Welcoming people back
Apple Blossom Festival set for May 25-30 with many favourites returning
Acommitted group of volunteers is preparing for the first Apple Blossom Festival since 2019.
The fast-approaching festival is set for May 25 to 30.
“It’s very exciting,” president Logan Morse said. “But with that comes a lot of stress. There are a lot of things to do in a very short period of time. …
“We’ve crammed six months of work into three.”
That work will be worth it once people start flocking to Kentville for the opening ceremonies on May 25.
This year’s festival will be the 88th edition of the event that started in 1933 when a committee of Annapolis Valley residents convinced the provincial government of a blossom festival’s value as a tourist attraction.
But it will be the first festival since 2019 due to the COVID19 pandemic.
In February, the board of directors decided to hold the festival after the province announced its phased approach to lifting restrictions.
This year’s schedule includes favourites like a dance party, antique car show, tractor pull, movie nights, a fireworks show, a children’s parade and the grand street parade.
And while the countdown to the festival has gone from months to weeks and soon days, there is still time to get involved, whether by being a vendor, entering a float in the parade or volunteering. More information is online at www. appleblossom.com.
“The more, the merrier,” Morse said.
One group already registered to participate in the grand street parade is the Shriners.
Shawn Buchan, a Cambridge resident and the potentate of the Philae Shriners of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, said Shriners have been involved in the parade for many years and it is one of the numerous parades the group attends across the region annually. He said the Apple Blossom parade has special meaning to him.
“It’s one of the bigger festivals,” he said. “It’s nice to have everyone from the surrounding areas, and throughout the province, come to our hometown.”
Parades help the organization stay visible and that has been harder since COVID, with many parades being cancelled. It makes this year’s Apple Blossom Festival parade more special.
“It’s nice to get back out,” Buchan said. “It also kicks off our parade season. It’s the first one of the year ... Everyone is excited.”
People will see Buchan in his brother Shane’s orange and purple Polaris Slingshot during the parade.
“We need to get back to normal, whatever our normal is going to be ... It’s great for the economy and it’s great to get out and spread our wings again.” Logan Morse Festival President
LEADERSHIP REUNION
Due to the later decision to hold the festival this year, some communities were unable to enter candidates into the leadership competition, so it won’t be held this year.
A reunion is scheduled for May 29. Morse said it is “really important” to have an event to carry on the long-standing tradition of the leadership competition.
“We thought it was a great idea,” he said. “It’s something that we would probably do into the future even with a leadership competition.”
Chantal Peng will represent the festival at its reigning Queen Annapolisa from 2019.
ECONOMY
The festival has attracted about 50,000 people in recent editions, and economic impact statements say it has a multimillion-dollar value to the region.
While fuel prices have soared to record highs in recent weeks, Morse said he doesn’t expect that will have a large impact on this year’s festival.
“I think ... there’s so much pent-up demand to have largescale, in-person events, such as this, that that will overcome a lot of the price issues.”
Buchan has a message for people wondering if they should get involved in events like this year’s parade.
“By all means, jump in,
please,” he said. “We need to get back to normal, whatever our normal is going to be.”
He called the parade and festival mainstays in the Kentville
area and throughout the Annapolis Valley.
“It’s great for the economy and it’s great to get out and spread our wings again.”