How have I missed attending the Apple Festival at UBC for so many years?  What a truly fantastic family-friendly event.  Without a doubt the Apple Festival at UBC has joined our list of must do’s each and every year.

Like many events, it pays to arrive early.  We walked through the north gate at 10:05am (the doors open at 10am).  We started by lining up to purchase our tickets for the Apple tasting event.  The tickets are sold in half hour timeslots.  The apple tastings are super popular so go early – the crowds are less daunting.  The tasting is five dollars per person; children five and under are free.  The tasting is not to be missed.  Dozens upon dozens of apples are available for tasting.  You have half an hour to walk around and sample all of the apples and decide which ones you want to purchase to take home with you.  My favourites were: Spigold and Kidd’s Orange.

Recently Updated1In addition to the yummy apples a fantastic play area for the kiddies was set up.  From face-painting to jumping in a huge pile of leaves to arts and crafts there are activities for everyone.  Our boys had apples painted on their faces; made leaf headbands and galloped through the leaves.  The boys also got to bring home seed packets for bee-friendly plants; it took a fair bit of convincing before our kids agreed to wait until Spring to plant the seeds outside.

There are a multitude of food options at the Apple Festival.

While listening to fantastic musical performances you can snack on food from food trucks and vendor stalls.  We treated our boys to their first-ever candy apple.  Turns out it was my husband’s first one as well.  I am thoroughly baffled as to how he made it to 40 years of age without ever having gnawed on one.  The three of them devoured the candy apple from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.  I actually had a hard time taking this photo; they had eaten a lot of the apple before I could get my camera out.

Apple Festival at UBC

If you didn’t get to the festival today, not to worry, it runs tomorrow (October 19th) as well.  The Apple Festival is an annual tradition at the UBC Botanical Gardens; mark your calendars for next October.