BERLIN — The 5th Annual Berlin Peach Festival will be held Saturday, Aug. 3, from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m., on the grounds of the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum. Admission is free. Rain date for the festival will be Sunday, Aug. 4.
The festival will be opened officially by Mayor Gee Williams with help from Little Miss and Little Mister Berlin Peach 2012. All afternoon, attendees will be able to stroll among the displays, demonstrations and sales tables. Naturally, there will be delicious Delmarva peaches for sale from a variety of Delmarva growers (the type of peach and its grower depends on what is ripe at that time).
Vendors include Bungalow Love (terrariums), Laura Ellison (jewelry), Laura DeGourse (jewelry), Historic St. Martin’s Church (museum items), Longridge Gardens, Plumeria (jewelry), St. Martin’s Community House, Angela Rocco (photography and jewelry) and Whimsical Creations.
Demonstrations include Linda Davis’ baskets and quilted goods, Ben Justis’ woven crab nets, the Lilley Family’s Upper Room Studio, master gardener Tiffany Nichols and Wes Townsend’s Back Street Apiary.
Food vendors include the Arcadia Questers, Baked Desserts Café & Gallery, the Berlin Coffee House, the Berlin Lions and Lionesses, Buckingham Presbyterian Church, Chesapeake Bay Farms Creamery, Stevenson United Methodist Church and the Worcester County Developmental Center.
Information booths will be provided by the Harrison family, Main Street Berlin and more.
Children’s activities begin at 11:30 a.m. as the kids “shake their booties” to make ice cream the old-fashioned way. Other activities for the kids include juggling by Cascading Carlos (Mir), tailgating favorite Peachiest Baggo Game, an old-fashioned (cup) cake walk, photo cut-outs and temporary peach tattoos. Entertainment will feature Frank Nanna’s fine fiddle and 3 Sheets.
As in the past, there will be a pie-baking contest, three pie-eating contests and a container of peach pits to guess, with prizes for all the winners.
With the pie baking contest, prizes will be awarded by a panel of three judges, including Tracy King of the Atlantic Hotel, Karen Nash from Sweet Disposition Bakery in Selbyville and Bev Wisch from the Ocean Pines Courier. The first-prize winner will receive a gift certificate for a one-night stay at The Atlantic Hotel.
A maximum of 13 entries will be accepted and entrants must sign up in advance. The registration deadline is Monday, July 29. Pies must be delivered on the day of the festival between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Contestants must bring a recipe card that includes a list of ingredients and they should be willing to allow the Berlin Heritage Foundation to share the winning recipe at next year’s festival.
Worcester County Health Department rules stipulate that pies with perishable ingredients such as custard, ice cream or whipped cream pies may not be entered. For more information or to sign up, contact Susan Taylor at 410-641-1019 or email at [email protected].
In addition, event attendees may purchase raffle tickets from the Berlin Heritage Foundation for a basket filled with a night’s lodging in a Lightkeeper Suite at the Lighthouse Club at Fager’s Island, dinner for two at the Dunes Manor, a $25 gift certificate for use at Main Street Berlin shops, and assorted other “peachy” goodies.
All afternoon, the Calvin B. Taylor House Museum will be open for tours of the historic 1832 house, as well as of the upstairs exhibition “Images of the Past.”
Priceless Each Friday, 52 Weeks a Year!