SHELBURNE — Apex Orchards looks to provide a peachy keen good time this weekend with its annual Peach Fest.
The event, to be held Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., will provide attendees with the orchard’s own peaches and catered, peach-themed cuisine.
“We’re absolutely thrilled,” Apex Orchards Manager Courtney Basil said of the festival’s return. “We’re lucky because everything can be kept outside, since that’s what I think most people are comfortable with.”
Peach picking will be offered in the orchard both Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Apples will also be available to pick during that time frame each day.
To accompany its peaches, Apex Orchards has also invited local food and drink vendors. Local beer will be available for purchase from noon to 4:30 p.m. courtesy of Hitchcock Brewing Co., and each day there will be a different caterer. Caravan Kitchen will sell peach paninis on Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and Good ’n Toasty will sell peach pizzas on Sunday until their tent runs out of dough.
The festival won’t be short of celebratory entertainment, either, as tractor-drawn trailer rides will run all weekend and live music will be performed. Catch a local jazz musician on Saturday and a rock/country band on Sunday.
While Basil is hoping for some other, smaller vendors to join throughout the weekend, Whispering Pines Farm is confirmed to be present and selling textiles. On Sunday, local author and Greenfield Recorder freelancer Tinky Weisblat will lead a peach-themed cooking demonstration and sign copies of her cookbooks from noon to 2 p.m.
Peach Fest will follow Centers with Disease Control and Prevention mask and vaccination guidelines, Basil explained. Those who are vaccinated are not required to wear masks outdoors. If guests are inside to buy items in the farm store, Apex Orchards asks them to don masks.
“We are asking people to wear masks inside,” Basil said. She added, however, that guests won’t need to go inside the farm store for anything relating to Peach Fest, as all activities will be outdoors and peaches are available outside.