A New Location & Exciting Vendors at the Capital Apple & Wine Festival
The Capital Apple & Wine Festival is back for its 30th year, bringing a two-day family event filled with delicious food, fun entertainment, and amazing wines and spirits.
This year, the festival is moving to a new location: the Columbia County Fairgrounds. It's worth the scenic 35-minute drive from Albany, so mark your calendars for September 28 and 29, 2024!
Why the New Location?
The Columbia County Fairgrounds offers a more spacious and accessible venue for the festival, featuring capacious and well-ventilated pavilions, paved pathways for easy maneuverability, and accessibility for wheelchairs and strollers.
The facility features a mix of buildings with concrete and wood flooring for exhibitors as well as outdoor areas for the food concessions and picnic tables for eating, drinking, listening to music or just taking a break.
You’ll find that the restrooms are modern and clean too, ensuring a comfortable experience for all attendees, and there’s plenty of free parking!
It’s a great venue for a wine and food festival, rain or shine, and the majority of exhibitors are covered by indoor spaces.
Wine, Spirits & More to Explore With the Vendors
This year's festival will host an array of new and returning exhibitors showcasing New York State wines, spirits, and ciders, as well as handmade crafts, specialty foods, and food trucks.
New this year: Starbird Events, the organization behind this dynamic festival, will distribute the wine and spirits throughout the entire show, to alleviate the congestion of a single area.
Here are some of the standout vendors you can look forward to:
Cideries & Meaderies for Perfect Apple Cider & More
- Bull & Bee Meadery (Albany, NY): Honey-fermented mead at 13% alcohol
- Helderberg Meadworks (Esperance, NY): Award-winning meadery with mead and cider
- Nine Pin Cider Works (Albany, NY): Hard cider from 100% Capital Region and Hudson Valley apples
- SunDog Cider (Chatham, NY): Sweet but not too sweet, unique, and refreshing cider
Distilleries for Flavorful Spirits
- Albany Distilling Company (Albany, NY): Exceptional products created using both modern and traditional methods
- Barrelhouse 6 Distillery (Hammondsport, NY): Award-winning craft spirits that embody the passion, creativity, and attention to detail and love of whiskey
- Black Button Distilling (Rochester, NY): Small-batch distillery with farm-to-sill spirits - the bourbon is a customer favorite!
- Cooper’s Daughter Spirits (Claverack, NY): Local grain, fruit, botanicals, and tree syrups form the foundation for their seasonal batch spirits
- Idol Ridge Winery & Alder Creek Distillery (Lodi, NY): Line of wines using European vinifera grape varieties along with some premium Cornell hybrids
- Le Mone: Light and lively apertifs
- Schenectady Distilling Co. (Schenectady, NY): Extremely high rated Schenectady distillery
- Springbrook Hollow Farm Distilling (Fort Ann, NY): Handmade, rich, full-bodied spirits
- War Cannon Spirits (Crown Point, NY): Exceptional spirits from an area rich in history
Wineries for High-Quality Fruit & Grape Wines
- Adirondack Winery (Lake George & Queensbury, NY): This ultra-popular winery in the Lake George region is known for their fruit-infused wines
- Ferreira Carpenter Winery (Warwick, NY): Striving for the highest quality wine made from the finest grapes at the best vineyards
- Lakeland Winery (Syracuse, NY): An urban winery making wine more accessible with grapes, berries, and other fruits sourced from multiple vineyards
- Ledge Rock Hill Winery (Lake George, NY): Artisan wine made with quality fruit and select barrel aging
- Montezuma Winery (Finger Lakes, Cooperstown, and Old Forge, NY): Focus on fruit and honey wines as well as high-quality grape wines
- Pail Shop Vineyards (Fly Creek, NY): Small production wines made in a converted barn
- Three Brothers Wineries & Estates (Geneva, NY): Three unique wineries, a microbrewery, and a cafe
- Thousand Island Winery (Alexandria Bay, NY): 23 varieties of wine in 5 different categories
- Tug Hill Estate (Lowville, NY): Authentic wine making with hand-maintained vineyards
- Victorianbourg Wine Estate (Wilson, NY): Light, elegant, rich-in-flavor wines
- Weis Vineyards (Hammondsport, NY): The best Riesling you’ve ever had
Specialty Foods: Cakes, Candy, Coffee & More
- ATK Customs (Dalton, MA): Custom-made cups, mugs, keychains, wine glasses, tumblers, and more
- The Bees Knees (Athens, NY): Honey and honey products like honey straws, honey butter, comb honey
- Cousin Vinnie's Concessions (Ulster Park, NY): Concessions stand
- Cousins Maine Lobster (ME): Famous nationwide, classic Maine lobster
- Golden Harvest Farms (Valatie, NY): A farm/orchard known for their pies, cider donuts, baked goods, honey crisp apples, peaches, and more.
