The Johnny Appleseed Festival, Inc. Board of Directors, have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Johnny Appleseed Festival. The decision to cancel was not made easily, but the health and safety of our volunteers, vendors, not for profit partners, and community, was paramount.

The CDC quantifies events like the Johnny Appleseed Festival as a “Highest Risk” level activity for the spread of COVID 19. Especially, since the logistics of the festival make social distancing almost impossible, the number of attendees cannot be controlled, people attend from outside the local area, and it is a lengthy event where large numbers of people congregate. With so much uncertainty regarding the pandemic and what could happen in the Fall, canceling the Festival was the only responsible action the Board could take.

JAF, Inc. Board President, Becky Butler, said “What makes cancelling the festival so hard is not only disappointing the tens of thousands of festival goers who look forward to the traditional family event with its tasty food, trappers and traders, handmade crafts, antiques, period demonstrators and entertainment. It is also about all our vendors and performers losing income, and the nearly 40 local Not for Profit organizations losing the opportunity to raise funds for their organizations. The Johnny Appleseed Festival is often their largest fundraiser of the year. Funds, they count on to carry out their missions throughout our community.”

The Johnny Appleseed Festival, Inc. Board of Directors will continue working diligently to make the 46th Annual Johnny Appleseed Festival the award winning festival that our community has embraced for nearly half a century. The 46th Annual Johnny Appleseed Festival will be held September 18 and 19, 2021 in Johnny Appleseed Park.

The Johnny Appleseed Festival, Inc. mission is to educate and stimulate historical interest among the general public in order to promote a better understanding of Johnny Appleseed, his life and times. To provide a historically authentic recreation of the time of Johnny Appleseed and the period in which he lived and to plan, operate and administer the annual Johnny Appleseed Festival in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We are an approved 501c3 organization.