I loved the Warwick applefest !! I'm From NYC so I've been to a lot of street fairs and this was one of the best because of the setting upstate was so nice how the whole little town was set up for the festival with tons of different kinds of food and tents selling things as well. I wasn't sure if the festival was dog friendly but we brought our dog anyway and ended up finding that there were so many dogs there and even booths set up with treats, bandanas, and even a greyhound rescue group all set up in the festival ! We got our little guy a a doggie cupcake and had an amazing time ourselves eating all things apple themed and beyond. read more

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Ok, I'm putting this somewhere in the middle. I understand the reviewers who are frustrated with the crowds. 2014 was packed! There were some booths that I could barely get to or I just couldn't get to at all, some 3 or 4 ppl deep. For this reason, it drops the enjoyment level dramatically. I waited in a long line for cider doughnuts (well worth the wait), but they kept running out of batter and simply could not keep up with the demand. I did make a few purchases and get to see some booths, but I didn't stay long.The crowding does wear on you. For me, parking wasn't so bad as I followed a few local folks into the neighborhoods and just parked in front of people's houses and walked in. They probably hate that, but it's just one day. Ultimately, they have explained why they won't extend the days/hours and you just need to be prepared that this is going to be a packed event. If you do make the trek, go early, and I mean be the first people there (you'll get doughnuts faster! lol). Park over in a neighborhood and walk in, then it will be EASY to get back out when you are ready to go. Forget the lots. Or, you can just take in the local sites like Ochs Orchard for apple picking, GWL Garden center has fresh cider doughnuts and I'm sure other locals can add venues to that list that you can go in lieu of the crowds. I would suggest Sugarloaf, I bet it will be nice and calm there, and you can get your shopping experience w/o all the crowding. Anyway, just my two cents, but I hope this helps someone. read more

I was so looking forward to Applefest 2012 as I had never been before and heard great things. Basically, it was a huge cluster-you-know-what. We could barely move without bumping into someone or being bumped into. The lines at the food tents were all a 10+ minute wait, and the vendor tents were so crowded you had to elbow your way up to the front. Multiple vendors had run out of hot apple cider when we arrived around noon (it opened at 10am and ran until 5pm.. seriously??). The line for the ATM was out the door and around the corner. Main Street was NOT closed to traffic, so the sidewalks were completely gridlocked with people as cars zoomed by and people with double-wide stollers tried to push their way through. I wish I could have enjoyed this festival, but we spent the whole time trying to squeeze our way through crowds to find some breathing room. Severely disappointing! I would suggest making the festival a weekend-long event instead of just one day - that might help to evenly disperse the giant crowds. read more

Warwick Applefest - Swarms of people - Festivals Near Me - Warwick, New York

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I'll give the experience an overall 2.5 rounded up to 3. I have been to a few of the orchards in and around the Warwick area and was searching for a new orchard to go apple picking at on the morning of October 1st. I was surprised to find out about Applefest. I saw that this was the 29th year and that it attracts 30,000?! visitors per year. That alone seemed like bad news since the Applefest is only one day!!, not a week, or a weekend, but one day!! Now Warwick isn't the biggest of town, so.....Im thinking 30,000 people visiting Warwick over the course of 9 or so hours would be a mad house....and I was kinda right. We figured since many people would rush and get there early in the morning and early afternoon, we would leave NYC around 1:30 PM to get up there for about 3 PM. At that time with only 2 hours of the festival remaining, the crowds should thin out. Our plan kinda worked. We got up the area but there was a sign prior to getting on 17W that the road was gridlocked and advised us to take 17 instead, which we did. Taking 17 kinda took us up and around making the trip longer. Thinking back now, I would think that sign was from earlier in the day and that 17W wasn't as bad at that time. Anyway, once you get to the area, you have to decide on a few parking locations. You can get there super early and snag the available street parking spaces before the roads close. If you are there when the sun rises to get these spots you will have to park in the the lots and take shuttle buses. There are 2 schools in the area where you park in their lots and a school bus shuttles you back and forth to the fest. The fee for parking is either $5 or $10, depending on which lot you choose, but given that we arrived at the lot at around 3:10PM, they said that they weren't collecting and fees as it was late in the day. SCORE. The school buses (Cheese buses) ran frequently as we had just missed one and didn't wait longer than 5 minute for another to arrive. The buses run until 6 PM which was good since the Applefest goes to 5 PM. The drivers, both going and coming were nice and I didn't realize until I was getting off and didn't have time to fish in my pockets but there was a TIP box there. Be mindful of the buses that you are taking as they have different drop off and pick up spots; Green, Red and Yellow routes. By the way, the parking lot to the Applefest was about 1.5 miles away, so its walkable. Some people were doing just that. Once we arrived we noticed that despite it being 3:20ish, the place was packed. As many other reviewers have said, this is more of a giant street fair and had little to do with apples. There are lots of food and merchant vendors just as you would find in any street fair. There were some companies as well trying to get you to sign up and giving away free balloons etc. Lots of port a potties. Once you reach the park, there is a small carnival area with a few kiddie rides. The rides are ticket based and you will have buy tickets in the front. The park itself had live music playing and had a standard children's playground which was nice. By the time 4 PM rolled around, the place had emptied out a bit. I kept wondering what the place would be like a few hours earlier. Overall it was interesting as most street fairs are. But the insane amount of crowds make it hard to enjoy. If you go, early on or very late are your best bets. I would imagine showing up between 10 AM and 2 PM would be madness. read more

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Disappointed this year. The father/son team of soft, warm, delicious cider donuts were not here this time read more