- Gourmet Creations (Flemington, NJ): High-quality veggie dip mixes, olive oil blends, dessert mixes, barbecue rubs, and pickle mixes
- Flavors of Lebanon (Albany & Schenectady, NY): Lebanese fare
- Gusto della vita Gourmet (Rotterdam, NY): Gourmet olive oils in unforgettable flavors
- Highland Ledge Farm (Savoy, MA): Unbelievably delicious jams
- Horton House Scone Company (Amenia, NY): Gluten-free, vegan, organic, non-GMO, kosher scones and diabetic friendly cookies
- Jerky Hut NY (Albany, NY): Freshest cuts and highest quality meats for gourmet beef jerky
- Moser's Maple (Croghan, NY): Sweet maple candy and maple syrup
- Mugzy's Barkery (East Greenbush, NY): Organic dog treats and custom cakes
- Robles Catering (Poughkeepsie, NY): Puerto Rican and Mexican food
- Spacey Tracy's Pickles (Rhinebeck, NY): Delicious Fried Pickles, and More!
- True Honey Teas (Woodbridge, VA): The perfect blend of tea, honey, and love
- True North Granola (Brattleboro, VT): 11 flavors of healthy granola made with specialty ingredients
- Upstate Coffee (Gloversville, NY): NFC Organic Certified specialty coffee, specialty coffee drinks onsite
- Whispering Willow Wild Care (Schenectady, NY): Charitable organization that rescues injured or orphaned wildlife
- Baltic Linen Designs: Unique artisan linens in a variety of textures and colors
- Dilly Donuts: The best mini donuts, served with slushies, cold drinks, and coffee
- M&G Mobile Gourmet: Kettle corn
- WJR Foods: Concession stand; Nashville chicken sandwiches and more
Artisan Crafts: Candles, Clothes & Unique Accessories
- Bath Fitter (Colonie, NY): Affordable bathroom remodeler
- Be the Storm Jewelry (Colonie, NY): Whimsical, unique, often one-of-a-kind wearable art
- C & S Creations (Castleton, NY): Shawls, little animals, cowls, sports tissue box covers
- Flickering Fern Candle (Saratoga Springs, NY): Candles and wax melts hand poured in small batches with natural waxes
- In the Pines Fashion Boutique (Newport, NY): Handmade jewelry, arts, crafts, and like-new clothing
- Jenzer's Gems (Rotterdam, NY): Natural gemstones and jewelry
- Lovely Essentials (Utica, NY): Handmade self-care products including beard oil and body oil
- New York Life (Saratoga Springs, NY): Life insurance
- Renewal by Anderson (Schenectady, NY): Window and door replacements
- Starkweather Designs (Leverett, MA): Handcrafted Jewelry
- Sweet Stitches Crochet (Nanaimo, BC, Canada): Handmade crocheted items
- SZ Goodvibes Jewelry (Albany, NY): Unique jewelry for spiritual balance
- The Atticco: Gorgeous textiles, with inspiration drawn from Rajasthan, India)
- Cohn's Candle Bar: Candles with cocktail scents like Sangria and Mango Margarita, and seasonal scents like Watermelon Cucumber
- House of Cork: Environmentally friendly handbags, purses, and accessories created from cork
- The Creation Corner: All natural self-care line
- Kristina Fermann Creative Arts: Handcrafted jewelry and jewelry sets
- Karen McGee: Handmade Christmas, fall, all occasion wreaths, centerpieces, and wall hanging
- Patricia Becker Designs: Slinky bracelets
- Pots of Luck: Pottery and ceramics
Family-Friendly Fun for Everyone
The Capital Apple & Wine Festival is not just for adults! It's a family-friendly event with activities for kids, including a bouncy house, face painting, pumpkin painting, a climbing wall, and games.
For an extra special experience, there will be a balloon component to this year's event:
- Walkabout balloon from 1pm to 3pm
- Tethered balloon rides from 3pm to 6pm
- 2-balloon launch at 6pm
Tickets for balloon launches can be purchased in advance online. All balloon events are weather dependent.
In addition, guests can look forward to live music on Saturday and Sunday, plus an Elk's Club Car Show on Sunday.
Apple-Licious Delights
This year, Golden Harvest Farms is the apple partner, offering a variety of New York State apples, cider, cider donuts, pies, jams, pumpkins, and more. It's a great way to celebrate the fall apple harvest season and enjoy some delicious treats.
Getting There: Hop on I-90
The Columbia County Fairgrounds are easy to reach, just a 35-minute drive from Albany. Take I-90 East to exit 12, then follow a scenic drive south on Route 9.
You’ll pass the festival’s apple partner Golden Harvest Farms, and will go over Kinderhook Creek and Kline Kill on the scenic drive.
Get Your Tickets for This Can’t-Miss Event
Don't miss out on the 30th annual Capital Apple & Wine Festival at its new location, the Columbia County Fairgrounds, on September 28 (11am to 6pm) and September 29 (11am to 5pm).
It's a perfect day trip from Albany, offering a delightful mix of food, drink, and family fun.
Tickets are available online through EventBrite, and visitors are encouraged to purchase ahead!
Tickets are $17 plus fees online, or $22 at the gate, for the Wine, Spirits & Cider tasting (general admission and tasting glass included). Purchase a weekend pass for $25 in advance, or $30 at the gate.
General admission is $8 plus fees online, or $10 at the gate. Kids under 17 are free.
Don't forget parking is free, and plentiful!
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