3rd Annual Weekend of Family Fun at Apple Days

Kids eating applesHistoric Bethlehem Museums & Sites announces the third annual Apple Days weekend at Burnside Plantation, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, will be held on Saturday, September 10 and Sunday, September 11 from 10 am – 4 pm. The fall family-fun activities include apple bobbing as well as a variety of cooking and colonial demonstrations.  Always a favorite with kids and the young at heart, square dancing, donkey-drawn wagon rides, pony rides, barn and house tours, doughnut-eating contests, live music, and baking contests.

Indulge in delicious apple treats such as doughnuts, pies, dumplings, fritters and tasty cider as you enjoy Burnside Plantation’s 6.5 acres with warm fall colors as a majestic backdrop.

Pre-order freshly baked crumb topped or lattice topped apple pies, apple dumplings, and beautiful fall mums online at www.HistoricBethlehem.org or call (610) 882-0450 ext. 10. These are available on a first come first serve basis.

Enter your best apple recipe in the Apple Pie, Gluten-Free, or Kids Under 15 baking contest held both days between 11 am – 1 pm. Prizes will be awarded for 1st and 2nd place winners. For more information about the contest or to enter online, visit www.HistoricBethlehem.org.

New this year, bring your appetite for our doughnut-eating contest for kids and adults on Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m.  Learn how to make an award winning apple pie with Executive Chef, Michael Adams of the Hotel Bethlehem on Saturday, September 11 at 1:00 p.m.  On Sunday, Mary Grube, of Mary’s Kitchen and host of Easy Eats on WFMZ’s Channel 69, will showcase how to make a mouth watering apple celery salad, a perfect addition to any fall menu.

Enjoy hard cider tastings of Stella Artois Cidre, a gluten-free alcoholic beverage with crisp, mild dry apple flavors presented by Allentown Beverage from 12:00 – 4:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

Kids’ activities include sack races, apple stamping t-shirts, colonial dress up, creating a custom paper model of Burnside Plantation, kid and pet friendly bandanas, pine cone bird feeders.  The Native American Indian Museum will be providing two hands-on activities for kids to create their own totem pole and sand art designs.

Experience a wide selection of demonstrations:  cider press, high horsepower wheel, colonial cooking using old time apple recipes from Burnside Foodways volunteers, fabric dying by the Wildland Conservancy, and bee keeping demonstrations.

20140905_112725_Richtone(HDR)Purchase beautiful fresh fall mums at our Corn Crib Shop and a variety of delicious apple treats including apple butter, apple cider, apple vinegar, apple doughnuts, and other apple specialties.

Stroll through Burnside’s orchard and learn about heirloom apples including Rhode Island Greening, Spitzenburg, Roxbury Russet Rhode Island Greening, and Newtown Pippin.  Delight in live music from the Panther Players, 99 Stringz, Alex Gergar strolling accordion player, and enjoy dancing by Gas House Dance Hall.  Watch plein air artists from the Bethlehem Palette paint on site as they capture the beauty of Burnside’s gardens and orchard and visit with local crafters demonstrating and offer artisanal and functional decorative home offerings for sale.

Admission price to Apple Days is $5 per vehicle with free parking at 1499 Schoenersville Road.

Support of this event helps preserve Bethlehem’s Farm in the City, Burnside Plantation, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Burnside Plantation lies along the Monocacy Creek, six-tenths of a mile north of the Colonial Industrial Quarter, America’s first industrial park. Burnside Plantation is home to one of the few remaining high-horse powered wheels in the country.

Historic Bethlehem is a not-for-profit institution that brings to life three centuries of American history. Historic Bethlehem tells the story of a small town of great influence, home to some of our nation’s earliest settlers, to America’s first municipal water pumping system, and to one of the world’s greatest industrial companies. Historic Bethlehem is located in Eastern Pennsylvania, only a 1.5 hour drive from Philadelphia to the north and 2 hours west of New York City. Historic Bethlehem is an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution and is distinguished as a National Historic Landmark District for Historic Moravian Bethlehem. For more information please call 610-691-6055 or visit www.historicbethlehem.org.