Whether you enjoy sampling liver mush, apple butter, beer or chili, love listening to live music or want a way to spend a fun time out with your pet, you should mark the weekend of Oct. 19-21, 2018, on your calendar. A combination of festivals on those dates offers a wide variety of food, music and fun for all kinds of tastes.
The NC Brew Fest and Chili Cook-Off marks the beginning of the events on Friday, Oct. 19, 2018, at 6 p.m. (5 p.m. for VIP ticket holders) on the court square in Shelby. Various uptown Shelby restaurants will have chili samples to vote on and beer specials throughout the evening.
A wide variety of passes are available for chili-tasting only, beer-tasting only or combinations of both. Visit
www. mushmusicandmutts.com for ticket and time details.
Activities on Friday night will end at 9:30 p.m., which is good because "Mush, Music and Mutts" kick off Saturday morning bright and early at 8 a.m. and will continue throughout the day until 4 p.m. One of the highlights of the day is the Pet Festival, sponsored and directed by RollOver Pets. Furry participants can be entered in the popular pet costume contest, and all animals are invited to participate in the pet parade. "Musical sit" and other pet games will also be a part of the day's activities. The Shelby Police Department will do a K9 demonstration at 2 p.m.
The "Mush" part of the festival will begin with registration at 10 a.m. for the liver mush eating contest. There will also be a liver mush recipe contest, and all of the uptown Shelby restaurants will feature a liver mush special dish for the day. The 7th annual "Little Miss Liver Mush Pageant" will feature contestants ages 0-18 vying for 11 titles.
While all of this activity will be taking place in uptown Shelby, another festival just up Highway 74 will offer plenty of sweet treats. The 4th annual Apple Butter festival at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 1207 W. Dixon Blvd., Shelby, will be held Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. About 1,500 jars of homemade apple butter will be available for purchase: $8 for a pint and $4 for a half pint.
"We will also have wonderful live music - ranging from folk and sixties and seventies to bluegrass pickers and more," says festival organizer Joan Fogle. "There will be classic and vintage cars, artisans, and vendors throughout the day. And, as always, the Schiele museum will bring live animals to 'enliven' the day. We will also have a larger children's program this year."
Food available for purchase will include apple fritters, breakfast biscuits and burgers. A bake sale and silent auction will also be part of the festival. All proceeds will be split between Champions for Children, Meals on Wheels and disaster relief for victims of Hurricane Florence and Hurricane Maria (Puerto Rico).
For more information about the Apple Butter Festival, search for "Apple Butter Festival at Aldersgate UMC" on Facebook or call the church at 704-487-8491.

By April Hoyle-Shauf, Special to Community First Media