Waynesville Apple Harvest Festival 2026

Oct 8, 2026 · Heath Brown

An image of vendors and a lot of people on Depot St. looking towards the band and mountains.

The 38th Waynesville Apple Harvest Festival is Saturday, October 17, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in downtown Waynesville. Admission is free. On Depot Street, we’re hosting a stage with three bands, a bar pouring cold beer and wine all day and Bevel Bar cocktails starting at noon, and a row of local makers set up along the street.

Main Street will hold most of the festival’s 180-plus booths. Depot Street is where you come to sit down, get a drink, and hear some music.

When and where is the Waynesville Apple Harvest Festival 2026?

The festival runs Saturday, October 17, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., along Main Street in downtown Waynesville. It’s free and open to everyone. The Haywood Chamber of Commerce has run it since 1988, and it’s always the third Saturday in October.

Expect local apples by the bushel, cider, pies, and more than 180 arts and crafts booths. Our stage sits right in front of our shop at 41 Depot Street. Depot Street slopes downhill from there, so the street works like a built-in amphitheater. The music sounds good from anywhere on the hill.

This is a town we’ve built our shop in for more than a decade, in a building that has been a café, a typewriter repair shop, and a bottling facility since 1908. Festival day is one of the few days a year the whole town shows up at once. We like being on the street for it.

Who’s playing the Depot Street stage?

Three acts play the Depot Street stage on October 17, starting at 11 a.m. The music is free, and you can bring a drink from any participating business in the social district.

11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Shane Meade
12:15 to 1:30 p.m. Big & Dunn
2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Arnold Hill

Afternoon set times may shift a little on the day.

Shane Meade

Shane Meade grew up in Elkins, West Virginia, borrowed his dad’s guitar in 2000, and has been writing and touring ever since. He now lives in the mountains of Western North Carolina. His sound sits somewhere between soul, folk, and blues rock. On October 17 he plays solo, with an occasional special guest on sax.

Big & Dunn

Big & Dunn is a new ’90s country cover band, and October 17 is their first public show. You may recognize a few faces from other bands around here. If you heard a truck radio in 1994, you know more of these songs than you think.

Arnold Hill

Arnold Hill formed in Jackson County in 2011 and took its name from the road in Sylva where the band lived and practiced. They play alternative rock with Americana underneath and three-part harmonies on top.

They put out three new releases earlier this year: “Utah Mountain,” “Replace,” and a cover of R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion.” That’s the place to start before the show. The catalog runs back through the 2024 singles “Lost Hiker” and “Ghost,” the Controlled Burn EP (2023), How to Run (2021), and Back to Life (2019). All of it streams on Spotify and Apple Music. Listen to Arnold Hill on Spotify before you come. They’ve played our building before, and we were glad to ask them back.

An image of the band Arnold Hill on a staircase outside.

We’ll pour cold beer, sodas, and wine from the start of the festival. That includes Edmund’s Oast Apple Cider Doughnuts, a 5% blonde ale from Charleston with notes of cinnamon and apple compote. At noon, Bevel Bar opens with our new fall cocktail menu, which is about when the day starts needing its edge taken off.

An image of the Edmunds Oast Apple Cider Doughnut ale and can.

This is also the first Apple Harvest Festival under Waynesville’s permanent social district. Town Council approved it in June, and it runs Thursday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. That means you can buy a drink from a participating business and carry it through downtown, including Main Street. Our bar at 41 Depot Street is inside the district boundary.

A few rules keep it working:

Drinks have to come from a participating business with an ABC permit. No outside alcohol.
Every drink goes in the official social district cup, marked by the business that served it.
Not every shop allows drinks inside. Look for the social district sign in the window before you walk in.
Finish your drink before you leave the district or get in a car, and that includes a bike.

The town posts the full rules and the district map on its social district page.

Who are the vendors on Depot Street?

Nine local makers and shops set up on Depot Street, apart from the 180-plus booths on Main Street. You’ll find original art, custom woodworking, handmade and boutique clothing, small-batch soaps, preserves, and spice blends.

Greg Vaeth. Original artwork of the mountains in watercolor and pen and ink.
Jack Hall Art. Original artwork drawn from the landscape and character of this region.
Waynesville Wood Lab (Dylan Roberts). One-of-a-kind wood pieces, functional and custom, made here in Waynesville.
Plain Jane Glory (Julianna Taylor). A local sewist who tailors clothing and turns vintage quilts, blankets, and tea towels into new, useful pieces. Old favorites, given another run.
Penni Street Soap Company (Cam & Napha Pennington). Small-batch soaps, body balms, scrubs, and beard oils, made in North Carolina by a teacher- and veteran-owned business.
Copper Pot & Wooden Spoon (Jessica DeMarco). Preserves, pickles, and pantry goods made by a brother and sister. They’ll have samples out.
Spice Witch (Sabrina Hill). Spice blends with real heat behind them, for the dishes you already cook.
94 & Main (Audrey Catoe). A locally owned shop with gifts and finds you won’t see everywhere else.
Soul Sisters Depot (Chelsea Ramsey). A downtown boutique with fashion, gifts, and plenty of personality.

A lot of it was made by the person behind the table. That’s the kind of company we like to keep on our street.

Where do you park for the Apple Harvest Festival?

Park in the free parking deck behind the courthouse, on Branner Avenue. Circling downtown for a spot on festival day is a good way to lose an hour.

Get here early if you want apples. The big NC apple tent on Main Street tends to sell out, and a bushel is easier to carry back to the car before you’ve picked up a drink. For food, head up to the food trucks and vendors on Main Street, or sit down at one of the downtown restaurants.

What’s next on Depot Street? Awl Hallows Eve

Two weeks after the festival, we host our fourth annual Halloween party, Awl Hallows Eve, on Saturday, October 31, from 7 p.m. until late, at Bevel Bar, 41 Depot Street. Tickets are $10, and guests must be 21 or older.

Expect costumes, Halloween cocktails, live music, and food, plus a few things better left unexplained. Dress like you stepped out of an old photograph or crawled out of a forgotten graveyard. Either works.

Get your Awl Hallows Eve ticket.

Come find us on Depot Street

Waynesville once ran one of the largest tanneries in the country. Today the leather gets cut and stitched by hand at our bench, and on October 17 the street outside fills up with neighbors who make things too. That’s the part of the festival we like best.

Step inside the shop and see what we make. We open at 10 a.m. and stay open until at least 5 p.m. Grab a drink, find a spot near the stage, and stay for Arnold Hill at 2:00. Come see us at 41 Depot Street.

Sources

Learn More About Apple Harvest Festival

Waynesville Apple Harvest Festival 2026: Live Music, Drinks, and Local Makers on Depot Street

Waynesville Apple Harvest Festival 2026

When and where is the Waynesville Apple Harvest Festival 2026?