Tehachapi community leaders, residents, farmers and the public from surrounding communities, gathered on Oct. 6-7 to celebrate the annual harvest of the apples. The apple-themed event raised money for some of Tehachapi’s charities, like Our Hope Chest, Tehachapi Boy Scout Troop #3, and Make-A-Wish Foundation. This was Tehachapi’s fifth consecutive Apple Festival.

The family-oriented event centered around activities throughout the weekend. Children could take advantage of the all-day access pass to a variety of bounce houses.

On Saturday, there was bobbing for apples on a string, the apple pie eating contest, a vintage wooden marionettes performance, as well as a mobile petting zoo provided by Windswept Ranch. The event also featured the shell of a real plane owned by local resident, Ken Heigi, where children could sit inside of the cockpit.

On Sunday, an apple pie bake-off was underway by mid-noon. The day’s festivities included a central location for its Apple Drop contest, where hundreds gathered around to watch the red apple foam painted balls drop from a crane at 2 p.m. The Jackpot was worth more than $1,000 and awarded to contestants whose apples came closest to the target. There was also a classic car show and almost 80 vendors lined up and down Green Street, which offered a variety of apple concessions, foods, drinks and items for purchase.                                                                                                                                                                                                 It was also a year of firsts. It was the first year that children took part alongside adults in the Apple Pie Eating Contest, and one child ate a pie quicker than all of the adults. The Apple Festival also introduced its first marionette performance with David Steelereed. The Bakersfield College alumnus, who is a marionettist and owns a collection of vintage marionettes, reintroduced the dying art into local performances tailored for children and adults. Tom Siembieda, 62, who entered his 1959 GMC DF860 “Cannonball” into the Classic Car Show for the first year, won first place.

Attendance for the festival was up, and vendors were almost to full capacity, according to the festival’s coordinator Linda Carhart.