Last updated: September 2026
The Lincoln Square Apple Fest runs Friday, October 2 through Sunday, October 4, 2026, along Lincoln Avenue on Chicago’s North Side. It’s the 39th year, admission is a $5 suggested donation, and it’s the weekend the neighborhood stops pretending it’s still summer.
I’ve had a place in Chicago part-time for about ten years, and the thing I’d tell a visitor about this one is that it’s a real neighborhood festival rather than a tourist event that happens to be in a neighborhood. Below you’ll find the 2026 dates and hours, the nine entrances, how to actually get there on the Brown Line, what the dog situation is, and which hours to pick if crowds aren’t your thing.
In a Nutshell
- Dates and hours: Friday, October 2, 3–7 p.m. · Saturday, October 3, 9 a.m.–6 p.m. · Sunday, October 4, 9 a.m.–6 p.m.
- Where: N. Lincoln Avenue between W. Lawrence and W. Sunnyside, Lincoln Square. For GPS, use 4700 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60625.
- Cost: $5 suggested donation at the gate, which funds neighborhood programs and local nonprofit grants.
- Best way in: Brown Line to Western. The station sits steps from the Western and Leland entrance.
- Dogs: Welcome, with a Pooch Play Zone in the lot on the 4500 block of Lincoln.
- Kids: Kids Zone in that same lot, running 3–7 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
- Size: More than 100 vendors across the three days.
- Weather: Rain or shine. Only severe weather or high winds would change that.
Apple Fest has been running since the late 1980s, and the shape of it hasn’t changed much: a long stretch of Lincoln Avenue closed to cars, farm stands selling apples by the bushel, restaurants doing apple-adjacent things to their menus for a weekend, and a lot of people you’d describe as neighbors rather than crowds.
What’s changed recently is the length. It used to be two days; 2026 is a three-day run with a Friday evening block added on. That Friday window is short and it’s the least-known part of the schedule, which makes it the single most useful thing in this post if you want the festival without the shoulder-to-shoulder version of it. The money goes somewhere real, too — proceeds fund beautification work in Lincoln Square and Ravenswood plus grants to neighborhood nonprofits that help run the event.
Quick Picks by Interest
- First time in Chicago: Saturday morning. Everything’s open, the farm stands are fully stocked, and you can still move.
- You hate crowds: Friday, 3–7 p.m. Four hours, one evening, and most people don’t know it exists.
- With kids: Head straight for the Kids Zone in the lot on the 4500 block near Sunnyside, then work north.
- With a dog: Saturday morning, when the Pooch Costume Contest runs and the crowd is at its thinnest.
- Driving in: Aim for the free lot behind Sulzer Regional Library at 4450 N. Leavitt Street and walk from there.
- Coming from the suburbs: Metra’s Union Pacific North line to Ravenswood, then about a 15-minute walk west.
When is Apple Fest 2026?
Apple Fest 2026 runs Friday, October 2 from 3 to 7 p.m., Saturday, October 3 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, October 4 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. It lands on the first weekend of October every year, which is a useful thing to know if you’re planning a Chicago trip a year out.
The three days are not interchangeable. Friday is a four-hour evening session and it’s the quietest stretch of the whole festival. Saturday is the big day and the one with the Pooch Costume Contest in the morning. Sunday runs the same hours as Saturday with a slightly gentler crowd, though the best of the farm stock has usually been picked over by then.
Pro tip: If you want the apples themselves rather than the atmosphere, go Saturday morning. The Midwest farm vendors bring a finite amount of fruit and cider, and the good stuff moves early.
Where is the Lincoln Square Apple Fest?
The festival runs along N. Lincoln Avenue between W. Lawrence Avenue at the north end and W. Sunnyside Avenue at the south end, in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side. If you’re setting a GPS destination, 4700 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, IL 60625 will put you in the right place.
There are nine entrances, not one, and knowing that changes your afternoon. Besides Lawrence at the north and Sunnyside at the south, there are entrances at the Leland, Eastwood, and Wilson Avenue cross streets. Enter at whichever gate is closest to what you came for rather than walking to an end and doubling back. The Kids Zone and the Pooch Play Zone both sit in the parking lot on the 4500 block, near the Sunnyside end, so that’s your gate if you’ve got a stroller or a leash.
