This year’s AppleFest film is built around the songs, poems and folklore associated with apples, pears, orchards and Herefordshire’s heritage. Interwoven with these are the names of apples and pears, past and present, rare and not-so rare. Running chronologically throughout the film, these evocative names are taken from the ‘Pomona Herefordiensis’ (1811 edition) and then ‘Pomona Britannica Vol 2’ (1817 edition). Pages from the original editions or the original drawings on which the plates were based, by Elizabeth Mathews and Frances Knight, are also featured. The video then focusses on varieties originating in the Welsh Marches and, toward its end, a few of cider apples common to present-day production are highlighted. The film is a paean, a nod to an eco-inventory of the unique Herefordshire heritage and landscape.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT APPLEFEST 2024.
NB: The above video is the official subtitled version. To watch, disable Vimeo’s auto-generated subtitles by clicking the ‘CC’ captioning button to ‘Off’ (on the bottom right of the player). A version of the 2024 film without subtitles is available below. As is the 2023 AppleFest film.
A Catcher Media Presentation for Hereford City Council. Written and edited by Rick Goldsmith.
Archive footage courtesy of The Hereford Cider Museum Trust and John Bulmer. Drone footage courtesy of Curious Egg Film & TV . Super 8 and Wassail film by Rick Goldsmith. Narration by Rob Ashman, Olivia May Dalton, Julia Goldsmith, Angie Shears, James & Annie Skittery (Skittery Apple Juice and Cider). Music by Alula Down, Bushel Bag Carollers. Thanks to Kate Gathercole and Mark Waters, Frank Hemming and Herefordshire Libraries. Original Drawings by Elizabeth Mathews and Frances Knight (from ‘Pomona Herefordiensis’). Sources include ‘Pomona Herefordiensis’ (1811 edition) by Thomas Andrew Knight, ‘Pomona Britannica Volume 2’ (1817 edition) by George Brookshaw. ‘Welsh Marches Pomona’ by Michael Porter; illustrated by Margaret Gill. ‘The Book of Apples’ by Joan Morgan and Alison Richards. ‘Folklore of Herefordshire’ by Ella Mary Leather.
AppleFest is a Hereford City Council event in partnership with Big Apple Association, Herefordshire CAMRA, Encore Enterprises, Hereford City Life, Hereford College of Arts, Herefordshire Council, Little Pomona Orchard & Cidery, Museum of Cider and Three Counties Cider and Perry Association. The project is part-funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.