ELLSWORTH — Lovers of cider and cheese will have the opportunity to experience the fourth annual Downeast Cider+Cheese Festival Nov. 12-13 in downtown Ellsworth. The event is hosted by Heart of Ellsworth with sponsorship from the Bangor Daily News, Bangor Savings Bank, Darling’s Auto Mall, Darling’s Chevrolet, and Pulse Marketing Agency.
This year’s event will once again offer virtual and in-person activities, both free and ticketed. The festival’s signature experience is a live streamed virtual tasting, co-led by local apple historian Todd Little-Siebold and special guests. The virtual tasting is on Saturday, Nov. 13 from 7:30-9 p.m. and will include lively discussion, pairing suggestions, and audience participation.
Festival tickets are $115 and are on sale at heartofellsworth.org Tickets include access to the Virtual Tasting and a Cider + Cheese Bag generously-filled with Maine-made cider and cheese options to enjoy during the tasting. Bags will be available for pickup in downtown Ellsworth Thursday – Saturday. Time and locations are posted at heartofellsworth.org
An in-person festival market will be held on Saturday, Nov. 13 in Merrill Park on Franklin Street. The market will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will feature cheese makers, locally-made cider, food vendors, and live music. It will also be one of three Cider + Cheese Bag pick-up locations.
Later on Saturday live music, with Western Maine songstress Lulu Moss, will start at 4 p.m. in the beer garden at Fogtown Brewing Company and the live streamed virtual tasting will follow starting at 7:30 p.m.
Todd Little-Siebold will kick off the festival on Friday evening at 7 p.m. with a virtual talk on the history of cider in Ellsworth. This educational talk will be offered online and free of charge.
Celebrating a revival of two traditional foods, hard cider and cheese, the Downeast Cider+Cheese Festival honors the rich tradition of Maine’s historic apple industry, the first and only event of its kind in the state. Little-Siebold explains, “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. We know that Ellsworth cider was shipped up and down the east coast and to as far away as China and California. Cider is now experiencing a renaissance locally and across the state, and it is so exciting to be able to showcase the amazing artisanal cider makers who are reconnecting us to our deep agricultural history.”
View Festival video here: https://youtu.be/-Rmdh5AR500.
Maine CDC safety protocols will be implemented and the public is asked to maintain social distance at in-person events. For more information about the event, visit the Heart of Ellsworth website at: heartofellsworth.org.