There’s a reason why harvest festivals go back to the earliest days of human agriculture. There’s just no better way to celebrate a fruitful season of collaboration with the soil than enjoying the crisp days, abundant sunshine, and first hints of autumnal color with friends and family.
Angry Orchard’s Community Harvest Fest, happening this Saturday and Sunday September 18 and 19, is your ticket to enjoy the Hudson Valley apple harvest to its fullest. What better place could there be to celebrate the start of apple picking season than its historic 60-acre orchard in Walden where the Angry Orchard team specializes in growing bittersweet heritage varieties that long ago made the Hudson Valley a famous cider-making region?
During the free event, you can sign up for a once-a-year opportunity to help pick apples from the orchard. On the Specialty Apple Picking Tour ($10 or free for children 12 and under), you can take part in the cidery’s newest tradition of using guest-picked apples in the making of one of its beloved cider varieties, Albany Post. Tour goers will also receive a bag of snap dragon apples to take home after the tour and be among the first to taste the 2020 vintage of Albany Post, the orchard’s first 100 percent estate-made cider that’s back sweetened with ice cider.
Be sure to stick around on both days for live music and good eats. You can groove to the irresistible Billboard hits rendered by The 70s Project (Saturday 12-4pm) or the ethereal pop vocals of Yellsmiles (Sunday 12-4pm). Bring a picnic blanket and lounge on the lawn while you feast on internationally inspired fare from the Spicy Food Truck or the orchard’s own wood-fired pizzas—either pair perfectly with a classic cider donut from Aye! Oh! Donuts.
And no trip to the orchard would be complete without a glass (or two) of crisp cider straight from the source. Grab a pour from the orchard’s Give Back Cider Tap and help the American Cancer Society boost breast cancer awareness. A dollar from each pint sold through September and October goes directly to the organization.
Admission to Angry Orchard’s Community Harvest Fest on Saturday and Sunday, September 18 and 19 is free. The Specialty Apple Picking Tour is weather-dependent and tickets can be reserved in advance here.
