Cider Culture and Community: 2nd Annual Cider Festival

A conversation with the Frontier Culture Museum, Virginia Humanities, and Virginia Cider Association

The Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia will host its second annual Cider Fest on November 7, 2026. Waynesboro-based marketing firm Standout Arts spoke with Paige Hildebrand, Director of Events for the Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia; Kalela Williams of Virginia Humanities and the Virginia Center for the Book; and Nikki West of Ciders From Mars and president of the Virginia Cider Association about the festival's origins, its connection to Virginia history, and what visitors can expect this year.

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The inaugural Cider Fest grew from a shared idea among three organizations. As Williams explained, "We first got together last year because we were all independently thinking the same thing: Virginia Humanities, the Frontier Culture Museum, and Nikki with the Virginia Cider Association."

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"Selfishly, I really like cider, and I really like the Frontier Culture Museum," Williams continued. "So I thought that the Frontier Culture Museum would be a great place to start. It would be an excellent venue. And when I went to Paige to ask about it, she said, 'You know what? It's so funny because there's someone else who is interested in this.' And I said, 'Who?' And she told me Nikki. Of course, I'm familiar with Ciders From Mars because I love them. They're awesome, and they do great events. I said, 'I will trust anything that Nikki's interested in because I know that Nikki's going to make it awesome.' So we all got together, and here we are. Now we're heading into our second year."

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West had been considering a similar event. "It was a really great event," she said. "I'd had it on my mind that I wanted to do something like this, and I, too, thought that the Frontier Culture Museum would be a perfect venue because I think the cultural history of cider in Virginia is very strong."

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That history also aligned naturally with the work of the Virginia Center for the Book. West noted that three books about Virginia cider had been published in recent years and had come to the Center's attention. "And so we had the author panel last year," she said. "It was a mix of cider makers, cider enthusiasts, and journalists who are very interested in cider, historically and in the present."

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The 2025 Cider Fest featured five cideries representing Highland, Albemarle, Augusta, and Rockingham counties, as well as Stuart, Virginia. Each participating cidery was a member of the Virginia Cider Association and produced cider primarily from Virginia-grown fruit.

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According to Hildebrand, 930 people attended the inaugural festival. "We were blown away by how many people came," she said. "We were expecting maybe 750, and we were amazed by the support the community gave us for this event. Having people come from Richmond or Northern Virginia exclusively for this event was really a boon for us. It showed the distance people will travel for one of these events. I think we provide a very unique venue because we also integrate our historical structures into it."

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Visitors did more than sample cider. They learned about the process of making it, the apples used in its production, and cider's place in Virginia history.

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Alongside the Museum's historical interpreters, the festival featured Clyde Jenkins, an apple grower whose family has cultivated apples since the 1700s. Jenkins has participated in Virginia Humanities' Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program. A master grower, he has mentored other growers and basket makers in apple cultivation and basketry.

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Williams recalled the audience's interest in the event's cultural and agricultural dimensions. "We had apples from a 300-year-old orchard there," she said. "We were really trying to talk about the culture around it, and people were fascinated. People had a great time. They learned about our state. They learned about our history. They enjoyed food from the food trucks that were there. It was just really awesome."

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Hildebrand emphasized that Cider Fest offered more than an opportunity to sample beverages. "It was something where you could come purposefully and also learn something of historical significance," she said. "I think that's what makes us very unique. Our setting definitely allows that to happen a little bit more."

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West heard a similar response from attendees. "I think the sentiment was that people appreciated that it wasn't an alcohol festival," she said. "Incorporating the programming that happens here at the Frontier Culture Museum really helped fill out the day. Virginia Humanities was able to bring in musicians who have cultural significance to Virginia. We had booksellers and open-fire cooking demonstrations, really bringing in Virginia's historical trades and agricultural roots and showing how cider fits into all of that. It was really better than I think any of us imagined."

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Celebrated cider historian Mark A. Turdo will return for the 2026 festival. A historian and museum professional, Turdo has spent more than 20 years researching and recreating historic alcoholic cider. He is especially interested in early American cider and cider culture, including who made it, who drank it, and why it was once more common than beer.

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Hildebrand said Turdo was particularly impressed by his conversations with visitors at last year's event. "I heard from him that he had really great conversations with people," she said. "Some were really in-depth, and he received questions that he said he'd never gotten before. So he is coming back for this event."

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As in 2025, this year's Cider Fest will feature live music, food trucks, and at least five cideries from across Virginia. Additional plans are being finalized and will be announced in the coming weeks.

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Hildebrand, Williams, and West agreed that the 2026 Cider Fest is going to be "awesome." Williams described it as "educational, inspiring, and a chance for people to get together and spend time with their friends and family." Hildebrand added, "I'm just very excited. This is my favorite event that we're doing this year."

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West closed with an invitation grounded in the nation's 250th anniversary. "We're getting to the end of our 250th year as a nation," she said. "So if you haven't had an opportunity to celebrate our history, this is the perfect time to squeeze it in before the end of the year. We're really excited, and people should come."

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For more information about the Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia, Cider Festival, and other upcoming events and programs, visit frontiermuseum.org.

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