09/21/2026
With Apple Festival 2026 complete and many of us have had a few minutes to reflect back on how truly amazing it was, we have some thoughts we would like to share with you. To say this year’s festival was a success, I feel, is an understatement. Successful festivals don’t just happen on their their own. Therefore we would like to share a few of our thoughts.
First of all, we want to thank everyone who volunteered to help at any point throughout the weekend. There is no way we could count, let alone name everyone who stepped up to lend a hand in any way. Unless you have had the opportunity to watch what goes on behind the scenes of a festival, fair, or any other large community event, it’s hard to imagine just how many people it takes to run a successful event. We are blessed with some of the best. Many of our volunteers say yes when we ask for help without hesitation. We were lucky to have had several new committee members and event chairmen. We look forward to many more years of working with them.
Thank you to every business, family, and individual that donated money or a prize, bought a raffle ticket, or patronized a vendor. As much as we would love for it to be otherwise, it takes money to put on our festival. You have never let us down. With that being said, we want to give a special shout out and thank you to every business and family who bought a basket or pie at our yearly auction. The cookie basket auction is our most important money maker. A large portion of our expenses are paid for by the auction. Words cannot express how much we value each and everyone who purchased a basket or pie. Not only did you contribute to our ability to put on another festival next year, but you contributed to many worthwhile community organizations. Griggsville is the winner in both ways.
To our vendors and food trucks, wow did you show up for us or what? Our square was full of vendors, many of whom have never been here before. We had so many our electrical equipment had last minute upgrades and most likely more coming before next year. What a positive issue that is for us. We sincerely thank each and every one of you for coming to our festival. Visitors may come to a festival for the entertainment or pageants, but they stay because of the food. Thank you, again.
The youth of our community deserve a huge thank you as well. The boys basketball team helps setup and tear down our seating and stage. On a weekend as hot as it was this year, they deserve an extra thank you. The Scout group not only ran a Scout Box derby, they also were in charge of cleanup and trash duty. They also manned a food stand. They were low in numbers and some had other Scout obligations that made other challenges for them, but they persevered and made it through. During tear down last night, there were a handful of kids that stayed until all was completed. That my dear community, is your future Apple Festival Committee. They are being taught about the importance of serving your hometown by watching the adults in their midst.
We would be remiss in not saying thank you to all of our visitors and parade participants. It would have been so easy to just decide to stay home where it was cool. While crowd attendance was down slightly, the parade itself was a huge success. Every band and most every single entry showed up! The number of people who walked the parade route just to end it by walking up the west end of the boulevard, still has me shocked and more than a little impressed. We thank you so much.
While this year presented several challenges for us. We were, for the most part, able to find alternative ways to solve the problems. We have 12 months to find answers for those outstanding problems.
In looking forward to Apple Festival 2027, please mark your calendar for September 17th & 18th. The committee has already been discussing plans for the next year. If you would like to join our committee,
please keep a watch on our FB page for our next meetings. We welcome anyone who like to join us.
Again, thank you to everyone from the bottom of our hearts. You are appreciated in more ways, and by more people, than we will ever be able to fully express.
Until next year,
GAF Committee
