins Saturday morning at Bethabara Park in Winston-Salem.