Highlights
Quick scoop: Lakewood Cider Days is Oct. 7 and 8 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Lakewood Heritage Center, 801 S. Yarrow St. Tickets cost $6, $5 for children ages 3-12. Hard cider tasting tickets cost $28 and include festival entry (tickets are limited). Tickets can be purchased at lakewood.org/CiderDays. There will be a bike valet.
As summer shifts to fall, leaves begin to change color and drop to the ground, and the air turns cool and crisp. In Lakewood, Cider Days — the city’s largest annual festival — is a sign that fall has arrived.
What began as a one-day event at the Lakewood Heritage Center where residents and visitors could drink cider and learn about Lakewood history has evolved into a weekend festival filled with attractions for all ages.
Cider Days returns to the Lakewood Heritage Center for the 42nd year Oct. 7 and 8. The festival is a way to celebrate Lakewood’s agricultural history and its apple orchards. The event will feature hard cider for the sixth year as another way to incorporate apples into the festival. There will be at least 50 different hard ciders from more than a dozen companies around Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region.
“It is just a nice fall festival. It is a good place to come out and see the range of ciders to try,” said Brad Page, who co-owns Colorado Cider Co. with his wife Kathe. The two have helped organize the cider tasting since it started.
Another attraction returning to this year’s festival is the tractor pull, organized by the Rocky Mountain Tractor Pullers Association. The competition tests the power of tractors as they pull a hefty sled. Drivers are judged based on who can pull the sled the farthest.
Rebecca Gushen, Lakewood Heritage Center’s community events coordinator, said the tractor pull at Cider Days is the largest competition of its kind in the state.
“The cool thing about it is these guys are tractor collectors. They have this really impressive collection of antique tractors,” Gushen said.
“Those guys think they are in the Indy 500,” Page said.
Other returning events include a beer garden, featuring craft beers brewed in Lakewood; Top Hogs, a show of pigs performing tricks; Cowboy Craig, who specializes in trick roping; historical re-enactments, such as cider pressing; and a pie eating contest.
Bakers from Granny Scottap Pie Shop in Lakewood will serve slices of apple pie and help judge Apple Annie’s Baking Challenge. The baking challenge Oct. 8 features home-baked items. The first-place winner will receive a $100 cash prize and season tickets to the “Sounds Exciting” concert series. Register for the bake-off at lakewood.org/CiderDays.
“It is a great way for the residents to really demonstrate their cooking skills and to share their treats and share their family-baked goods,” said Michelle Nierling, Lakewood’s Heritage, Culture and the Arts manager.
While hard cider, beer, food, pigs, cowboys and historical re-enactments are popular, they only scratch the surface of what Cider Days serves. There will be live music by six Colorado bands and artists performing from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.
Children won’t be left out at Cider Days. Kids can get their faces painted, go to a petting zoo and try out an obstacle course and climb a rock wall. Hop aboard a horse-pulled wagon for a ride around the Lakewood Heritage Center complex, and enjoy a magic show. Hot and cold apple cider will be available for $2 per 12-ounce cup or $8 per half-gallon jug (cash only).
Festival-goers can purchase apples from Ela Family farms or bring up to a bucket of their own apples to press, but they must havea personal jug or growler.
“We have something for everybody, so we have a really diverse crowd that comes. And each person has their own reason for coming,” Gushen said.
Last year, Cider Days drew at least 12,000 people over the course of the weekend. People planning to attend this year are encouraged to purchase tickets ahead of the event.
“After 42 years this event has been closely and carefully tailored to exactly what everybody is looking for and wants out of an event,” Gushen said.