The Streets Come Alive As Apple Harvest Festival Opens
- Philip Thibodeau
- Oct 5
- 2 min read

Crowds gathered downtown under cloudless skies Friday evening and all day Saturday to celebrate the 56th Southington Apple Harvest Festival.
Among the many centers of attention Friday night were two Connecticut artists. Blacksmith Dyami Kelly-Clark traveled from Shelton with his portable forge and tools to offer live demonstrations of the art of metalwork:

Meanwhile singer-songwriter Morgan Chambers took to the main stage to perform her repertoire of guitar ballads:

The line at Zion Lutheran's apple fritter booth wound around the corner with anywhere from 50 to 100 customers waiting to place their orders at any given time:

Work in the fritter booth can be hot and less than glamorous:

Nevertheless, volunteers do it to build community, raise funds, and provide patrons warm bits of delight.
Arts-and-crafts enthusiasts were presented a wealth of choices. Tents in front of First Congregational were aglow with jewelry and other creations:

The galleries at SoCCA were also buzzing as customers from all over the state eyed paintings, pottery and other crafts:

To be sure, not everyone in town was on the lookout for fritters and crafts Friday night. At the high school gym, for example, girls volleyball was taking part in Dig Pink, a charity tournament designed to support breast-cancer research:

On Saturday the festivities continued. Vendors packed the space at the American Legion hall. Southington author Michael Robling was there promoting his dinosaur-world fantasy novel The Tyrant King:

Next to him Emily of Emily Rae Crafts was peddling her handknit pieces:

Most of the adjacent parking lot at 22 Main was occupied by an obstacle course created by Plainville-based Grit ‘n Wit. Teams of contestants were greeted by Josh, who explained to them how to make their way through the course while solving a mix of mental and physical puzzles:

Whether day or night, a K-9 unit from the Southington Police Department was on hand to keep watch over the lively but peaceful festival.

For more photography by CT Drone Source, see this link.