From Staff Reports 

HENDERSONVILLE — The 76th Annual North Carolina Apple Festival, set Sept. 2-5 with free admission, will feature a street fair, live music, a parade, a kids’ carnival, a recipe contest, apple-taste testing, foot races, aircraft rides, a gem and mineral show and other activities.

“Annually, the North Carolina Apple Festival is one of the largest family events in the entire state,” an event promotion noted. “The annual estimated attendance is over 250,000.”

Henderson County is the home of the state apple gala because it is North Carolina’s top apple-producer.

Live music will be featured from noon to 8 p.m. Sept. 2-4.  Headliners include the following:

• Sept 2 from 6:15 to 8:30 p.m. — The Buddy K Band, which will perform swing music.

• Sept. 3 from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. — The Swingin’ Medalions, billed as “the Party Band of the South.” The group recorded the 1966 mega-hit “A Double Shot of My Baby’s Love” — widely considered the best-ever “frat-rock” song.

• Sept. 4 from 5:45 in 8 p.m. — The Intensity Party Band will perform as the final act of the final night of the festival.

The King Apple Parade, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Sept. 5., will wind along Main Street from 5 Points to Caswell Street. 

The street fair will run from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sept. 2-4, with a “mini-street fair” from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 5.