Warwick Applefest - Festivals Near Me - Warwick, New York

Uhhhh, are you people fucking kidding me? You guys are the reason that Yelp gets a bad rap for being a constant bitchfest. This is a popular, long-running festival in the Hudson Valley centered around food--do you expect it NOT to be crowded? Do expect all of the vendors to be completely different every year, for all the food stands to save their most popular items all day for you, and for space in the middle of the busiest intersections of the festival to magically clear up just because you happened to walk that way? Good for you if you decide to shlep up from the city for the day. But the people up here (myself included) don't really care; either have realistic expectations or don't bother coming. Ironically, this area is best experienced when it's quiet, so maybe come another time. Now for a proper review. I've been coming to Applefest for most of my life. My Mom used to drag me as a kid but I still go now as an adult. There are a lot of quality vendors that do this festival year after year along with some new people who do cycle in every year. Whether you like primitives, antiques, or some other kind of crafts, odds are there will be something for you to see and potentially buy. Some favorites include the Ukrainian couple selling art sculptures, the old man who makes belts by hand (wearing one of his as I type this), and my Mom's favorite: a stained glass vendor that only does this and a small handful of other shows due to her health. In addition, they moved some vendors from the Church in the front to the playground in the back; while the real reason is that the Church wanted people off their lawn (not like this event brings $ into the village or anything), it ended up creating a row of food vendors and people selling antiques off their doorsteps on the street connecting this playground to the main fair area. This is pretty cool and is actually one of my favorite parts of Applefest now. On to the food. Don't bother hitting Eddie's Roadhouse during Applefest. Eddie's is a great place but it's normally packed during regular weekends; it's a shitshow during Applefest. Stick to the food stands or take a drive afterwards somewhere nearby; pretty much any restaurant in the immediate area will be packed and not at its best. For the food stands I am partial to the pierogis; then again I'm part Polish so I am genetically predisposed. As you could expect by the name, Applefest has lots of apple-oriented foods--including apple cinnamon pierogis from the same stand. The zeppole stand is also a standout, as is the pesto stand (although that's for take-home). For drinks, there are a lot of cideries and more selling bottles for reasonable prices. There's also a craft beer shop in town that sells brewery swag to passers-by. The wineries/distilleries etc. in the immediate area are usually packed this weekend (best to visit another time), but Pennings Farm inside Warwick (but further out past Price Chopper) had a beer garden along with their own homemade hard cider, and they don't seem to pack out. If you want to stay real close this might be a good move; otherwise there's a number of other nearby breweries/wineries/cideries/places to get drunk in a short drive that have popped up in the last few years (thanks Cuomo!) and are very much worth visiting. Applefest isn't perfect but it remains my favorite festival up here. I would normally only give this 4 stars, but I'm bumping this up to 5 just to counteract the dogshit reviews posted here now. read more

Best festival all year. Can't wait to take my babe !!! Apple / pumpkin picking, just everything. Whole town closed off for this and Yes there's a skatepark there!!!!!! Woo read more

Best festival of the year! People are crazy for not liking this, great food and vendors. Nice to enjoy the outdoors before winter comes too.

If you enjoy walking, walking, and MORE walking PLUS being pushed around by crowds of people then this is the place for you! My advice: Stay HOME!!!! read more

It was a beautiful day. Lots of happy faces. Dancing feet and cheery smiles. Loads of talented artists displaying their wares. I enjoyed the bursts of aromas from the variety of food vendors from crab cakes to lobster rolls and ox tail dishes. Homemade apple pies and cookies and muffins. Specialty pretzels and craft beer and wines. Wide arrangement of musical groups. If you like to people watch well my eyes went home smiling. Enjoyed my day. read more

WHAT A MADHOUSE! This "Apple fest" has nothing to do with apples. It was really overcrowded we walked from one end to the other nut to butt. Not kid friendly at all. Very disappointed. Total cash grab. Sad. read more

Cute town but when you hear 'Applefest' you would think everything would be about Apple...But actually there was almost nothing Apple there except a few cider booths and funnel cake booth with candy apples in it. A little disappointed. read more

Too crowded and too cold for a fest today...! This year is a stay home year. Skip the apple fast especially if you have kids. Only 50F out there. This year a nice bowl of hot cream of pumpkin or cream of tomatoes soup - it will do it. read more

So many people and the same vendors every year. Parking is horrible. Can't get in or out of town. They say no dogs but everyone brings one. Sorry but one time is enough read more

If you like walking amongst large crowds , you will like this event . Getting there is easy if you arrive early , otherwise the traffic back up is not worth it by late morning . Parking can be a major issue once the streets and pay parking areas are full. I get it , this is a one day event , rain or shine . Food Vendors need to be busy if this event is worth their time. But , the costs of the foods and what you get are a complete rip off with some food vendors . Stay away from the gyro stand , 10 bucks for a gyro with next to no meat on them. Another stand where they make all kinds of bread type items approx. 4" X 5" with things like cheddar and onion on them or chocolate chips or Cinnamon Raisin at $8 bucks a piece are not worth it or are they anything to write home about. Always ask price before you buy and look at what they are giving people before you buy. 3 stars because it's a nice way to kill a few hours , with lots of crafts although pricey. Some live entertainment on site . Crab cake vendor is worth the line wait and priced fairly at $9 for a very good fat crab cake on a bun . Pies are not worth the $14 bucks they charge. So if you arrive early and able to park , careful on what you buy , it's worth your time. read more

WAY too crowded. The space is simply not large enough. It was impossible to access food or even walk comfortably. Traffic and parking was a nightmare. It was worse than trying to get a drink a bar that's 3 people deep. Every single tent was like that. Will avoid this and hence, all other festivals held in the downtown location of Warwick. read more