Newfane Heritage Festival 2026: Apple Pie, Artisans, and Peak Foliage on the Common

Some Vermont towns make their name with a historic covered bridge or a ski hill. Newfane’s claim to fame may just be its apple pie.

Every fall for the past 57 years, volunteers from the Newfane Congregational Church have baked more than 200 apple pies for the Newfane Heritage Festival, and every year the pies disappear.

If you want to try a slice, come early!

This iconic small-town festival returns on Saturday, October 10 and Sunday, October 11, 2026, during peak fall foliage in southern Vermont. Here’s everything you need to plan your visit.

65+ Juried Artists and Craftspeople

Sure, come for the pie, but stay for the incredible arts and crafts. More than 65 artists and craftspeople set up across the Common, selling everything from gourmet Vermont food to pottery, stained glass, woodwork, and more. This is how I get a jumpstart on my holiday shopping: supporting local artists and finding gifts for everyone in my family.

While most vendors take credit cards these days, cash is still king, and using cash saves on fees for both you and the small business you’re supporting.

The Outdoor Food Tent

The food tent sits on the triangle in front of the church, and it runs on volunteer power from breakfast through the afternoon.

Morning options include breakfast sandwiches, fresh doughnuts, and hot coffee. By afternoon, the menu shifts to hot dogs, hamburgers, sandwiches, chili, clam and corn chowder, carrot ginger soup, and potatoes with toppings, along with cider, soda, and hot and cold drinks.

There’s also a Popcorn Tent that sells caramel apples, which is the only way to eat an apple in October.

The Famous Apple Pies

Pie prep starts in September, when church and community members gather weekly to bake. They use apples from Green Mountain Orchards in Putney and turn out more than 200 pies each year.

You can buy pie by the slice (with ice cream) in the Outdoor Food Tent, or take a whole pie home for your family. In past years, the dessert lineup has also included pumpkin cheesecake and apple crisp.

The Super Raffle

The Super Raffle takes over Union Hall on the Common. It works like a choose-your-own-adventure raffle: prizes are set out on numbered tables, and you drop your tickets into the containers for the items you want. Tickets are $5 for 10 or $10 for 25, and you can buy as many as you like.

Prizes change every year. In 2024, there were more than 165 of them, donated by local artists, craftspeople, and businesses, including quilts, artwork, and gift certificates for lodging, dining, skiing, and even auto repairs.

The drawing is at 3 pm on Sunday. You don’t need to be present to win. Unclaimed winners get a call Sunday evening and can pick up their prizes at Union Hall on Monday morning.

Explore the Village that Moved Downhill

If Newfane Village looks almost too perfect, with its white Greek Revival courthouse, church, and inn clustered around the Common, there’s a reason.

The original village sat up on Newfane Hill. In 1825, the town relocated to the flat land along Smith Brook below. Residents took some of their buildings apart, hauled the pieces down the hill on ox sleds, and put them back together again. Parts of the Newfane Inn and several houses south of the church made the trip.

The Windham County Courthouse went up that same year, and they added its Doric columns in 1853. Union Hall, where the Super Raffle is held, dates to 1832 and began as a meeting house.

The Congregational Church, the festival’s home base, followed in 1839. So when you’re standing on the Common with a slice of pie, you’re in the middle of a village that was dragged downhill by oxen. Makes the drive on Route 30 feel a little easier, doesn’t it?

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