48th annual Apple Butter Festival takes place this month

The Owen County Courthouse square will soon come alive with the familiar sights and sounds of the annual Apple Butter Festival, returning for a 48th year Sept. 20 to 21.

Presented by the Spencer Lions Club, this year's event will again be chock-full of family fun, featuring royalty and apple butter contests, a parade, fun zone, classic car cruise-in, antique tractors and much more. Over 100 vendors selling homemade, handmade or store-bought treasures and food will help bring the festival to life.

The fan-favorite festival parade will step off at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20, featuring this year's grand marshal, well-known area radio personality Tony Kale.

Kale has spent 38 years gracing the local radio airwaves, and the last 37 of those have included doing play-by-play for Owen Valley and other area high school sports. He was the 2009 Marv Bates Award winner from the ISSA and is approaching nearly 1,400 career games called, including six state championship appearances. Kale also handles numerous Edgewood broadcasts and hosts a popular morning show on WCLS 97.7.

Kale was among those inducted into the Indiana Sports Writers and Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame for 2025 during a ceremony held earlier this year at the Valle Vista Country Club in Greenwood.

A demolition derby will be held at the Owen County Fairgrounds on Saturday beginning at 7 p.m.

For more Apple Butter Festival information, visit The Apple Butter Festival on Facebook or the website theapplebutterfestival.com.