One of Sebastopol’s biggest events of the year is coming up, and you don’t want to miss it! This year’s Gravenstein Apple Fair will be held on August 9th and 10th at Ragle Ranch Regional Park. As always, it’ll have live music, food, and all things apple.

In addition to all that, though, it’ll have some new things this year too. One of those is the Artisan Tasting Grove: an upgraded ticket with special perks.  This ticket includes entry into the main fair as well as a special area under the shade of Ragle’s majestic oaks. In this area, ticket holders will have access to treats like cheeses, meats, breads and desserts from over thirty local farmers. Called the “moveable feast” by the organizers, this ticket brings the ordinary fair experience up to another level.

However, even if you don’t have an upgraded ticket, there will still be so many things to do at the fair. Want a pie, fritter, fresh-made juice or apple sauce? Take a stroll through the Apple Alley where dozens of apple producers and farmers sell their Graventstiens and other apple products. Interested in learning sheep shearing? How about sustainable food production? Head over to the Life on the Farm arena, where there will be ag-related presentations going on throughout the event.

The Gravenstein Apple Fair was founded in 1973 by the Sonoma County Farm Trails as the primary fundraiser for the organization. Sebastopol was known as the “Gravenstein Apple Capital of the World”, and had more than four-thousand acres of apple orchards planted at the time the fair was founded. Today, that number has been cut in half, as apple production has declined and wine grapes have become far more popular. However, this event still exists, as a celebration of the town’s apple-filled past.

One of the most exciting events this year is the Great Gravenstein Bake-Off, which will be happening on Saturday at 1:30 pm. In this event, local pro chefs will face off to win the title of Best Gravenstein Apple Pie. Hosted by James Beard-Award winning local foods champion, Clark Wolf, this event is sure to delight.

In addition to all the fun activities planned, the Sonoma County Farm Trails, which organizes the Apple Fair, is working hard to achieve the goal of producing zero waste. While that sounds like an ambitious goal for such a large event, the fair might just get close. With staffed “Zero Waste” stations littered (pun intended) all throughout the park, the fair organizers think that they can reduce the amount of waste by 95%. 

Overall, this year’s Gravenstein Apple fair looks like it’s going to be great, so come on out to Ragle Ranch Regional Park on August 9th and 10th! This year’s fair might just be better than ever before.