44th Four Flags Area Apple Fest to kick off

If you have a craving for a fresh apple pie, you can get your hands on one at the 44th annual Four Flags Area Apple Festival.

The festival is set to kick off at 3 p.m. in Niles on Thursday. Festival rides will open at 4 p.m.

“There’s just so much going on all weekend. Lots of different contests for people to participate in and win money too," said
Pat Teeter who is Secretary on the Board of Directors.

It all started back in 1973 in downtown Niles as a way to celebrate the harvest and has only grown from there. Each year thousands of people come out to the festival.

“There’s a lot of apples here. We have them in our apples products tent along with apple butter, apple dumplings, apple turnovers, just about anything you can think of. Apple pies and a lot of the contests are centered around the apples,” Teeter added.

There will also be free entertainment and apple-type competitions. Some of the competitions include apple peeling, apple pie baking, or apple seed popping. To get into the festival, it is a $5 donation that goes to fund the festival for the following year.

For a full list of festival events, click here.