In Fort Wayne, Indiana, a lone grave sits atop a hill in the middle of an empty field. It remains quietly undisturbed during the year, except for one weekend in September when more than 300,000 people converge on the surrounding area to pay tribute to the man buried there.

The Johnny Appleseed Festival returns September 16–17, 2023!

Celebrate Fall in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Johnny Appleseed Festival Roving Entertainers - Fort Wayne, IN

Celebrate History at the Johnny Appleseed Festival

John Chapman, otherwise known as Johnny Appleseed, was born in Massachusetts in 1774. He traveled throughout the Midwest, planting fruit trees - mainly apples, for the pioneers who settled there. The last 10 years of his life were spent around Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he eventually succumbed to illness and died in a friend’s cabin. He was buried in what is now considered the north side of the city.

Since 1974, the city of Fort Wayne has hosted the Johnny Appleseed Festival in his honor. It is designed to give visitors a chance to experience life in the 1800s. I love the fact that the participants strive to provide authentic period food, including ham and beans with stone-ground cornbread, cider, buffalo burgers and fry bread that is made the way Johnny might have made them. From apple dumplings to chicken and noodles, your tummy will thank you for attending.

A section near the grave, known as Living History Hill, becomes a live military community with soldiers from the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, and Civil War living within period encampments. They eagerly answer questions from visitors about the time periods they represent, while trappers, traders and mountain men entertain the crowd with feats of tomahawk and knife throwing.

Johnny Appleseed Medicine Show

In the Pioneer Village, women dressed in long skirts and mobcaps demonstrate spinning, dyeing, weaving, basketry and soap-making duties, while blacksmiths, metalsmiths, potters, leather workers, broom makers, and woodcarvers show off their skilled trades. Children wind through a straw maze, milk goats, or dip candles. Along with Pioneer Village, there are handmade crafts, antiques, collectables, and a farmers market. 

Personalities of the time period, like Abraham Lincoln, stroll throughout the festival grounds. The festival’s namesake, Johnny Appleseed, can be seen, shaking hands and bending ears with his tall tales.

I particularly love the sounds of this festival. Cannon fire signals the beginning of opening ceremonies each day at Johnny’s gravesite. Crowds part for the bagpipe bands and fife and drum corps that march at frequent intervals. A few feet away someone sweetly plays the dulcimer on the stage. Fiddlers are also scheduled, along with storytellers, magicians, cloggers and melodrama.

For more information, go to www.johnnyappleseedfest.com.

*This post was originally published September 2012 and has been updated and reformated. Last Updated: September 2023