One thing visitors get wrong about Chicago geography: Lincoln Square is a neighborhood, and it’s not the same thing as Lincoln Park, which is a different neighborhood, a park, and a zoo, about four miles south. If a rideshare driver heads for Lincoln Park, you’ve got the wrong one.
How to get to Apple Fest on the CTA, Metra, or by car
Take the Brown Line to Western. That’s the short answer, and it’s a good one — the station sits essentially at the festival’s northwest entrance at Western and Leland, so you step off the platform and you’re there. From the Loop it’s about 25 minutes.
If a bus is easier from where you’re staying, the #49, #49B, and #X49 Western routes drop you near that same Brown Line station at Western and Leland. The #81 Lawrence stops at Western and Lawrence, directly across from the north end of the festival. The #78 Montrose puts you at Lincoln and Montrose, about a block south of the Sunnyside entrance. The #11 Lincoln serves the neighborhood but gets rerouted around the street closures during the festival, so check before you rely on it.
Coming from the suburbs or the far North Side, Metra’s Union Pacific North line to Ravenswood is about a 15-minute walk from the festival. Head west when you exit; Lawrence Avenue is the most direct route to the north end.
Driving is the option I’d steer you away from, and so does the chamber — Lincoln Avenue and several surrounding streets close, and neighborhood parking is tight on an ordinary Saturday, let alone this one. If you’re driving anyway, there’s a free lot behind Sulzer Regional Library at 4450 N. Leavitt Street, metered parking in the shopping center lot at 2315 W. Lawrence Avenue, and a metered garage at 4713 N. Western Avenue. None of them are guaranteed to have space. On residential streets, read the signs carefully — Chicago permit-parking zones are enforced and a festival weekend is not when anybody’s feeling lenient.
Pro tip: Rideshare drivers can’t drop you on Lincoln Avenue inside the festival footprint. Set your pickup and drop-off to Lincoln and Sunnyside at the south end, or Western and Leland at the northwest corner, and save yourself the argument in the car.
Biking works well here, and there are bike racks at the Brown Line Western station plaza just outside the Western and Leland entrance, plus racks near the Leland entrance east of Lincoln and at the Sunnyside entrance by Welles Park. Lock up outside the festival gates and bring your own lock — the racks are first come, first served.
Full transit and parking details are on the chamber’s Getting to Apple Fest page, which is worth a look the morning of if bus reroutes matter to you.
What to eat and drink at Apple Fest
Two different things are happening food-wise, and they’re worth separating. The farm stands sell the raw material — fresh-picked apples by the bag or the bushel, cider, and seasonal produce brought in from Midwest farms. The restaurants and food vendors sell the finished version: apple-inspired dishes built for the weekend, plus regular festival food for anyone in your group who has had enough apple.
There’s a drinks side too, with hard cider, non-alcoholic cider, and seasonal beer. The chamber publishes a food and beverage lineup for each year’s festival, and it’s genuinely worth reading before you go rather than wandering and hoping — the list tells you which restaurants are participating and what they’re making.
Here’s what I’d do: buy the pie or the cider donuts first, before you eat anything else, and carry them around. Bakery items are the thing that sells out, and nobody has ever regretted buying pie early.
Going with kids
The Kids Zone is a defined area rather than a few scattered activity tables, and it’s in the parking lot on the 4500 block of Lincoln Avenue near Sunnyside. Programming runs 3–7 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
If you’re bringing a stroller, come in through the Sunnyside entrance at the south end. That puts you at the Kids Zone immediately instead of pushing a stroller the length of a crowded street festival to reach it.
Can you bring a dog to Apple Fest?
Yes. Apple Fest is dog-friendly and there’s a Pooch Play Zone in the same 4500-block lot as the Kids Zone. Saturday morning brings a Pooch Costume Contest, which the chamber schedules early on purpose because the crowd is thinner then.
