Taylorsville Apple Festival
Event:
The festival boasts 3 entertainment stages: The Main Stage on the courthouse lawn, the Gospel Stage at the west end of the festival, and the Childrens’ Stage on the east end of the festival. The Kid’s Korner is the biggest draw for our younger attendees. The Kid’s Korner has hosted in the past, pony rides, mechanical bucking bull rides, pitching booths, numerous professional inflatables, puppet shows, music and much more. Food vendors surround the courthouse emitting some of the most wonderful smells and best tasting food you’ll find in the Carolinas. One can find, chopped barbeque, eggrolls, hamburgers and hotdogs, barbeque chicken, Italian sausages, and the list goes on. The Taylorsville Apple Festival was started in 1988 by the Sugar Loaf Community Association. The Taylorsville Hometown Development Association took it over in 1996 with approximately 35 exhibits that year. The festival has steadily grown to the stage it now is with an estimated 35,000 attendees. The festival now hosts over 400 booths including rides.
About:
Alexander County was established in 1847, the year of the first sale of land in the county seat (Taylorsville). With the proceeds from the sale, the first courthouse was built on the present site. When the Civil War began, Alexander County was 14 years old. The 1860 population was 5,837; yet Alexander County ranked high per capita in the number of Confederate soldiers serving in the war. The county is named in honor of the Alexander family who were leaders in Colonial North Carolina. Taylorsville is the namesake of either John Louis Taylor, Carolina agriculturist and political philosopher, or General Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States.
