Julian Apple Days Festival

I really liked it. It’s a such nice place… the event gives you a special weekend of fun.

Exactly what previous reviewer said (Wish we had looked at this prior to wasting our money). We got robbed paying $ 5 per adult for absolutely nothing. Go to downtown Julian instead and grab a warm piece of pie and take a stroll down main st.

Why didn’t I find this review sooner? Seems as though nothing really changed in the last year… based on Rianne’s review.
First thing first, don’t rely on your GPS to get you here because there’s no cell phone reception up here what so ever.
Yes, the location is still behind Menghini Winery and No i don’t understand how or why there was such a huge crowd when we left.
We got here around 10:30 angela wanted to be the first 500 people to get a free apple slicer/​server… yes we made it but it wasn’t the first 500 people, it was the first 500 families HAHA 1 per family, sorry… even if you’re not related… if you came together it still count.
So lets see there was 1 lemonaide/​roasted corn booth, 1 funnel cake booth, 1 sandwich booth, a few jewelry booths, a pony ride, a tractor ride, lots of nic-​nacs booths and that pretty much covered the festival.
Oh wait i forgot about the games. lets see the kids had face painting, there was a ‘corn-​struction’ area, the cheerleaders had a dime toss where they were giving away random cups.
Oh wait let me see, Julian Hard Cider also had a booth where they were selling a sample cup for $ 5 bucks and a bottle for $ 10. The guy said. I’ll give you the special… $ 20 bucks for 2 bottles and a sample cup! alright that doesn’t sound so bad i guess until i went into town after the festival and saw the liquor store selling the same bottles for $ 5.99! What a freaking rip!
skip the festival and just go straight to downtown. you’ll get all your apple fix there.

I pretty much agree with the previous review. It’s a very small event, almost guaranteed to disappoint you if you are used to larger festivals. There are some vendors with interesting products, some food, and activities mostly for children.
I was expecting something small based on the previous review, but also expecting more food variety, especially more pie! I couldn’t believe there was only one pie booth. Was it worth the $ 5 entry fee? Not really. Do I regret going? Nah, it was still a half hour well spent, supporting a local small town.
If you do decide to go, I recommend wearing closed-​toed shoes since it is on a dirt lot. I spent a lot of time trying to get the grit out of my sandals while walking around. Parking is free, and yes it is a bunch of teenaged boys directing traffic, but I think they did a fine job keeping the gravel lot well organized and accident free.

Quotes from another user: «Subsequent annual celebrations would attract upwards of 45,000 people.» Apparently, this has grown so big that they had to spread the Julian Apple Festival over TWO days!
Not really! It was a big BIG disappointment. That is for sure! First it was on a dirt lot. They charge 5.00 entrance fee. And you step in, you are instantly disappointed. Where are you? Someone’s back yard? No, this can’t be the fair? Can it? But yes, you are in a very small dirt lot with very few vendors and lacking on FUN. Apples? Where are the APPLES? I thought they were going to have everything made up of some apple concussion. NOTHING! Well, okay just the occasional apple pie.
If you want to get more variety in apples you had to go into town. $ 5.00 paid for nothing.
Don’t bother going to the fair. Just enjoy your day and stay in town and from what I heard they always have apple pies. So, better if you go when you don’t have lines to wait.
Over all very disappointed. Not going back to the fair. Yes, to Julian!
Mom’s apple pie really good, a place you should try.

So another year has gone by, and nothing has changed.
I was very disappointed by Julian’s Apple Days Festival 2010. Everyone working the fair was unfriendly and rude, including those who worked at the Winery. The fair was pretty empty, and when I approached a few booths I was given the cold shoulder as if the workers were too busy watching the day go by to speak with me.
The most disappointing part was the lack of apples. There wasn’t even a booth to buy apples. The only good part about the whole festival was a booth of sweet older women selling delicious apple pies.
I would never recommend this fair to anyone, good luck Julian, maybe it’s time to find a new «schtick.»

This event initially started in 1909, newspapers proclaimed initial estimates from 200‑2000 people, in attendance. And quoting the website, «Subsequent annual celebrations would attract upwards of 45,000 people.» Apparently, this has grown so big that they had to spread the Julian Apple Festival over TWO days!
Wow. This could be big! Maybe not something as big as Del Mar Fair, but, pretty big. With a $ 5 cover for adults, it really sounded like a deal and I’m always down to support of local businesses and small town events.
The first initial sign that something was awry was when I called Menghini, where it was being held, to find out the details of the festival. The guy that picked up the phone was super friendly, but swore he didn’t even have any info on the apple festival.
What do you mean you don’t know what time it started? You’re gonna potentially get thousands of people! Stranger, yet, there wasn’t any info on the Menghini Winery website!
But, figuring it was someone who was misinformed/​new/​whatever, I continued on my quest to attend this annual festival. I even dragged my mom and brother with me.
Can I tell you how DISAPPOINTED I was?!? First of all, parking traffic was directed by a bunch of Julian HS football players. I don’t trust teenagers to drive. How am I going to trust them to direct traffic? And, the parking lot itself didn’t even look like it could hold 500 cars, much less accommodate 45,000 people! Maybe the Julian Merchants Association miscounted and included everyone in town, on Main St, as well.
And, yeah, there were food booths. There were also charity booths. There was a whole lot of ‘used’/antique/junk items-​for-​sale booths. Weirdly enough, there were probably just as many port-​o-​potties as there were booths, all together.
How bad was it? Chula Vista’s Lemon Festival was actually better than this. And, I thought that was lame! At least, that festival was FREE.
We stayed less than 15 minutes. Geez, did I ever waste $ 15! I could have bought another one of Mom’s pies! After this disappointment, I’ll never want to check out another festival, in Julian, again.
Well, at least, we got pies!