Turning leaves and a gentle breeze lent a hint of fall to a warm weekend, perfect for Apple Days at the Burnside Plantation Sept. 14 and 15.

Return visitors found some changes. The upper field, formerly for food trucks, now held a circle of tents with volunteers in historic costumes who led children through activities including marble making and playing with old time toys. Another activity was a game that asked participants to match the item names to the historic objects.

Packaged historic toy replicas could be purchased at the information tent outside the field. A scavenger hunt was also offered, where some of the items could be found at the tents and others around the festival.

Event organizer Beth Beatty said she wants the festival to reflect the plantation, with more historical activities. She felt this would help distinguish the plantation’s festivals (Apple and Blueberry) from the many other festivals in the Lehigh Valley.

Visitors could tour the historic farmhouse. In the adjacent kitchen, volunteers fired up the brick oven and made apple butter and spent grain bread. The volunteers also wore historic costumes, and happily described the challenges of the period clothing. For example, the stays and tops were not designed for a lady to dress herself, because she needed another pair of hands to manage the complicated lacing. Volunteer Joanne Ritter shared her thoughts of ladies standing in a line, each lacing up the next woman’s stays.

Pony rides were in the orchard again. The historic apple press was set up near the orchard. One the other side of the lane, the flower garden was in its glory, and volunteers were happy to describe the plants and their care.

Down in the lower field, the spinners were back, as was the petting zoo. Potbellied pigs crafted paintings in another tent. The food and musical entertainment and the vendors filled out the field. Pumpkin painting was offered for the kids, and the wildflower garden was in bloom.

As always, there were plenty of apple items for sale, including apple ice cream, apple cider doughnuts and, of course, apple pies.

The festival is always held in mid-September and volunteers are always needed, noted Beatty. This year saw returning volunteers of all ages, including students from high school and from Moravian College. Volunteer needs are posted on Historicbethlehem.org several months in advance.

“Despite a slow start on Saturday, we finished strong on Sunday and had over 1,300 visitors,” Beatty said. “People really enjoyed the music, and we sold out of all the desserts by about 4 p.m. on Sunday. The on-site feedback about the expanded historical activities was very positive.”

Visitors who provided their email addresses also received a survey about their festival experience.