Long Grove’s Apple Fest celebrates the season with rock tributes and apple treats
There is a certain point each year when summer starts to soften, the air turns a little crisper, and Historic Downtown Long Grove begins to feel unmistakably like fall.
That moment arrives with the return of Apple Fest on Sept. 25-27, bringing a weekend of apple-inspired food and drink, live music, family fun, shopping, and the quintessential small-town atmosphere that has made the festival one of Long Grove’s signature traditions.
Colorful historic buildings, locally owned shops, outdoor patios, towering trees, and the village’s iconic Covered Bridge create a setting tailor-made for this in-between moment, when the last bit of summer gives way to the first signs of fall.
Apples, apples and more apples
Caramel-dipped, chocolate-covered, baked into pies, pressed into cider, mixed into seasonal drinks, and worked into sweet and savory creations, apples take center stage throughout the weekend.
Festival vendors join Long Grove restaurants, tasting rooms, and specialty shops in serving up plenty of ways to taste the season. Classic carnival rides and midway games, apple pie-eating contests, kids’ crafts, dance performances, seasonal shopping, and other family activities round out the weekend.
A soundtrack for the season
Apple Fest is also one of Long Grove’s biggest weekends for live music, and this year’s lineup brings some serious rock ’n’ roll to the orchard. Friday night features No More Tears, celebrating the music of Ozzy Osbourne, followed by Kashmir and the unmistakable sound of Led Zeppelin.
Saturday delivers a full day of 1990s and alternative favorites with tributes to Green Day, Sublime, Alanis Morissette, and Weezer, before longtime Chicago area favorite 7th Heaven takes over Saturday night.
Sunday closes on a classic note with Second Hand News, celebrating Fleetwood Mac, followed by acclaimed Beatles tribute American English.
Where summer meets fall
What makes Apple Fest distinctly Long Grove is that the town itself becomes part of the experience. Visitors can move from music and carnival rides to boutiques and restaurants, grab an apple treat, relax on a patio, cross the historic Covered Bridge, and simply wander.
It’s one last lively weekend of summer energy wrapped in the sights, tastes, sounds, and atmosphere of the season ahead. Whether visitors come for the apples, music, carnival, shopping, or simply an early fall day in one of the Chicago area’s most charming downtowns, Apple Fest offers a quintessential Long Grove welcome to autumn.
For complete entertainment schedules, ticket information, and festival details, visit longgrove.org/festivals/apple-fest.
Apple Fest 2026
When: Noon to 11 p.m. Friday, Sept. 25; 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 26; and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 27
Where: Historic Downtown Long Grove, 145 Old McHenry Road
Admission: $7 per day or $15 for a three-day pass (children 12 or under free)
Tickets: longgrove.org/festivals/apple-fest