The Johnny Appleseed Festival

According to the calendar, Autumn officially arrived on September 22nd. But in reality, the Fall season began in the Fort Wayne area the weekend before, with the 43rd annual Johnny Appleseed Festival. Held every year on the third full weekend in September, The Festival is the official kick off of Fall around here!

Full of delicious food, unique crafts, antiques, and even part farmers market, The Johnny Appleseed Festival honors the legendary John Chapman (aka Johnny Appleseed), who is actually buried here in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In case you're not familiar with him, "Johnny" went around planting apple trees all around the eastern part of U.S. in the early days of America. A little known fact about Johnny's apples is that they were used mostly for making hard cider instead of for eating! 

The Johnny Appleseed Festival is probably my most favorite time of the year. Not only do I love a good festival, and Fall in general, but this festival holds a special place in my heart. When I was in grade school, my church and school had a booth at Johnny Appleseed that I worked for several years! Dressing like a pioneer is a requirement to work The Festival and it was always so much fun to steal away in your pioneer woman dress and bonnet and go play in the creek with your friends.

This year, we had an extra special visitor to The Johnny Appleseed Festival! Mo Rocca from CBS Sunday Morning (and My Grandmother's Ravioli) came to Fort Wayne to film a segment for Sunday Morning and partake in all things apple! Centered around his grave in Johnny Appleseed Park, The Festival offers plenty of food made from apples, from Apple Dumplings to Apple Pancake Roll-Ups. They even have the world's best Ham and Bean Soup (and cornbread!) It's not been released yet when the episode will air, but I am keeping my ears open! My mom and I ran into them filming all over the festival, so who knows, we may be in a few shots!

Even if it's ninety degrees out (like it was this year!), this festival just gets you in the mood for Fall! Everywhere you look there are pumpkins, apples, and mums! The sound of bagpipes, drums, and cannons fill the air and the smell of campfires permeate everything! I dare you to visit the Johnny Appleseed Festival and NOT want to go home and make caramels, drink cider, and decorate your home for Fall!

Some of the "pioneers" hard at work cooking up a batch of caramel corn!

Here's Mo and the crew filming!

I couldn't resist this bucket of wooden gourds! I had to get one!

Fall abounds everywhere you go at The Johnny Appleseed Festival!

Johnny Appleseed Park is actually a campground the rest of the year. It's a really beautiful area.

Every year we get at least one of these ceramic mushrooms. My goal is to have a whole little forest of them like this!

The farmer's market area is perhaps my most favorite part. It's full of gorgeous flowers like this!

And this! You can purchase bunches of them and make your own bouquet!

I loved these wooden witches!

And the matching ghosts! I wish I would have gotten them now! Next year!

There are just so many cool crafts at the Johnny Appleseed Festival!

Of course, stopping by the grave of the man that started it all is required!