Orlando, Florida
— Pie lovers, tasters and bakers will gather April 9 and 10 in Celebration, Florida,
for two very sweet days at the American Pie Council’s Great American Pie
Festival sponsored by Crisco®. Now in its ninth year, this pie extravaganza
dishes up luscious layers of fun for the young and the young at heart. Whether
looking to enjoy some of the most delectable desserts in America or simply
partake in one of the many entertainment and baking demonstrations staged along
Main Street in one of America’s most charming small towns, attendees are sure
to enjoy pure pie perfection.
A Warm Pie
Festival Welcome
From top crust
to two crust, juicy to sweet, chocolate to custard all matter of flavors and
fillings will flow forth to the delight of an anticipated 28,000 pie lovers
from around the world.
Presented by the
American Pie Council®, an organization dedicated to preserving America’s pie
heritage, the popular festival returns to Celebration with all the activities
that have made it a favorite event for families and remains free open to the
public.
Whether bonafide
pie lovers or casual nibblers looking for an afternoon of fun, Orlando residents and visitors are invited to
stroll through the free-admission festival and enjoy two days of family fun,
reminiscent of days gone by. The Crisco® Kids Creation Station will give
aspiring young bakers an opportunity to create their own pies or enjoy some fun
with pie decorating, pie-scaping, Piecasso tin art and many more activities.
The Pietopia Demonstration Stage sponsored by Village Inn and Bakers Square
Restaurants will feature entertainment and baking demonstrations with chefs
from across the country. Of course, the Great American Pie Festival would not
be complete without a Pie Eating Contest, sponsored by Private Selection. Attendees
may opt to dig in and compete or simply sit back and enjoy the show. All
festival events will be held both days.
Great American
Pie Festival’s Pie-Eating Contest
As the festival
favorite for the past nine years, the Never Ending Pie Buffet will once again
feature an all you can eat smorgasbord of 83,000 award-winning pie slices – up
from 70,000 in recent years – as well as ice cream, toppings and beverages from
local, regional and national commercial bakeries, restaurants and markets,
including Bakers Square Restaurants and Pies, Bonert’s Slice of Pie, California
Raisin Marketing Board, J. Horner’s Desserts, Kroger’s Private Selection,
Publix Super Markets, Inc., Rocky Mountain Pies, Smucker’s Toppings, The Folger
Coffee Company, Village Inn, Wick’s Pies and Winn-Dixie. This is the only paid
event at the festival. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for seniors over 65
and children under 5 to enjoy all they care to eat and drink.
Digging Into
Cherry Pie
The 17th Annual
American Pie Council/ Crisco® National Pie Championships return to Orlando April 8-10, and
organizers expect a record number of entries across all categories, to top last
year’s record entries: 417 commercial, 170 professional, 321 amateur and seven
junior – totaling an astounding 907 pies.
New this year
are three categories created to reflect the signs of the times. “Gluten-free”
requiring a pie that is gluten-free in all aspects including crust, filling and
toppings. “Innovation” sponsored by Crisco in honor of the brand’s
100th Anniversary this year. The “Innovation” category requires a
blend of classic and contemporary innovative pie making technique and pie
flavor selections. Finally a “Royal Wedding” pie suitable for a
soon-to-be-married Prince William and Kate Middleton is the third new category.
The pie’s the limit with all three of the new categories as well as familiar
favorites.
It will take a
record number of judges – 200 prequalified volunteer pie aficionados – to eat
through almost 1,000 pieces to find the crème de la crème of North American pie
bakers. It comes as no surprise that the largest number of entries for a single
flavor goes to America’s
collective favorite – apple pie – with 39 entries in the amateur category.
Entry forms are
available online for junior, amateur, professional and commercial divisions at
the website.
Entry costs are free for juniors and $15 for amateurs. APC members receive
discounts on entries.
Host hotel
Caribe Royale Hotel is offering a special room rate for those attending or
participating in the Great American Pie Festival or National Pie Championships.
To book this special rate, you must tell the hotel you are with the event. Call
800-823-8300 to book a room.
The festival
will be held at Lakeside
Park at 631 Sycamore St. in
downtown Celebration, FL 34747. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, April 9;
noon to 5 p.m., Sunday, April 10. Admission to the festival is free. Costs for
the Never Ending Pie Buffet are: $10 adults, $5 ages 65 and up; $5 ages 6-12.
For more
information, visit the website for Front Porch Celebration Community or the
American Pie Council’s website.
For more information on Crisco and The J.M. Smucker Co.,
visit the Crisco website.
The American Pie
Council® is the only organization committed to maintaining America’s pie heritage, passing on the tradition
of pie-making and promoting America’s
love affair with pie. The APC offers personal, professional and commercial
memberships. For more information, please visit the APC website.
