Apple and Harvest Festivals in Washington State: 2026 Dates and Guide
Washington grows more apples than any other state, so when the harvest comes in each fall, it is the main event rather than a novelty. From the orchards of the Wenatchee valley to the you pick farms of Green Bluff outside Spokane, the towns that live off the crop throw open their pioneer villages, cider presses, and street fairs to celebrate the season. This guide sorts the real apple and harvest festivals in Washington by region, with confirmed 2026 dates where organizers have posted them, so you can find the celebration closest to home.
One quick clarification before you plan. The two events most people picture when they hear the words apple festival, the Washington State Apple Blossom Festival in Wenatchee and the Manson Apple Blossom Festival on Lake Chelan, are both spring bloom celebrations held in late April and May. This is a guide to the fall harvest, when the fruit is actually picked, pressed, and eaten. Peak weekend statewide is the first weekend of October.
Washington apple and harvest festivals at a glance
| Festival | Region | 2026 Dates | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cashmere Pioneer Village Festival | Central WA, Wenatchee valley | October 3 (Apple Pie Contest October 2) | Free, family friendly, heritage crafts and cider |
| Green Bluff Harvest Festival | Eastern WA, near Spokane | Weekends, late September through October | Dozens of you pick farms, apples and pumpkins |
| Issaquah Salmon Days | Puget Sound, Eastside | October 3 to 4 | Free, the largest two day festival in the state |
| Onalaska Apple Harvest Festival | Southwest WA, Lewis County | October 2 to 4 | Small town parade, quilt show, farm tour |
| Vashon CiderFest | Puget Sound islands | Early October, date to be announced | Community cider pressing, ferry trip included |
Central Washington: the apple belt around Wenatchee and Cashmere
This is the heart of Washington apple country, the valley that ships fruit around the world. The fall celebration to build a day around is the Pioneer Village Festival at the Cashmere Museum and Pioneer Village, set for October 3, 2026, with an Apple Pie Contest the day before on October 2. The festival brings the restored pioneer village to life with heritage demonstrations, and the pie contest is open to anyone with an apple or pear recipe worth defending. It fills the gap left when the museum retired its long running Apple Days event, and it keeps the harvest tradition alive in the town that calls itself the heart of Washington.
Twelve miles up the valley, Wenatchee wears the title of Apple Capital of the World, and while its big apple party is the springtime Apple Blossom Festival, fall is when the orchards and fruit stands are at their fullest. Make it your base for orchard drives and farm stands, then point yourself toward Lake Chelan, where the vineyards celebrate the grape harvest at the same time. We cover those crush pad weekends in our guide to wine harvest and crush season.
Eastern Washington: Green Bluff outside Spokane
Twenty minutes northeast of Spokane, Green Bluff is a cluster of family farms that together run the biggest harvest celebration in the eastern half of the state. Through the fall the Green Bluff Growers host a weekend harvest festival that rolls from late September across every October weekend, with apple picking, pumpkins, fresh pressed cider, wagon rides, and enough hot doughnuts to justify the drive. Because each farm sets its own schedule, treat the season as a series of weekends rather than one fixed date, and check the individual farm you want to visit as 2026 dates firm up. The first two weekends of October are the sweet spot for both apples and pumpkins.
Western Washington: Puget Sound and the southwest
The classic autumn ritual on the west side is Issaquah Salmon Days, October 3 to 4, 2026, which celebrates the return of the salmon to Issaquah Creek with a free two day street festival that the organizers bill as the largest of its kind in the state. It is less about apples and more about the whole harvest season, with hundreds of food and craft booths, a grande parade, and a front row seat to the fish climbing the hatchery ladder in the middle of town.
South of the Sound in Lewis County, the Onalaska Apple Harvest Festival runs October 2 to 4, 2026, a genuinely small town affair put on by the Onalaska Alliance, with a quilt show, a Saturday of vendors and activities, and a Sunday farm and homestead tour. Out on Vashon Island, the growers association holds Vashon CiderFest in early October, a community cider pressing that turns the fall apple crop into juice on the spot. The 2026 CiderFest date had not been posted at the time of writing, so check the Vashon Island Growers Association before you book the ferry.
More fall festivals to pair with your trip
Harvest season overlaps with the best of Washington’s fall calendar, so it is easy to stack a weekend. Leavenworth runs its Bavarian celebration over three October weekends, which you can plan around in our guide to Oktoberfest celebrations across the state. Families chasing hayrides and jack o lanterns should see our roundup of pumpkin patches and corn mazes, which covers the you pick farms and giant mazes we deliberately leave out here. And if the draw is color rather than crops, our guide to peak fall foliage maps where and when the larches and maples turn.
How to plan your harvest festival weekend
- Aim for the first weekend of October if you want one trip to catch the most at once. It is the statewide peak for apples, pumpkins, and the marquee festivals.
- Most of these events are free to enter. You spend money on food, cider, and you pick fruit by the pound or the bag, so bring cash for the farm stands.
- Dates for the smaller events shift year to year and some were still unconfirmed for 2026 at the time of writing. Confirm on the organizer’s own page before you drive.
- Weekends draw crowds and the popular you pick farms fill their lots by late morning, so arrive early or go on a Sunday for a calmer visit.
Frequently Asked Questions
When are the apple and harvest festivals in Washington?
The heart of the season is the first weekend of October, though events run from late September through the end of the month. In 2026 the Cashmere Pioneer Village Festival is October 3, Issaquah Salmon Days is October 3 to 4, and the Onalaska Apple Harvest Festival is October 2 to 4.
Where can I go apple picking during a Washington harvest festival?
Green Bluff, about twenty minutes northeast of Spokane, is the state’s you pick capital, with dozens of family farms running apple and pumpkin picking on weekends through the fall. The Wenatchee and Cashmere valley in central Washington is the other great orchard belt.
Is the Wenatchee Apple Blossom Festival a fall event?
No. The Washington State Apple Blossom Festival in Wenatchee and the Manson Apple Blossom Festival on Lake Chelan are both spring bloom celebrations held in late April and May. For fall, the apple belt marks the harvest at the Cashmere Pioneer Village Festival and at the Green Bluff farms.
What is the biggest fall festival in Washington?
Issaquah Salmon Days, held October 3 to 4, 2026, bills itself as the largest two day festival in the state. It is free to attend and centers on the salmon returning to Issaquah Creek.
Are Washington apple and harvest festivals free and family friendly?
Most are. Salmon Days, the Onalaska Apple Harvest Festival, and the Cashmere Pioneer Village Festival are all free and family friendly, and you spend only on food and activities. At you pick farms like those on Green Bluff you pay by the pound or the bag.
However you like your autumn, whether it is a pie contest in a pioneer village, a bag of you pick apples at Green Bluff, or a salmon watching street party on the Eastside, Washington’s harvest season has a festival for it. For everything else on the calendar, see our full guide to festivals across Washington.
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Explore Washington State has been covering the real Washington for more than a decade. State parks, small towns, back roads, rest stops, and the people who make this place worth exploring. What started as a hyperlocal project covering individual communities grew into a full media project with more than 340 podcast episodes, a weekly newsletter with over 4,800 subscribers, and coverage of all 146 Washington State Parks. The content here comes from people who have actually been to these places: locals, regulars, and lifelong Washington residents who care more about getting it right than getting clicks.
