Apple Day & Apple Weekend: where and how to celebrate

The apple is a firm favourite in the British fruit bowl, but peel back its humble exterior and you’ll realise that the apple has a huge part to play in our culture and the ecology around us.

Launched in 1990 by the charity Common Ground, Apple Day was intended celebrate the beloved fruit’s diversity and heritage.

The first Apple Day was held in the old Apple Market in London’s Covent Garden, bringing fruit back to the market after 16 years absence. The event brought together apple growers and nurseries; cider makers and juice pressers; illustrators and writers.

Celebrated on or around the 21 October every year, the ‘apple weekend’ has become increasingly popular, encouraging people to organise their own events and bring together families, schools and communities.

This year you’ll find a string of Apple Day events throughout October (scroll to the end for details).

If you want to host your own event, the apples themselves must be the stars. We’ve picked out a few fun activities and recipes to help you find some inspiration to host your own event.

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Activities for Apple Day

Here are three fun activities to celebrate Apple Day.

Printing with apples

To make the blocks, cut the apples in half in both directions, to get either a circle with a star or a classic apple profile with a stem. Add in a few crab apples to give yourselves different sizes to choose from. Use paint from ready-mixed sample pots, painting the surface of the apple with a brush, and pressing it firmly down on to a piece of card.

Longest apple peel competition

This game can be won twice over: by the person who cuts off the longest, unbroken peel and by the person who guesses the longest apple peel before they’re hung up. There’s a superstition that if a single woman tosses the peel over her left shoulder it will land in the shape of the first letter of her future husbands name.

Apple bobbing

This game, often associated with Halloween, dates back to Roman Britain. It was the Romans who introduced the apple to these islands. The tree represented the Pomona the goddess of fruitful abundance and fertility, and on her feast day they would bob for apples, with the first unmarried person to bite one becoming the next person who would be allowed to marry. Today it sorts the brave from the squeamish, especially if you tie arms behind the back to stop cheating.

Recipes for Apple Day

Apples can be used to make both sweet and savoury dishes and should of course, be accompanied by local pressed juice and cider. Many people have a favourite apple recipe that they’re willing to make and bring to share. If you want to keep it simple, a big cauldron full of pumpkin and apple soup, followed by slices of apple cake (see recipe below) is a tasty way to please the crowds.

More like this

Apple cake

• 6 cooking or eating apples
• 1tbsp ground cinnamon
• 400g (plus 5tbsp) granulated sugar
• 345g plain flour
• 1tbsp baking powder
• 1tsp salt
• 240ml vegetable oil
• 4tbsp orange juice
• 21/2tsp vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs
• 130g walnuts, chopped (optional)
• Icing sugar and dried apple rings to finish

Peel, core and chop apples into 1-2cm chunks. Toss with cinnamon and 5tbsp of granulated sugar, set side. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. In a medium bowl whisk together the oil, orange juice, 400g granulated sugar, vanilla extract and eggs. Stir wet ingredients into dry ones. Stir in the walnuts if using.

Pour half the batter into a buttered 25cm cake tin. Spread half the apple chunks over it. Pour the remaining batter over the apples in the tin, arrange remaining apples on top. Bake at 180ºC/350ºF/Gas 4 for 1.5 hours, or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool completely before removing from tin. Dust with icing sugar and dried apple rings.

Toffee Apples

• 200g golden granulated sugar
• 1tsp white wine vinegar
• 125ml maple syrup
• 25g butter
• 6 small, sweet eating apples, washed

Dissolve the sugar in 100ml water over gentle heat. Add vinegar, maple syrup and butter. Boil for 5-10 minutes, until thickened to a caramel. Push a stick into each apple and dip it to coat with caramel (warm caramel if it begins to thicken too much). Allow to cool.

Mulled Cider

• 2 litres good-quality cider
• 1 apple (for decoration)
• 6 cloves (stud them into the decorative apple)
• 3-4 star anise
• ¼ a nutmeg, grated into the pan
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 vanilla pod, halved
• Juice and zest of 1 orange
• Juice of 2 clementines
• Juice and seeds of 1 pomegranate
• 4-5tbsp caster sugar

Pour cider into large pan on low heat for a few minutes. Add the apple and all spices, and juices, and turn up the heat. Once boiling, turn down to a simmer and leave to tick away for 5-8 minutes. If you are doing this on a fire, you can raise the pan a little further away from the heat to cool to a simmer.
Add more sugar to taste.

