What to expect at Reading Terminal Market this weekend

Reading Terminal Market is celebrating the changing of the seasons the best way they know how—with a very unique food celebration.

RTM’s Scrapple & Apple Festival is back this weekend and set for Saturday, Oct. 11 (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.), and the all-day pay-as-you-go experience highlights themed dishes from Market merchants and fun activities celebrating the two seasonal flavors.

“Last year’s Scrapple & Apple Festival generated such positive feedback from our communities, we knew we needed to bring it back to the Market this fall,” said Annie Allman, CEO and General Manager, Reading Terminal Market. “The festival is an example of one of our goals: to celebrate what makes Philadelphians unique. We know everyone who joins us will have fun exploring the market and enjoying the special seasonal bites our merchants are creating for the occasion.”

The fun actually begins the day before the Fest (on Friday, Oct. 10) with the Market’s Scrapple Sculpting Contest.

On this date, twelve participants will be given five pounds of scrapple and sculpting tools and will have 90 minutes to complete a scrapple creation, a release notes. The contest will be emceed by Amy Strauss, local food and drink writer and author of ‘Pennsylvania Scrapple.’ Director and CEO of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Sasha Suda, will serve as the expert judge for the event and ultimately declare the winner of the “judge’s vote”. Participants’ masterpieces will then be on display at the Scrapple & Apple Festival for guests to cast a “popular vote”. Anyone 18+ and interested can sign up for one of the first-come, first-served participant slots in the Contest online.

Otherwise, the Festival on Saturday will boast more than one way to indulge in sweet, savory and inventive bites all around the venue. Down Home Diner will serve up scrapple fries with homemade apple butter, The Famous 4th St. Cookie Company is baking scrapple apple cookies, apple pie cookies and apple sundaes, and The Original Turkey will be putting together apple cheddar sandwiches.

Additional treats span apple dumplings (Dutch Eating Place), scrapple and apple fried lumpia (Tambayan), a spiced apple dream smoothie (Kamal’s Middle Eastern Specialties), a scrapple cheesesteak (Butcher’s Pantry), fried apple hand pies and Andouille scrapple breakfast po’boys (Beck’s Cajun Cafe), scrapple shortbread cookies (Flying Monkey Bakery), Jewish apple cake (Termini Brothers Bakery) an apple and cheese pairing (Downtown Cheese), apple fairy floss, scrapple/sweet potato flatbreads and scrapple quiche (Sparrow’s Gourmet Snacks), apple cider hibiscus iced tea (Butcher’s Pantry) and much more.

On top of the bites, music and family-friendly activities will also be peppered throughout the occasion. DJ entertainment will be provided from noon to 4 p.m., and activities will span apple/pig craft decorating and bobbing for apples. Reading Terminal Market will additionally provide apple samplings throughout the event, featuring a wide variety of fruit for tasting, ranging from commonly known to more unique selections.