About Applefest
Each year Tenbury Wells, The Town in the Orchard, celebrates the Mighty Apple with a one day event held on the Town’s Burgage Recreational Area. (WR15 8SF). Over the past years the event has grown from being in the streets of Tenbury, The Round Market and the car park to its present home on The Burgage.
Late May 2013 the Applefest Team were asked by Malvern Hills District Council, its primary grant provider, to make the Event self funding; this was achieved and has continued to be so.
All about the Apples!
The main focus of the Event is the Apple Marquee with in excess of 250 varieties of apple on display thanks to Frank P Matthews Ltd. There is Apple Juicing from Appleteme, an opportunity to turn some of your apples into juice to enjoy at a later date. Visitors are invited to bring clean apples, about two supermarket bags worth, along with clean containers and the team will do the hard work.
Marcher Apple Network are on hand to offer advice and also to identify apple varieties for you. 3 clean examples of a particular variety should elicit a naming.
Enjoying the day
We appreciate that our visitors like the traditional fayre style of approach to the Event and we honour this with demonstrations from local crafts people, family entertainment and the shopping village where it is possible to go away with unique items to savour or to start your Christmas shopping!
Each year Applefest starts with a Window Dressing Competition where the retailers in the Town dress their windows based on an Apple theme; judging takes place in the week running up to Applefest and prizes and certificates are presented on the Friday.
Tickets, Parking & Info
We offer wristbands to those attending Applefest in order that they may go into Tenbury Wells and view the windows, take in the History of Tenbury and enjoy the unique, Independent shops, Cafes and pubs. (Please ask at the gate).
- Gates open at 10am-4:30pm
- Disabled parking is available in the main carpark.
- Overflow carparking is available on the nearby Palmers Meadow
- Dogs, on leads at all times, are allowed on site but we ask that they are kept away from the food stands.
Read our FAQ’s page for more information
Annual General Meeting 5th March 2025
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Applefest on 5th October 2024 welcomed more than 1,511 visitors through the gates to a very happy and sun blessed day. There was a tremendous atmosphere of fun and good humour by all the participants, entertainers and visitors.
I give my sincere thanks to the committee who worked hard throughout the year to ensure the event worked smoothly and without hitches. Elizabeth Allen-Vice Chair, David Downward-Secretary, Tony Gould Treasurer and Jane Barnes who took on everything else!
The roles of site layout, the printed program and advertising, the Apple Trial, the town window dressing competition, bookings, health and safety, insurance, equipment hire, regional posters and banners and accounting were executed by the enthusiastic and diligent committee. We reached the maximum safe capacity for the Burgage, and this will be our guide for the future. Thank you to all who participated in these tasks.
We work very closely with local businesses to ensure they are represented, and where able to participate and many who provide sponsorship. Thank you for all your support and the help that you give us.
The set-up team worked from Thursday through to Sunday fetching and carrying and erecting stalls and equipment. Included was Ian Little, who quietly and without fuss provided and laid out all the electrical cables necessary for many features of the day. My thanks go to all of them for carrying out these often stressful tasks with a smile and diligence. We shall be looking for additional and younger help in this coming year. I promise you!
On the day itself, many additional helpers were required to marshal the parking and steward the entrances and generally assist where necessary throughout the day. This was all done with willingness and a cheery smile. Car parking continued to be a major issue for us, and we are persisting in exploring ways to address this difficult situation, which we believe is the only major negative issue to the whole event.
Our income exceeded expenses, and we have a safe balance in the account to allow for a possible poor or washed-out event in the future. Owing to the generosity of many people in past years Applefest has hired in very little extra help. However, the committee is well aware that as they and the key personnel get older, additional and younger help is becoming a necessity. If this means paid labour and services, it will influence the accounts in the future.
2025 Applefest will be on the 4th of October, and we look forward to it, and hope you do to.
Thank you for your support for the Tenbury Applefest.
Anton Schooley,
Chairman, Tenbury Applefest Association
5th March 2025