One of the largest and longest-running fall festivals in West Virginia is about to celebrate a milestone half a century in the making. The 50th Annual Apple Butter Festival returns to Berkeley Springs this Saturday and Sunday, October 11 and 12, promising a weekend packed with the sweet smell of tradition, the energy of community, and the excitement of something new.
Festivities kick off a day early on Friday, October 10, when the Craft Beer and West Virginia Wine Garden opens from 5 to 9 p.m. with craft breweries, local wineries, distilleries, food trucks, and live music in the courthouse lot. 
The golden anniversary theme, “A Kettle Full of Memories: 50 Years of Apple Butter Festival,” sets the tone for a weekend that’s as much about honoring the past as it is about making new memories.
The hometown parade launches the fun on Saturday morning at 9 a.m., followed by two full days of games and contests, music, country food, fine arts, and local crafts. The undisputed star of the festival remains the fragrant apple butter bubbling away in giant copper kettles on Fairfax Street. The Greenwood Community Center is continuing this beloved tradition, once again leading the effort, stirring and selling the apple butter that draws visitors back year after year.
“Volunteers stirring apple butter in the kettles is the most photographed activity of the festival,” said Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Happy Rone. “It’s the heart of our celebration, and this year we’re honoring every memory those kettles have created over the past 50 years.”
“This year’s golden celebration isn’t just a festival, it’s a living scrapbook of five decades of small-town magic. From the first bite of hot apple butter to the last note of live music, visitors will experience everything that has made this event a West Virginia treasure for half a century,” Rone said.
Grand marshals for the 2025 parade are the winners of the Berkeley Springs 3nd Annual Morgan County Chamber of Commerce Community Awards. This amazing group includes Apple Butter Volunteer of the Year Sabrena Funk, Educator of the Year Bob Myers, Employee of the Year Mike Potter, Small Business of the Year CJ’s Floral & Gift Shop, Large Business of the Year The Country Inn of Berkeley Springs, Community Hero Captain Seth Place, Community Service Award recipient Peace Blossom Judge, and, of course, the Morganite Award winner Beth Curtin.
Live music for the Craft Beer and WV Wine Garden includes Mark Cullinane Friday night, Sweet Yonder on Saturday, and the Luke Johnson Band on Sunday.
The Festival Food Court always has the biggest crowds as people line up for a variety of tastes from standard festival treats like BBQ, funnel cakes, corn dogs and fried oreos, to specialty trucks serving flatbread pizza, crab cakes, Amish donuts, and Thai food.
This year there will also be food vendors in the beer garden and a second food court on Independence Street to make the crowds easier to navigate and give festivalgoers more options.
The 50th Annual Apple Butter Festival will host music throughout the weekend. Saturday kicks off with the bluegrass-meets-newgrass energy of The Robert Mabe Band, whose banjo-driven rhythms will get toes tapping and hips swaying.
Saturday afternoon heats up with festival headliners The Kelly Bell Band, celebrating 30 years and bringing their award-winning, genre-bending blues to the main stage. Hailed as Baltimore’s top blues act for more than a decade, KBB blends soulful blues with funk, hip-hop, and rock for a sound as big as their personality. Originally formed as the backing band for rock legend Bo Diddley, they’ve since toured the world, from Japan to Spain, and collected music awards along the way. Expect electrifying energy, plenty of audience interaction, and the kind of feel-good groove that turns a concert into a full-blown party.
Sunday begins on a high note with Hymns for Him, delivering uplifting church hymns and heartfelt Southern gospel that’s perfect for a Sunday morning in the mountains.
In the afternoon, beloved local legends The Flashbacks keep the celebration rolling with a dance-worthy mix of oldies, classics, and vintage rock ’n’ roll guaranteed to make spirits soar.
Throughout the weekend, festival-goers will also be treated to performances by the Berkeley Springs High School Marching Band, the Berkeley Springs High School Dance Team, the mesmerizing family friendly Bellysima Bellydance, the powerhouse of brass Eastern Panhandle Community Band, and the multi-generational Black Cat Village Band.
Family-friendly games draw huge crowds to watch gentlemen strut their faces as their beards are judged for length, softness and style, amateurs calling hogs, rubber ducks racing down the springs that give the town its name, and pairs of contestants tossing raw eggs. Lines form to buy winning entries in the apple baking contest and raffle tickets for the 2025 Apple Butter Festival Quilt.
More than 200 new and returning favorite contemporary and traditional artists and craftspeople display and sell their work in the streets, local shops and at the Ice House.
With no admission fee and activities for all ages, this is the perfect day or weekend experience for everyone from grandma to the kids. Free parking at the outskirts of town with a shuttle is available, along with paid parking in downtown run by civic groups.
For more information call the Berkeley Springs-Morgan County Chamber of Commerce at 304-258-3738, visit berkeleyspringschamber.com/apple-butter-festival or on Facebook: Apple Butter Festival WV
