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Image(Ithaca, NY) The 27th Annual Downtown Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival will feature music, rides, arts and crafts, a twist on the Iron Chef Competition, Dunk the Police Officer, a concert at the State Theater, Hilby the Skinny German Juggle Boy, and the Apple Pie Eating Contest.  

The festival will be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, September 25, 26 and 27, 2009, on the Ithaca Commons.. Hours are 12:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Friday, and 10:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The festival is free and open to the public. It’s regularly attracts a crowd of about 30,000.

The 27th Annual Downtown Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival is sponsored by the Tompkins Trust Company and the Ithaca Times. It’s produced by the Downtown Ithaca Alliance. 

Two goals of the Apple Harvest Festival are to showcase the local culinary bounty found in and around Ithaca, and reduce the festival’s carbon footprint. This year’s festival does that in three ways.

First, more than a dozen area farmers will be selling a wide selection of the region’s finest locally-grown apples, and offering tips on how to cook and bake with them. Apple Harvest Festival favorites such as apple pie and ice cream, apple crisp, fried dough, kettle corn and many other foods and drinks will be available, as will wine and cider tastings, and something new this year… apple perogies. .

Second is a twist on the local Iron Chef Competition... an event made popular at Downtown Ithaca’s Chili Cook-off. Three local chefs will each be given baskets with the same locally grown and produced ingredients in them, and have one hour to prepare dishes that will be graded by a panel of judges. The competition takes place at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Bernie Milton Pavilion.

Third, the Downtown Ithaca Alliance is committed to reducing both the waste stream and carbon footprint of its events, and all Apple Harvest food vendors have agreed to use compostable dishes and utensils. Composting stations will be placed around the Commons and volunteers will help ensure trash is disposed of in the most environmentally friendly way.

Dunk the Police Officer is a new Apple Harvest Festival event. Local police and firefighters will have vehicles and equipment displayed on the 100 block of West State Street on Saturday September 26. Festival attendees can participate in several police and firefighting activities and demonstration. Information about police and firefighting careers will also be available. Ithaca Police Officers take their seat on the dunking booth, and members of the public can try to dunk them. Dunk the Police Officer is a fundraiser for the Tompkins County SWAT team, to help fund an upcoming trip to a national SWAT Team competition.

Hilby-The Skinny German Juggle Boy, Nate the Great, Radio London and the Vitamin L Chorus are among the many performers, bands and musicians scheduled to appear at the festival. Many performers will be strolling the Ithaca Commons during the three-day event, while others will perform at the Bernie Milton Pavilion, the Commons Amphitheater or the intersection of State and Cayuga Streets.

The popular Downtown Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival Apple Pie Eating Contest will take place on Sunday, September 27 at 1:30 p.m. on the Bernie Milton Pavilion. Kid’s rides and the Downtown Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival Craft Fair will return on Saturday and Sunday. They’ll be held on the 100 blocks of North and South Cayuga Streets.

Dubbed “The Queen of Children’s Music’ by People Magazine, the Laurie Berkner Band will perform an all-ages show at the State Theater of Ithaca at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, September 26. Tickets and more information are available on the State Theater website, www.stateofithaca.com.

The History Center in Tompkins County will also offer tours of haunted downtown on Saturday night from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Each guided “Spirits of the Past” tour takes approximately one hour. Tours will leave every 15 minutes from the Bernie Milton Pavilion. Tickets are required and can be purchased at the Ticket Center in Center Ithaca.

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