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 Spring! The sight and scent of apple blossoms – a delight to the senses and the promise of trees groaning in rosy autumn splendour. It’s time for Cramahe Township’s Apple Blossom Tyme Festival.
In 1988, the first Apple Blossom Tyme Festival was launched in Colborne, Ontario, celebrating the birth of Spring and our apple roots.
The family oriented weekend long Festival has grown, based on the “small town” welcoming atmosphere of Colborne, the Apple Blossom theme, local heritage and our location on the Apple Route.
Through the efforts of dedicated volunteers, the Festival has evolved. Visitors from across the province flock to the Boy Scouts Pancake Breakfast, Optimists Apple Blossom 500 Soap Box Derby, Old-fashioned Spelling Bee, Saturday’s vintage Tractor Show and games and the Sunday classic car show.
There is something for everyone at the Festival held annually on the last weekend in May. – from pony rides to antique booths, from a midway to a book sale. Early birds waste little time buying up the homemade baked treasures, fresh from the ovens of the local church ladies. Families picnic in the shady cover of heritage Victoria Square Park, perfectly located in the centre of the village.
From the beginning, the Festival has been planned with children in mind. The first Festival, back in 1988, featured an original school play on the founding of Colborne. Rides and activities are geared to families wishing to savour the best of a rural village experience.
Young performers from local dance schools, sports clubs and vocalists have been showcased at the Festival. Northumberland Idol winners and the Colborne Red Hot Jazz Band, winner of a national gold medal in 2006, have become regulars, entertaining appreciative audiences at the Festival.
Every year new events come and go on the Festival scene. An entrance by “Queen Victoria” and her entourage, walking tours of local architecture, displays of blacksmithing and wool-spinning, pioneer competitions such as log sawing have enlivened various Festivals in its 20 year history.
The Apple Blossom Tyme Festival has seen many changes over the years but as it moves forward, it continues as a family festival for all ages. Its volunteer organizers continue their longstanding commitment to stage a first-class family-oriented Festival on the last weekend in May.
With two decades of Festival life, one thing hasn’t changed – the wonder of apple orchards in bloom. Apple Blossom Tyme has come to symbolize the end of winter and the promise of Spring.
It all starts with the blossoms!
Click to download: "Heritage Apples" PDF.
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