Two festivals, one weekend coming Oct. 11-12

On Saturday, Oct. 11, and Sunday, Oct. 12, the annual Appleumpkin Festival begins in downtown Tecumseh, celebrating its 21st year. The festival runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. There are two new activities this year for children to enjoy. A straw maze, only two to three bales high, will be located in the southeast parking lot for younger kids, who will receive a prize upon completion. The other new event for kids this year is a corn shuck box, which is like a sandbox, but is instead fill with corn shucks. Plastic gold coins will be buried for children to find. On Saturday, there will be a vintage tractor show located in the 200 block of S. Evans Street, which is just one of two festival expansions over previous years. The tractor show was previously held at Shopko. “If the weather holds, we should have a good turnout of tractors,” said Jan Fox, chairperson for the Appleumpkin Festival.Fox added that there would be several new and returning vendors this year, saying that only a handful of spots remain. She expects to be full by the end of the week, forcing would-be vendors onto a waiting list. “We have many new vendors and craft vendors,” said Fox. “That’s always exciting.”The antique street fair returns this year and will be located in the 100 blocks of north and south Ottawa Streets. The other festival expansion is occurring in the 200 and 300 blocks of N. Ottawa Street, which will be occupied by general vendors. In the northeast downtown parking lot, located off S. Ottawa Street, there will be many retuning children’s activities, like carnival rides and make-it-take-it tents. On Chicago Blvd., vendors will line the north and south side of streets offering crafts and food for purchase. The entertainment stage is returning to its usual location on N. Pearl Street next to Martin’s Home Center. Running in conjunction with the Appleumpkin Festival is Kapnick Orchards’ Apple Festival, which is celebrating its 36th year. The Kapnick’s festival, located southeast of Tecumseh at 4245 Rogers Hwy, has a host of entertainment and activities scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.There will be live entertainment, along with over 80 craft booths and food vendors both days. Kapnick Orchards’ Apple Festival runs the same time as Tecumseh’s Appleumpkin Festival. Parking across from Kapnick Orchards is available, but a $2 donation is required, which goes to the Adrian Meijer Relay for Life. For those looking to ease their parking woes, shuttles will be running from the Tecumseh High School parking lot, located at 760 Brown Street, to downtown and then from downtown to Kapnick Orchards. The shuttle service will be located at the corner of Pearl Street and W. Chicago Blvd. across from Baker Brothers Service Station. “This year, we will have lots of participation,” said Fox.