The honest caveat comes from the organizers themselves: it gets genuinely packed, especially in the afternoons, and they don’t recommend bringing a dog during peak hours. If your dog is anxious in crowds, this isn’t the festival to test that. Morning or not at all is the right call for most dogs.
Accessibility and getting around the festival
The festival takes place on a closed, flat stretch of city street, so there are no stairs at the entrances and no single controlled gate to funnel through — nine entry points spread along five blocks.
On transit: CTA lists Western on the Brown Line as an accessible station with elevator service. Worth knowing before you count on it, though — the station has been going through a rehabilitation project that includes elevator replacement work, and CTA has posted temporary elevator outages there. Check the station page for current elevator status the day you travel. If an elevator is down, the #81 Lawrence bus reaches the north end of the festival, and all CTA buses are accessible.
The chamber doesn’t publish detailed accessibility information for the festival itself. If you need specifics on accessible restrooms or seating, emailing the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce ahead of the weekend will get you a better answer than guessing from a map.
What else to do in Lincoln Square while you’re there
The festival takes a couple of hours unless you’re committed, so build the rest of the day around the neighborhood. Welles Park sits right at the Sunnyside end, and Sulzer Regional Library at 4455 N. Lincoln Avenue is a decent warm-up stop if the weather turns. The stretch of Lincoln Avenue the festival occupies is lined with independent shops and restaurants the other 362 days of the year, and they’re open during it — you don’t need to donate at a gate to walk in and buy something or keep an appointment.
If you’re building a longer fall trip around this, Apple Fest is one of more than twenty events on our guide to Chicago fall festivals, and there’s more in the wider roundup of things to do in Chicago in the fall. Apple Fest has been a favorite of mine among all of them for a while now.
Pro tip: Bring cash. Most vendors take cards, but the farm stands move faster when you’re not waiting on a card reader at the end of a line, and small local vendors sometimes have a card minimum.
The Chicago Weekly
Apple Fest is one weekend, and Chicago has about thirty more of them between now and Thanksgiving — festivals, street closures, pop-ups, the last good weeks on the lakefront. I send one email a week with what’s actually worth your time, in time to do something about it. Come along.
Apple Fest Chicago: Questions and Answers
How much does Apple Fest cost?
There’s a $5 suggested donation at the entrance gates. It’s a donation rather than a ticket, and it goes to the Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce’s nonprofit arm, which funds neighborhood placemaking projects and grants to local nonprofits. Food, drinks, and anything you buy from a vendor are separate.
Do I have to donate if I’m just going to a shop or an appointment?
No. The businesses inside the festival footprint stay open and you’re not required to donate at a gate to reach one. If you have a haircut booked or you’re picking something up, walk in.
Is Apple Fest cancelled if it rains?
No, it runs rain or shine. Severe weather or high winds that create a safety problem would be the exception, and the chamber posts updates to its website and social accounts if that happens.
What’s the least crowded time to go?
Friday evening, 3 to 7 p.m. It’s the shortest session and the newest addition to the schedule, so fewer people plan around it. After that, Saturday morning right at 9 a.m. is your next-best window — it’s also when the Pooch Costume Contest runs.
How do I get to Apple Fest from downtown Chicago?
Brown Line to Western, about 25 minutes from the Loop. The station is at the festival’s Western and Leland entrance, so there’s no real walk on the other end. Going back downtown in the evening, the same train runs from the same platform.
Are dogs allowed at Apple Fest?
Yes, and there’s a Pooch Play Zone in the lot on the 4500 block of Lincoln Avenue. The organizers advise against bringing a dog during peak afternoon hours because of how crowded it gets, and they suggest leaving dogs who struggle in public settings at home.
The chamber keeps the official Apple Fest page and a festival FAQ updated through the season, and both are the right place to check for anything that changes in the last week.
Go Friday evening if you can swing it, buy pie before you do anything else, and take the Brown Line. That’s most of what I’d tell a friend coming into town for it. When you’re done, walk south on Lincoln past Welles Park — the shops down that stretch are the reason people move to this neighborhood, and October is the month it looks best.