Weekend-long festival will feature free and ticketed events, including workshops, talks, demonstrations, and a market bazaar.
ELLSWORTH — The 7th annual Downeast Cider + Cheese Festival returns to Ellsworth on Friday, Nov. 8, through Sunday, Nov. 10. Hosted by the Heart of Ellsworth, the festival will once again offer a variety of events to honor the rich tradition of Maine’s historic apple and celebrate two traditional foods — hard cider and cheese.
The festival schedule will feature both free and ticketed events. This year’s signature event will be the Downeast Cider + Cheese Festival Bazaar on Nov. 9 at Crossfit Acadia, 249 Bucksport Road. The vibrant bazaar is an ADA accessible market where attendees can sample and purchase local craft cheese, hard and soft ciders, and specialty food products such as juice, crackers, sausage and more. There will be food trucks, an apple identification table, a raffle-style auction – activities for all!
VIP or General Admission tickets are available for the bazaar and can be purchased at heartofellsworth.org/downeast-cider-cheese-festival.
Other special events throughout the weekend festival will include:
- “Milk, Acid, and Time: The Basic Cheesemaker’s Recipe,” a cheese-making demonstration with Crystal Burke at the Ellsworth Public Library
- “Forgotten Fruit, Forgotten Farmers: Downeast Apple,” a talk with local apple historian, Todd Little-Siebold
- “Ferment Your Way to Flavor,” an apple preservation workshop with Jesse Steiger, owner of The Conscious Café
A full list of events, along with details, is available at heartofellsworth.org/downeast-cider-cheese-festival.
There will also be a special event at Fogtown Brewing Co. in Downtown Ellsworth the weekend prior on Saturday, Nov. 2 from 2-4 p.m. For $60, you can take home 500ml of freshly-pressed cider in a swivel-top bottle to drink fresh or ferment at home! Plus, get two general admission tickets to the Cider & Cheese Bazaar on Saturday, Nov. 9. Register on our website.
The Downeast Cider + Cheese Festival is the first event of its kind in the state of Maine. This year’s event is possible with sponsorship from Franklin Savings Bank, Down East Magazine, DownEast Acadia Regional Tourism, Crocker House Country Inn, and CrossFit Acadia.
For more information about festival activities and events, 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 as far away as California and China. Cider is now experiencing a renaissance statewide and nationwide, showcasing the amazing artisanal cider makers reconnecting us to our deep agricultural history.
Heart of Ellsworth is the newest nationally accredited addition to Maine’s Main Street program, having received the Main Street America designation in September. 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.
