Two Virginia Apple Butter Festivals

Skyland! A snitter's paradise! On Saturday, September 21, there will be held the 14th Annual Apple Butter Celebration at Skyland Resort from 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM. The Apple Butter Celebration is a one-day festival at Shenandoah National Park and it is one of the biggest ones held at the park's Skyland Resort. Freshly made apple butter, apple crafts, apple food …. apples are just everywhere! Celebrate the apple harvest as the staff sets up the copper kettles and stokes up the fire for a day of apple boiling. Apple varietals such as Jonagold, Red Delicious, and Rambo are boiled in kettles to make the festival's apple butter.

By now you’re wondering what it means to "snit". Snitting a peeled apple consists of quartering it, scooping out the core and seeds, then halving the quarters and putting them into a bucket. It takes nine bushels of apples to yield 32 gallons of apple butter from just one kettle. Event organizers plan to make six kettles of apple butter in all. Experts say no two kettles taste the same, as the mix of apples and spices is a little different in each one.

Watch the process, give the kettle a stir and try a delicious sample. Then take home some fresh-from-the-kettle jars of apple butter. There will also be live entertainment featuring the Hi-Horse Cloggers and Narrow Path Blue Grass Band, face painting, pony rides and crafts for the kids and wine tasting for the adults. Local crafters will be on site with their handmade items. Delicious foods featured are Apple Smoked BBQ, Grilled Chicken with an Apple Salsa, Granny Apple Cole Slaw, Apple Cobbler plus hot and cold Apple Cider.

For three weekends in October, Graves Mountain Lodge will be hosting its 44th Apple Harvest Festival. Enjoy fun-filled days complete with Graves famous food, live Bluegrass Music & Cloggers, Arts & Crafts, Hay Maze & Hay Mountain, Hayrides, Horseback Rides, Pick your own Apples and tour the family's working educational farm, visit the animals and more. Experience farm days of yesteryear, watch kettles of apple butter cook over an open fire. Date(s)/Time: Saturday, October 05, 2013 - Sunday, October 06, 2013 (10:00 AM-4:30 PM) Saturday, October 12, 2013 - Sunday, October 13, 2013 (10:00 AM-4:30 PM) Saturday, October 19, 2013 - Sunday, October 20, 2013 (10:00 AM-4:30 PM)

If you can’t make it to one of these great festivals, you can still get some perfectly spiced and incredibly smooth Graves Mountain Apple Butter from us!