Tehachapi Apple Festival

Total of 5 booths that had apple related items. Don’t get me wrong, we enjoyed the cookie, pineapple and shaved ice booths. I was just hoping for more apple goodies. I was hoping it to be more like the cherry festival at Murray’s Farm.

The Tehachapi Apple Festival is a family-​oriented, kid friendly event. There are numerous bounce houses, make-​shift games, and a balloon-​crafty clown. Culinary options consist of typical fair food — nachos, hotdogs, BBQ, and tacos. Although families with younger children probably find the event worthwhile, I probably won’t return next year. An «apple» festival should have more themed products and activities. For example, we read that there would be apple bobbing and pie eating contests but didn’t see any of this taking place. I also expected to see more apple-​inspired goods, like dried apple baskets, dolls, pies, fritters, dumplin’s, etc. Furthermore, the entertainment was lacking, as we only heard one gentleman on guitar. Some lively bluegrass music would have been a fitting mood enhancer. Last, there were no alcohol venders, and I heard plenty complaining about this omission. Overall, the Tehachapi mountains, train depot, and local shops/​bakery are a great backdrop to an event, but organizers should put more effort into making sure that adults are as entertained as the kids.

I first heard of this Apple Festival when I went to a cooking class in Bakersfield and the instructor mentioned it… then over the past week, I read about it in the local Bakersfield online news website (s). I even went to the Apple Festival website to learn more.
This morning, I made my way to this annual Apple Festival to see for myself what this annual celebration is all about! About 45 min drive from Bakersfield, but hey — it’s worth a drive, as I’ve never been to Tehachapi before AND I wanted to check out a German bakery in town too.
I found parking in a local private lot and proceeded to walk about 5 minutes to the corner of Robinson & Tehachapi Blvd. The festival occupied the entire grassy area of the «Downtown Tehachapi /​Railroad Park» location.
— approximately 20 booths
— 5 – 7 food stands
— mini stage for music performances, local bands, etc.
— only saw 3 apple vendors (selling apples from a local orchard, selling apples jams/​pastries/​cookies, selling apple pies)
— the rest of the booths were selling small gifts, knick-​knacks
Noticed that people were parking all along the street and just walking to the festival… started to get more crowded after 11:20am.
There is a separate «for kids» section that included the carnival games/​blow-​up castles & slides, etc. I think you had to buy tickets for $ 1 for each ride, but I’m not sure about that part — just walked right past it!
It’s a fun little festival for the community. glad they’re able to have it once a year. Was it worth my 45 min drive out to Bakersfield this time around? Yes, as I was able to combine it with a visit to a local bakery + see the Railroad Depot Museum too. Would I drive 1.5 hour (round trip) next year for the festival? Probably not. :)
Thank you, Tehachapi for this apple-​licious experience!