LIBERTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — While things got wet down in Casey County, it didn’t put a damper on the Casey County Apple Festival. The festival is celebrating its 50th year, and while some events have gotten pushed back because of the weather, organizers say that this show is going on rain or shine.
The festival’s chair Deva Hair has been coming to the festival for the last five decades. She says she wants people to still come out and enjoy the family affair.
"I think you should come on down and enjoy the festival and you can look forward to seeing all the people and all the events that we’re gonna have because we moved everything that we could to tomorrow and everybody will be part of it and we have so many free events that the kids will love,” says Hair.
The festival’s annual apple pie was put into the oven downtown like it is every year. It’s estimated to weigh around 3,000 pounds.
You could hear a loader coming down the streets of Liberty carrying the tradition that's been in the making for 50 years.
Terri Scott, who volunteers for the festival, says, “Everybody that is on the committee, the board and everything we all work together as a family we all volunteer our time, and we just do everything we can to make it successful and try to make it bigger and better every year."
The annual apple pie goes into this specially-made oven.
Another festival volunteer, Larry Wilhelm, explains, “It’s really neat because a lot of people set up their vacations comes from different states. It is pretty amazing."
Wilhelm has been overseeing this project for more than 20 years and Scott more than seven years. This pie is 10 feet across and weighs thousands of pounds. Wilhelm and Scott say it takes between 80 and 100 bushels of apples to make.
"I cook it around 12 hours, but the oven the blower will stay on all night to get the temperature back down to around 100°,” says Wilhelm.
This pie is being loaded on Friday and will be in the oven for the next 24 hours as the Casey County Apple Festival continues around it.
In celebrating 50 years of this festival no one expected this type of weather. But they’re not letting the rain break their tradition. Wilhelm wants people to enjoy the huge pie when it comes out on Saturday. He says, "Well, I’m the one that does the cooking so I’m happy if they’re happy."
There will be around ten musical acts here, more than 200 vendors are expected, and Saturday when the pie comes out it'll be a free treat for the more than 10,000 people this festival is expected to draw. Hair explains a lot of planning goes into the festival, and it would be hard on the vendors and acts to reschedule.
"It is very important. It’s important for our vendors because most vendors have a yearly schedule and it would be simple for us to say we could do it another day, but it’s not simple for them because they already have their plans made, and the vendors are all very happy that we’re continuing with it,” says Hair.
Despite the weather, this weekend is about family and having fun. Scott says, "We just look forward to it every year and we just want everyone to be happy and come out and have fun."