Pumpkin and Apple Soup
Serves 6

• 2 onions, peeled and chopped
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 500g pumpkin, skinned, seeded and cubed
• 2 baking apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 570ml vegetables stock
• 300ml dry cider or apple juice
• 2 sprigs fresh sage
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat oil in large saucepan. Add onions and garlic, cook for 2 minutes, then add the pumpkin, chopped apples and sage. Cook for another 2 minutes, season well and add stock and cider or apple juice. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the ingredients are tender.
Liquidise and serve piping hot.

Apple, Leek and Stilton Tarts
Serves 6

For pastry:

• 350g plain flour
• ½ tsp salt
• 170g butter cubed
• 1 egg
• 2-3 tbsp cold water

For filling:

• 1 medium leek trimmed
• 1 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 medium dessert apple, unpeeled, cored and cut into 8mm cubes
• 3 large eggs
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ tsp grated nutmeg
• 225g Stilton trimmed of rind and crumbled

Rub the butter into the flour and salt until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg and using a knife stir in just enough cold water to bind the dough together. Wrap in cling film and chill for 15 minutes. Roll out, cut into discs, using a saucer as a template, and press into the pre-greased muffin tin. Leave to rest in a cool place for at least 1 hour. Bake blind at 170°C/Gas 3 for with baking beans for 20 minutes, then bake empty for 5-10 minutes, until golden brown. Leave to cool.

Cut the leeks into strips and wash, drain and cut again into 6mm x 15mm bits. Heat butter in a heavy skillet and add the leeks and apples. Cook over a medium heat, stirring, for about 5 minutes, then let cool. Lightly beat the eggs and add the salt, pepper and nutmeg. Distribute the leeks and apples evenly between the tart shells. Sprinkle the crumbled Stilton between the apples and leeks. Pour the custard over the top. Bake at 150°C/300°F/Gas 2 until the custard just sets in the middle, about 30 minutes.

Events for Apple Day

Keep an eye on your local church hall and social groups for Apple Day events taking place near you this year and you can find many more on the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) website.

Apple pressing day at Lyveden, Northamptonshire

Learn about the special varieties of apples Lyveden’s orchard that are particularly good for cider making. You can also have a go pressing apples yourself.

There will be four demonstrations throughout the day at 11am, 12.30pm, 2pm and 3.30pm.

Event is included in the admission charge.

15 October 2022. Lyveden New Bield, Lyveden PE8 5AT, nationaltrust.org.uk

Heritage Orchard Days at Brogdale Farm, Kent

It’s harvest time at Brogdale Farm, which is home to the National Fruit Collection and hectares of orchards filled with heritage apple, pear, plum, quince and cherry trees.

During the weekend visitors can enjoy orchard tours, juice pressing and sampling homemade ciders. Included in the ticket price, visitors will also be able to harvest their own apples and pears to take home.

15-16 October 2022. Brogdale Farm, Faversham, Kent, ME13 8XZ, brogdalecollections.org

Apple Day Weekend at the Newt, Somerset

The Newt is Somerset is celebrating its harvest of apples with a host of events across Apple Day Weekend (22 and 23 October). There’ll be apple games, cider tastings and tractor tours through the orchards, plus live music and a hog roast. You can even bring along your own apples and have them pressed or simply try The Newt’s Icy Cyder made from apples that have been pressed and frozen before thawing to produce an amazingly zingy flavour. Apple Day is free for all members of the newt.

22-23 October 2022. The Newt in Somerset, Bruton, Somerset BA7 7NG, thenewtinsomerset.com

Apple tasting weekends at Acorn Bank, Cumbria

Sample a range of rare, heritage apples from Acorn Bank’s orchards and learn about what makes these varieties so special.

This event is included in the admission charge.

Every weekend in October 2022. Acorn Barn, Temple Sowerby, Penrith CA10 1SP, nationaltrust.org.uk

For more inspiration for autumn days out, read our guide to the best gardens to visit in autumn

You can also get ready to celebrate the season with our selection of the best outdoor Halloween décor for your porch or front garden.