BC's Apple Economy Thrives at UBC Festival

By Elke Porter | WBN News Vancouver | October 1, 2025
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The UBC Botanical Garden is preparing to host its 34th annual Apple Festival on October 18-19, 2025, showcasing the breadth and diversity of British Columbia's thriving apple industry while raising crucial funds for botanical research and conservation. The festival includes food trucks, live music, and more than 100 types of apples grown right here in BC!

Organized by the Friends of the Garden, the festival has become a significant marketplace connecting local growers with consumers eager to explore beyond supermarket offerings. This year's event features over fifty apple varieties sourced from BC growers, representing both conventional and organic production methods. The selection spans familiar commercial varieties alongside rare heritage apples that tell the story of the province's agricultural history.

The festival's economic model demonstrates the viability of specialty agricultural events. Early bird pricing, available through September 30th, encourages advance ticket purchases while generating predictable revenue for the Garden's educational programs. The tiered pricing structure—including new senior discounts responding to demographic needs—maximizes accessibility while supporting the Garden's operational sustainability.

The Apple Tasting Tent represents a premium experience within the festival, offering visitors access to up to fifty apple varieties for an additional fee. This model allows enthusiasts to sample limited-availability heritage varieties that lack commercial distribution channels. The Friends of the Garden's Apple Booklet, sold for five dollars, provides detailed cultivation and historical information for over one hundred varieties, serving as both educational resource and revenue stream.

Perhaps most significant for BC's apple industry is the tree sales program. The festival offers over fifty varieties of one-year whip saplings, complete with detailed planting instructions and variety information. This direct-to-consumer model helps diversify backyard orchards while preserving genetic diversity in apple cultivation—varieties that might otherwise disappear from commercial production.

The festival's environmental practices reflect growing consumer expectations. By eliminating bottled water sales and implementing comprehensive composting programs, organizers demonstrate that agricultural events can operate sustainably while maintaining profitability.

As the festival enters its fourth decade, it continues proving that specialty agriculture events can simultaneously celebrate regional food production, educate consumers about crop diversity, and generate meaningful support for research institutions—a model with implications far beyond apples alone.

TAGS: #UBC Apple Festival #BC Apples #Heritage Apples #Sustainable Agriculture #Local Food #UBC Botanical Garden #WBN News Vancouver #Elke Porter

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