Jackson County Apple Festival
The Jackson County Apple Festival is an annual festival dedicated to the apple held in Jackson, Ohio, United States. The festival was created to promote Jackson County's leading agricultural product, which at the time was grown by over forty farms in the area. The Apple Festival is held on the third weekend in September. The festival starts at noon on Tuesday and ends on Saturday night. Starting on the Saturday before the festival, downtown streets (Broadway St. between Water St. and Walnut St.; Main St. between Columbia St. and Portsmouth St.; and Pearl St. between Church St. and Portsmouth St.) are closed in Jackson. They are reopened by 5:00 pm on Sunday. In the spring of 1937, a group of members from the Jackson Chamber of Commerce decided to create a festival that would help promote the county's leading industry. The Apple Festival has been held annually since 1937, but was silenced from 1942 to 1945 during World War II & 2020 caused by COVID-19 pandemic. The Friday night home high-school football game, at Jackson High School during the week of the festival, is dubbed "The Apple Bowl." Several parades are held during the festival. A school parade is held on Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday evening is the Opening Parade. Thursday at noon is the Pre-School Parade. The Saturday night "Grande Finale" Parade is the festival's biggest event, with over 70,000 people attending, and has a claim as "the largest lighted parade in Ohio." The parade annually includes local dignitaries and politicians, neighboring festival royalty, and invited high school marching bands from across southern and southeastern Ohio and northern West Virginia; as well as "floats" from each of the elementary schools in and around Jackson, which depict the annual theme of the festival. The Budweiser Clydesdale Horses have been a part of this parade two times during the 1990s. On September 21, 2001, The Ohio State University Marching Band (TBDBITL) performed a halftime field show at the Jackson High School football field, and that night marched in the Festival parade for the first time; the Ohio State Alumni Band has also made several appearances in the parade lineup. The U.S. Marine Corps Band appeared in the 2007 parade. Another long-standing tradition of the Jackson County Apple Festival is a pageant for the Apple Festival Queen. 1937: Jean Clark 1938: Alta Swingle 1939: Betty Richards 1940: Ruth Horton 1941: Helen Woodruff (World War II hiatus) 1946: Nancy Schellenger 1947: Pat May 1948: Ruth Ann Hixon 1949: Carolyn Conroy 1950: Phyllis Claar 1951: Marjorie Downard 1952: Shirley Walburn 1953: Melva Finch 1954: Edna Burton 1955: Phyllis Mullins 1956: Pat Richards 1957: Vivian Patterson 1958: Janet Corvin 1959: Beverly Varchmin 1960: Henrietta Fulton 1961: Paula Hess 1962: Carolyn Myers 1963: Barbara Sergent 1964: Janet Simpson 1965: Sue Surface 1966: Kathy Richards 1967: Linda Crabtree 1968: Brenda Dalton 1969: Lynn Morgan 1970: Connie Tucker (became Miss Ohio Festivals) 1970: Lin Schneider (replaced Connie Tucker) 1971: Jan Russ 1972: Drema Crawford 1973: Stephanie Davis 1974: Iris Wardlow 1975: Mary Rupert 1976: Noreena Maynard 1977: Tammy Baisden 1978: Susan Ridge 1979: Sheryl Tolliver 1980: Jill Martin 1981: Sharon Dearing 1982: Carla Cooper 1983: Lisa Humphreys 1984: Barbie Britton 1985: Tammy Hill 1986: Christina Hill 1987: Michelle Tackett 1988: Leigh Ann Cox 1989: Sarah Sheward 1990: Gwen Wood 1991: Jodie Brown 1992: Susan Moore 1993: Christy Warrens 1994: Marlana Malone 1995: Alicia Parker 1996: Bethany Hodge 1997: Nicole Fulton 1998: Julie Murray 1999: Sarah Williamson 2000: Kristi Sturgill 2001: Jenny Bragg 2002: Erikka Jo Alcantara 2003: Courtney Wills 2004: Rikki Atwood 2005: Shara Lahrmer 2006: Kayla McMillen 2007: Sarah Newkirk 2008: Candace Chapman 2009: Allyson Seitz 2010: Taryn Strawser 2011: Karena Fulks 2012: JoBeth Winchester 2013: Karleigh Atwood 2014: Logan Woodyard 2015: Maddie Campbell 2015: Lexie Webb (replaced Maddie Campbell) 2016: Tori Leonard 2017: Alyssa Proehl 2018: Briley Lusk 2019: Madison Strawser (COVID-19 pandemic hiatus in 2020) 2021: Kaydee Brown 2022: Abby Donley 2023: Abby Plants List of festivals in the United States The Official Jackson Apple Festival Website The Apple of Ohio's Eye - Aug. 31, 2005 Archived 2006-03-23 at the Wayback Machine WSAZ: Football Nights and Apple Delights - Sept. 18, 2007 Ohio Festival & Events Association Membership Britannica.com on Ohio culture, including Apple Festival