Four-day-long celebration will feature tastings, presentations and workshops, and live music
ELLSWORTH — The sixth annual Downeast Cider + Cheese Festival celebrates two traditional foods — hard cider and cheese — and their Maine roots, as well as honors the rich tradition of Maine’s historic apple industry. The Downeast Cider + Cheese festival is the first and only event of its kind in the state and this year’s festival will take place Thursday, Nov. 9 through Sunday, Nov. 12 in downtown Ellsworth.
Special events throughout the four-day festival will include:
- A live concert with Bondeko, hosted in partnership with WERU Community Radio
- “DNA, History and Weird Apples,” an apple history talk featuring Cameron Peace, John Bunker, and Todd Little-Siebold
- Ticketed Cider + Cheese Tasting + Market events
- Apple pressing at Fogtown Brewing Company
- Cheesemaking Workshop
A full list of events is available at heartofellsworth.org/downeast-cider-cheese-festival.
The Festival’s signature experience is a guided cider and cheese tasting, taking place on Nov. 11. Tastings will be held at Desert Harvest in two separate seatings. After the tasting, attendees can explore the festival market with artisanal items from local purveyors, including hard ciders and cheeses featured in the tasting. Tickets are required for the tasting and can be purchased at heartofellsworth.org/downeast-cider-cheese-festival-tasting-market.
The event is hosted by Heart of Ellsworth with sponsorship from Franklin Savings Bank, Down East Magazine, Desert Harvest, WERU Community Radio, Ellsworth Public Library and DownEast Acadia Regional Tourism.
For more information about free and ticketed festival activities, visit the Heart of Ellsworth website at heartofellsworth.org.
Ellsworth has a long history of cider-making and drinking. This rich history is rooted in the local agricultural economy where every farm had apples for cider to drink and vinegar to preserve their food. In the earliest period of settlement, the apple trees that dotted the farmstead here were planted for drinking, to make cider, and not for eating. Ellsworth cider was shipped up and down the east coast and to as far away as California and China. Cider is now experiencing a renaissance statewide and nationwide showcasing the amazing artisanal cider makers who are reconnecting us to our deep agricultural history.
Heart of Ellsworth is a Maine Downtown Center Affiliate Program. The mission of Heart of Ellsworth is to promote economic, artistic, cultural, educational, historical, and environmental activities in the “downtown” area to provide a vibrant community for all residents, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and local government.
