Photo Credit: Lydia Williams
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Photo Credit: Anne Post Poole
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After much discussion with vendors, chamber members, and community members, the Dover Chamber of Commerce has made the difficult decision to move the Apple Harvest Day event to an online platform. Given the size of the event, and the multi-state participation we are unable to host the event in person while still remaining in compliance with state and local regulations and recommendations.
We hope you will still consider participating in the festival through our new online platform! Details regarding fees, length and layout of the festival, and frequently asked questions can be found below.
Thank you for your understanding.
-The Dover Chamber of Commerce Staff
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Details about the Festival
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When deciding to move Apple Harvest Day to an online platform, there were three main areas we wanted to focus on:
- Creating a platform that offered live interactions between festival goers and festival vendors
- Providing a platform for vendors to sell their inventory as well as get their message out to a larger than usual market
- Providing a well thought out and successful event for both vendors and festival goers.
Here's how we plan to do it:
Creating a platform that offers live interactions:
Through our new Apple Harvest Day website, we plan on live streaming the event on October 3, 2020 with many of the well-known in-person events being highlighted. We'll start the virtual festival off with the "first bite" ceremony and national anthem and will proceed through the day with a virtual Wildlife Encounters presentation, live music performances, and much more.
As an Apple Harvest Day vendor you too will be given an opportunity to either live stream or provide a pre-recorded video for our live stream.
Providing a platform:
With so many craft fairs and festivals being cancelled this year, we wanted to make sure our crafters still have an opportunity to sell their inventory. We also wanted to make sure our non-profits and businesses have an opportunity to promote their organizations to a larger market. In making Apple Harvest Day an online event your virtual booth will be available to be viewed by anyone with access to the website. We plan on promoting our virtual festival locally, regionally, and nationally to ensure our vendors have a successful event.
Providing a successful event:
It takes a lot of time and effort to produce a successful Apple Harvest Day. Keeping that in mind, we decided to make the decision early about moving the event to an online platform to ensure we gave ourselves enough time to create a website that would best meet the needs of our vendors and festival goers. We are working with our web developer to incorporate feedback from vendors, sponsors and the community participants to ensure we have a successful event.
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Other Details:
With the event being online, it offers the chamber staff the opportunity to extend the festival to a multi-day event. The Apple Harvest Day website will be live for the entire month of October, with live streaming events happening on October 3 and live streaming opportunities being available on October 10, 17 and 24. This will offer festival goers four weekends to explore the festival and make sure they see all the vendors they want. Each weekend vendors will have an opportunity to share videos, live streams, and promotions as desired. During the week vendor booths will be "open" for festival goers to explore website, social media pages, and shopping platforms (as applicable).
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Retail, Business, Manufacturer, Other: $345
Non-Profit: $215
Crafter: $140
Included in your fee:
- Apple Harvest Day Marketing Kit
- Vendor Portal on NEW Apple Harvest Day Website
- Option to be featured in live stream
- Featured on Apple Harvest Day website for the month of October
For those who have not yet submitted an application for 2020 you can use this
Application Link to submit your application online. Those who prefer to print and mail your registration, select your application below.
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Frequently Asked Questions
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What would Apple Harvest Day Online look like?
We are still in the process of working with our web developers to create an online platform for Apple Harvest Day, but we are modeling the desired look off of the
Renegade Craft Fair's website. The Dover Chamber staff participated in the Renegade Craft Fair in May, and recorded the festival goer experience. Please watch
this video to get a better idea of what Apple Harvest Day online format would
roughly look like.
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Why are you making this decision so early?
Given the size of this event, we typically spend 6-9 months prior to the event date planning. As a result we needed to make the decision earlier to give us enough time to plan and execute a successful event.
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I want to participate in the live streaming, but I don't have the required technology to stream live.
The Chamber Staff has been hosting virtual networking events since April and have become pros at thinking outside the box when it come to having a virtual presence. If you want to be a part of the live festival, we will work with you to figure out how to do it. When submitting your Apple Harvest Day application, make a note that you would like to participate in the live stream, and we will be in touch.
Have you considered doing an
in-person component in addition to the online festival?
Yes! We are still working on the details, and hope to share that with you soon. However, the in-person component will not look anything like vendors setting up in downtown Dover. It will more likely be a call to festival goers to visit our vendors at their locations (where applicable). We hope to provide all Apple Harvest Day vendors with a marketing packet that can be used to promote and encourage your local communities to join you for Apple Harvest Day at your location.
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I don't believe I can make the virtual format work for my business, but have already submitted an application and payment for this year. Can I get a refund?
The Dover Chamber asks that if possible, please consider applying your already paid application fees to next year's (2021) festival. If that is simply not possible, please let us know and we will work on processing your application fee refund. Please note, this refund policy applies only to vendors who have already submitted their applications for 2020.
Any applications received after July 15 will not be eligible for a refund.
Still have questions?
Please email us at
info@dovernh.org. As we mentioned before we are still in the early stages on planning for this year's Apple Harvest Day, but will try to answer your questions as best as we can.
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Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce
550 Central Avenue, Dover NH
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