The Downtown Ithaca Alliance hosted the 28th Annual Downtown Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival this past weekend on the Commons, bringing together Ithacans, tourists and students to enjoy various apple-related activities, as well as to ring in the fall season. 

The three-day festival, which started Friday, attracted an audience of approximately 30,000 to Downtown Ithaca and featured more than 150 individual performers, according to the Downtown Ithaca Alliance website.    

 Food and crafts vendors transformed blocks between Seneca and Green streets with artfully decorated kiosks. From the two Taste of Thai stands to Galina’s Perogies, a diverse range of cuisine was sold, despite the festival’s specific name.  

“I came today for the Purity ice cream and apple crisp,” said Kayla Jacobs ’13, who attended the festival with a group of friends. “We went last year and that’s what we got, and it was the best ever. So, we came back for it.”

Returning festival goers noted that the weather was significantly nicer compared to previous years. 

“This weekend is generally sunny and warmer — a perfect day for apples!” Alexa Hilmer ’13 said. 

In addition to vendors, groups such as the Suffer Jets roller derby team set up tables to spread awareness about their organizations and causes. Cornell University also had a strong presence at the festival; partnered with the organizers of trash collection for Apple Festival, representatives from Cornell Cooperative Extension distributed fact sheets about composting. A box of composing worms was prominently displayed at the University’s kiosk.

Steve Austin, a member of the Cornell Cooperative Extension and a graduate of the University’s Master Composter Program, said he met a lot of people who already compost but were seeking additional information regarding the composting process.

“We talk not only about the methods of composting, but get into discussions with people about social aspects of composting. For example, how does composting affect your neighbors?” Austin explained. 

A block down, food sciences majors gave out free samples of three types of Mott’s apple sauces that the University processes for research purposes at the plant in Geneva, N.Y. 

Some Cornellians, however, attended the festival with only one agenda — apple pie.  A group of students competed in the momentous apple pie eating contest on Sunday, where participants raced to see who could eat most slices in two minutes. 

Bringing together new students and longtime residents, the Apple Festival is a “weekend celebration of food, fun, and the fall,” according to the Downtown Ithaca Alliance’s website. 

Students reiterated this sentiment. 

“[The festival] signifies the season, and fall is a great season,” said Andrew Lew ’12. “It is a very communal event for the city of Ithaca.” 

For many students, the event also provides an opportunity to leave campus and integrate with the greater Ithaca community. 

“Coming to Apple Festival, barriers [of the bubble] break,” Gabby Mauch ’12 said.  “There’s a buzz to Applefest: the music, the people, the excitement. Even though Ithaca is small, there’s so much culture.”