Olde Tyme Apple Festival Offers A-Peel-in Family Fun
at Central Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks

LAKE OF THE OZARKS, MO. -- Along with autumn leaves and cooler temperatures, one sure way to tell it's fall is to enjoy some good old-fashioned family fun at the Olde Tyme Apple Festival in Versailles at Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks.  The 27th annual celebration of the apple harvest will take place Saturday, Oct. 7, in and around Versailles.
  
Truly a festival with something for everyone, the Olde Tyme Apple Festival once again was voted “Best Festival” in the 2006 Best of Rural Missouri Readers Choice Awards, a statewide poll of the publication's 450,000-plus readers.  The event typically attracts about 30,000 visitors, and it's no wonder, with the wide array of activities and entertainment offered.  
   
“There's a lot going on throughout the day, starting with the parade in the morning,” says Festival Chairman and grocer Steve Yoder.  “A good family atmosphere is what we strive for.  We've also added a few new things this year.”  That includes the demonstration area, which will feature chainsaw sculpture, glassblowing and a blacksmith, Yoder says. In addition, motocross races by Tooth-N-Nail Racing will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Morgan County Fairgrounds, sponsored by the Versailles Lions Club.  Admission will be $7; free for kids age 10 and under. “This event was so popular at the county fair this summer we decided to bring it back for our festival,” Yoder says.  “It replaces the demolition derby we have offered in the past.”
   
More than 400 booths around the town square will offer crafts, including many apple-related items. After all, the core of the festival will be the apple, in terms of apple pie contests (baking and eating), an apple pie auction, the crowning of the Apple Festival King and Queen and the selection of the 2006 Baby Dumplin', Apple Dumplin' and Apple Darlin'.
   
In addition to apple treats, more than 40 food booths will offer tasty enticements from turkey drumsticks to burgers and brats, kettle corn to roasted corn on the cob, funnel cakes to cotton candy and much more.
   
Children will have a special play-place at the Fun Zone on North Monroe Street, featuring bounce houses, face painting and special kid-sized activities.  The annual parade, always a highlight, will begin at 10:00 a.m. at Highway 52 through downtown Versailles. “We're looking forward to some creative parade floats based on the festival theme, The Wild West,” Yoder says.  Four stages will feature non-stop music from gospel and jazz to country and blues starting at 12:00 noon.
   
As always, the crowd-pleasing Olde Tyme Fiddler's Contest is sure to fill the Royal Theatre starting at 2:00 p.m.  “Contestants come from all over Missouri, from children through seniors,” Yoder says. “The organizer is a fiddler himself and he invites all the top fiddlers from around the region.”
   
The popular Car Cruise and Sock Hop will be held Friday evening at the B&B Drive-In. On Saturday, visitors will have a chance to check out nearly 200 vintage and classic cars and up to 50 motorcycles at the Car Show at City Park.  “People come here from throughout the Midwest to show off their prized cars and motorcycles,” Yoder notes.  Prizes will be awarded for several classes.  Old tractors and other farm implements also will be on display at the park.
   
Other festival events will include a two-mile walk, a 5K and 10K Run and a 10K Super Senior Run; a carnival at the Morgan County Fairgrounds; free tours of the Morgan County Historical Society Museum; and several performances of a revised version of the classic football musical “Good News” at the Royal Theatre.  For $1, festival-goers can ride trams on loan from the Missouri State Fair from the parking lots to event sites.
   
“This year it seems like we're getting a bigger response than ever before.  Booths are selling out faster,” Yoder says.  “As a result we want to encourage people to arrive here before the parade starts at 10:00 a.m.”
   
To find out more about the Olde Tyme Apple Festival, as well as other Lake-area festivals, accommodations, dining, attractions, shopping and more, contact the Lake of the Ozarks Convention and Visitor Bureau at 800-FUN-LAKE or visit www.funlake.com or www.versailleschamber.org .

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