2026 Cider Festival

Join the Frontier Culture Museum, Virginia Humanities, and the Virginia Cider Association for our Second Annual Cider Festival on November 7, 2026! From 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM, explore how apples and cider helped shape the culture of the Valley of Virginia through historical interpretation and modern day cider tastings. The event will include living history demonstrations, author talks, live music, and cider tasting. This event is a general admission event, with an additional option to add on a tasting ticket option, which includes ten 2oz. pours from Virginia cideries. Annual Passholders receive admission for free, and must purchase tasting tickets if interested. Tickets are on sale now: https://frontierculturemuseum.shop.koronaevent.com/en/offers/97588 This year we have a great array of cideries attending for the event! Ciders from Mars – Staunton, VA Providence Creek – Richmond, VA Sage Bird – Harrisonburg, VA Daring Wine & Cider – Stuart, VA Big Fish Cider Co. – Monterey, VA We are excited to host the following food trucks for the event: Blue Ridge Cider Donuts Golden Spud Sweet Baby Cheesus Otto VA Smoke and Soul This year we have a special guest demonstrator for the event! Mark A. Turdo For over twenty years Mark A. Turdo, historian and museum professional, has been researching and recreating historic alcoholic cider. He is especially interested in early American cider and cider culture, including who was making it, who was drinking it, and why it was more common than beer. In 2013 he began the Pommel Cyder blog (https://pommelcyder.wordpress.com), where he shares his adventures in cider research and his experiments in cidermaking. Clyde Jenkins Clyde Jenkins grew up in an old homestead in the Shenandoah Mountains in Page County that his family has inhabited for generations. Working the land, he has derived many skills from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries including basket making and heirloom apple growing.