KOZJANSKO APPLE FESTIVAL
Kozjansko Apple Festival is a traditional, central event in Kozjansko Park, which has been held annually in Podsreda on the second weekend in October since 2000.
Apple, which was put in focus of the holiday programme on both the symbolic and substantive level, each year invites a number of qualified experts, exhibitors and vendors, as well as many cultural groups and artists from Slovenia and abroad.
The event is thematically linked to the modern quest for sustainable, circular and co-natural development, taking into account the principles of nature protection. The Kozjansko Apple Festival has an important impact on the visibility of Kozjansko, and the fair is described as an “environmental fair with a soul”.
The largest environmental event in the country represents the collaboration of the inhabitants of this protected area and the joint endeavours for the preservation of the agricultural and cultural environment in the Kozjansko region. Its important environmental elements are the tall trunk meadow orchards with old varieties of apple trees.
The Kozjansko Apple Festival traditionally starts with the hike through Kozjansko orchards on the first Sunday in October and ends with a fair on the second weekend in October, when Podsreda is filled with many vendors offering products and produce that are sustainably grown and processed.
Environmentally conscious – organic – farms offer old apple varieties, healthy produce grown in a sustainable way, and original and imaginatively processed fruit for winter storage. The handicraft workshops offer top-quality products of traditional folk crafts.
The event is attended by numerous associations and various professional services operating in the protected area of Kozjansko Park, other protected areas, and primary schools and kindergartens from the Kozjansko Park area.
The whole fair is accompanied by a rich cultural programme, with a wide range of performers – from folk singers and brass bands, tambourine players, dance groups, majorettes to zither players and accordionists.
The event is accompanied by presentations of almost forgotten crafts, a demonstration of an apple juice processing plant, a mushroom exhibition, competitions, sports and social games, and workshops for children.
During the Kozjansko Apple Festival, we also award the Carjevič of the Year title and the Sožitje – Kozjanski park brand to selected recipients.
In the week leading up to the fair, we traditionally organise a Sunday hike through Kozjansko orchards, inaugurate an exhibition of old apple varieties, organise a literary Aškerc Evening in cooperation with local culture workers and associations, and many other activities.
