Sweet autumn cheer will return to downtown Mars this weekend for the annual Applefest on Saturday, Oct. 1.

The free fall festival is run by the Mars satellite of the Rich-Mar Rotary, and this year will be the third year that the branch has organized the event.

Rotary event organizer Brian Fleeson expects this year’s festival to bring similar activities and vendor opportunities as past years.

“We are trying to appeal more to craft and food vendors,” Fleeson said. “We went to a couple of different craft shows and tried to solicit people there, and it seems that we have a pretty good turnout for craft vendors this year.”

The event will boast about 140 vendors, he said, ranging from artisans to nonprofits to local businesses from downtown Mars borough.

Fleeson said he saw enthusiasm for this year’s event as early as April, when vendor sign-ups opened.

“We seem to have a great turnout on vendors this year,” he said. “We filled up pretty quickly this year too. It seemed like a lot more people were anxious to jump back into it. I’d say by about mid-June we were pretty much filled up.”

The event will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and will feature live music from Brandon Krul, the Greater Cranberry Men’s Chorus, Jenkins Crum: Old Friends Music, Greater Harmony Chorus, and Dizzy Woosh.

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