Long Grove Apple Fest

This year, I attended the Long Grove Apple Fest, in the historic Downtown Long Grove community in northern Illinois. The Long Grove Apple Fest is one of many fruit festivals this small town has throughout the year. The three-day event (September 23 – 25) costs $5 to enter for a single day pass, or $10 for a 3-day pass. Food tickets were priced $1 per ticket, with items costing between 5 – 14 tickets on average.

The local community church was helping with free parking, which was very helpful. Before entering the festival grounds, free hotdogs were available. I haven’t had a hot dog in years, and passed on the free item. It was a long one-hour drive back home!

The festival had tons of vendors on multiple streets including clothes, jewelry, kitchen and bath construction (yup), storefronts, and entertainment such as musical bands, pie-eating contests, and carnival rides for children. While here, I did not notice a lot of diversity with people of color. I know it’s Long Grove, but for an annual festival, you would have thought more people of color would make the trip. We felt welcome without the usual awkward stares.

My main goal was to find all things apples! There were a few options, including apple pies, donuts, cider, candied apples, wine, and sangria. Even with all of these apple options, I must say, my favorite item I tried there was the Detroit style pizza from Joanie’s Pizzeria! My goodness, that pizza was a nice change from the various Chicago tavern-style pizza I normally eat. I also tried a Hickory Smoked Honey Steak Sauce from a local vendor in St. Charles – Honey With Style.