Kimmswick Apple Butter Festival organizers are hoping this year’s event will be as big a boon to the city as the Strawberry Festival was in June.
The festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday throughout the town and will feature hundreds of vendors, music, food and, of course, sales of the Kimmswick Historical Society’s famous apple butter.
The Apple Butter Festival was canceled last year because of COVID-19.
“We are so excited about this one because it has been so long,” said festival director Connie Schmitt, who’s also a Ward 1 alderwoman. “We need it for the city and our vendors. We had phenomenal crowds at the Strawberry Festival, and we are hoping to have a weekend just like that for the Apple Butter Festival.”
Kimmswick canceled the Strawberry Festival in 2019 because of flooding in the town and in 2020 because of
COVID-19.
The 2021 Strawberry Festival attracted 35,000 people, and the town made $22,500 on the event, said Tammy Benack, Kimmswick’s city clerk and treasurer.
Benack said the town’s festivals make up about 80 percent of Kimmswick’s revenue, and in 2018, the last time both festivals were held, Kimmswick made $131,000 from them.
“When we didn’t have festivals, we cut our budget to the bare bones,” Schmitt said. “There was a spending freeze, no raises and employees had their hours cut. We have all worked together as a board to make sure we didn’t spend more money than we had, and we have made it through that. We received donations to help us through as well. We are hoping by our January budget, that it will be back to where it was before we had to cancel festivals.”
Schmitt said the town cut back on the number of booths this year to provide more space for social distancing to help curb the spread of COVID-19. She said other safety measures will be in place, but mask-wearing will be optional.
Schmitt said 5,000 jars of apple butter will be prepared for the festival and a pint jar costs $6.
The Kimmswick Historical Society keeps the profits from the sale of apple butter.
The Historical Society pays a company to make most of the apple butter, but society members make one big pot each day of the event, and festivalgoers are invited to the Apple Butter Shed on Market Street to view the product being made and even stir the kettle a few times.
A petting zoo, pony rides and bounce houses will be included at the event. In addition, the God’s Green Acre Association Horse Ranch, a nonprofit group, will have horses at the event.
“Kids will be able to pet the horses, have their picture taken with the horses and learn how to brush the horses,” Schmitt said.
Live music will be featured both days, with bands playing on the Elm Street stage. On Saturday, the Retro Band will perform, and on Sunday, Exit 180 will provide the entertainment. In addition, the Rockin Robin DJs will play music and karaoke next to City Hall, Schmitt said.
Parking
Roads leading into Kimmswick will be closed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.
Parking will be available on Hwy. K, weather permitting, or festivalgoers may park on the Windsor School District campus, 6208 Hwy. 61-67, in Imperial and ride a shuttle to and from Kimmswick.
There is a $5 fee to park at the Windsor campus with the proceeds going to the district’s band program. Limited handicap parking will be available at Windsor Elementary School on Sixth Street.
A map of major attractions is available on Kimmswick’s website at
cityofkimmswick.org. For more information, call City Hall at 636-464-7407.