On Sunday 20th October we’ll be celebrating the height of the UK apple season with tastings, kids apple craft, juicing and other apple delights.

Make some pedal powered juice with the The Orchard Project, find out how they’re working with community groups to ‘re-fruit’ Manchester, and how you can learn orcharding skills at a local community orchard!

We’ll also have apple crafts in the kids area, and the best selection of UK apples to taste!

What is apple day?

Apple Day was created in 1990 by Common Ground. The aspiration was to create a calendar custom, an autumn holiday. From the start, Apple Day was intended to be both a celebration and a demonstration of the variety we are in danger of losing, not simply in apples, but in the richness and diversity of landscape, ecology and culture too. It has also played a part in raising awareness in the provenance and traceability of food.

The UK has around 2,500 distinctly flavoured, coloured and textured varieties of apples. Regional apple varieties were developed to suit local climates and conditions, and often have fascinating histories.

The UK’s organic & traditionally-managed orchards are havens for wildlife and biodiversity. The last few years have also seen a surge in community orchards; rebuilding lost orcharding skill and improving access to fresh fruit. That’s a lot to celebrate!