Apple Harvest Day takes over Dover

If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, what can you fend off with 100,000 apples? The 23rd annual Apple Harvest Day celebration in Dover will feature enough apple-based products to satisfy the Seacoast’s sweet tooth for an entire year. But the daylong event on Saturday will offer more than fruit. A diverse array of musicians, handcrafters and animals will provide entertainment for around 25,000 visitors in downtown Dover.

The Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce will host the event from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 6. Entertainment at this year’s festival will include Tri-Star Gymnastics & Dance, the Extreme Air jump rope team, dancers from the Seacoast Irish Cultural Association, animals from Wildlife Encounters, the Country Cloggers dance group, the Travelin’ Barnyard live animal exhibit, carnival games and pony rides. Jody Gourlay will sing and tell stories, and Marcus Gale will do the same with the aid of his puppet crew. Merchant’s Row and Crafter’s Alley will be filled with 150 booths for area handcrafters, while children’s activities will fill Henry Law Park.

The festival will also feature plenty of live music, highlighted by a performance from roots rockers Pondering Judd. Local musician Aaron Katz will produce a day of music at Café on the Corner on Central Avenue, featuring Liz Parmalee, Justin Peterson, Greg Townsend, The Dejas, Katz and an open jam session. Other musical acts include a women’s a cappella group called Sounds of the Seacoast, a 16-piece swing band called Good Mem’ries and performers from the Bell Center for Music & the Arts and the Cocheco Arts & Technology Academy.

Early risers can start the day with a pancake breakfast served by Dover Kiwanis at the Cocheco Falls Courtyard at 8 a.m. Opening ceremonies will follow on the courtyard stage at 8:45 a.m., featuring host Mark Ericson from WOKQ, along with Dover Mayor Scott Myers and Federal Savings Bank president Don Hatt.

An apple pie contest sponsored by WOKQ will be judged at 11 a.m. in the courtyard. Members of the public are invited to enter the contest, which will be judged based on taste and overall appearance. All entries should be brought to the courtyard between 9 and 11 a.m. Prizes will be awarded to the top five contestants in the adult (15 and older) and youth (ages 5 to 14) divisions.

As if that weren’t enough, the Dover Chamber of Commerce will be selling official Apple Harvest Day koozies for just $3. Official ones, mind you, not those cheap imitation harvest koozies. The Chamber will also be hawking Apple Harvest T-shirts for $10 and cinch backpacks for $5.

As in years past, Federal Savings Bank is underwriting the Harvest Day celebration, and a number of area businesses are sponsoring the event or offering items for a raffle. Raffle tickets are $1 each or six for $5, and the drawing will occur on Tuesday, Oct. 9.

More information is available at the Dover Chamber of Commerce Web site at www.dovernh.org or by calling 603-742-2218. Registration forms for the pie contest can be downloaded from www.wokq.com or picked up at Harvey’s Bakery & Coffee Shop or the Chamber office, both on Central Avenue.