Nobody planned it this way. The Spencer Lions Club has been simmering apple butter in copper kettles on the Owen County Courthouse lawn every third weekend of September for close to five decades, parade and all. Out at McCormick's Creek State Park, the Friends of McCormick's Creek run their own evening of blues and barbecue most years, usually on whatever Saturday the park calendar and the volunteers' schedules allow. For most of the festival's history, those two traditions have quietly taken turns owning a September weekend in Owen County.
This year they don't take turns. According to the Indiana DNR's own event listing, BBQ and Blues at McCormick's Creek runs Saturday, September 19, from 4 to 8 p.m., and the same page notes that the Apple Butter Festival in downtown Spencer starts at 9 a.m. that morning with its parade stepping off at 1 p.m., setting the stage for the evening at the park. Same date. Same town. Two events that most residents have always experienced as separate now sit back to back on one calendar square.
If you've lived in Spencer through a few Apple Butter Festivals, you already have a routine: get downtown early, watch the parade, maybe swing by the fairgrounds if the demolition derby is running that night. This year that routine has a wrinkle worth knowing about before you plan your Saturday, because the evening now has three things competing for the same few hours, not one.
What Usually Happens on Apple Butter Saturday
The festival itself hasn't changed much in structure. It's still hosted by the Spencer Lions Club, still centered on the courthouse square, and still funds local scholarships and services the way it has for years. The 2025 edition, the 48th annual, ran a full slate: royalty and apple butter contests, a fun zone, a classic car cruise-in, antique tractors, and a parade led that year by longtime radio personality Tony Kale, who's called Owen Valley sports on air for 37 years. Vendors regularly top 100 booths selling everything from handmade crafts to festival food.
Saturday evening has traditionally belonged to the fairgrounds. In past years, a demolition derby at the Owen County Fairgrounds has kicked off around 7 p.m. as the festival's unofficial nightcap, the kind of loud, dusty finish that closes out the day for a lot of families who've been on the square since morning.
That's the version of Apple Butter Saturday most residents know by heart.
The New Piece: A Second Event Wants Your Evening Too
BBQ and Blues at McCormick's Creek isn't new to Owen County's fall calendar, but it hasn't always landed on the exact same Saturday as the festival. This year it does, running 4 to 8 p.m. with live blues, kids' activities, and barbecue for purchase. The music itself is free, but the park's standard entry fee still applies: $5 per in-state vehicle, $7 for out-of-state, per the DNR's park page. The day at McCormick's Creek actually starts even earlier for anyone who wants to make a full outing of it. A 4-mile trail run kicks off at 8 a.m., co-sponsored by the Owen County Family YMCA and the Friends of McCormick's Creek State Park, registration handled through the YMCA.
So the honest picture of September 19 looks less like one festival with a familiar ending and more like three separate draws stacked into a single evening window: the tail end of the downtown festival, the demolition derby at the fairgrounds, and four hours of music and barbecue at the state park. All three want your 6 or 7 p.m. slot. You can't fully do all three without some triage.
Building an Actual Saturday Out of It
Here's roughly how the day breaks down if you want to move through more than one of these without missing what matters most at each stop:
- Morning (8 to 9 a.m.): The Owen County Farmers' Market runs its regular Saturday hours on West Morgan Street with rotating live local performers, so early risers can grab produce and coffee before the festival crowd fills downtown. If you're the outdoor type, this is also when the McCormick's Creek trail run starts, about a 10-minute drive from the square.
- Late morning into early afternoon: Festival hours open at 9 a.m. downtown, building toward the 1 p.m. parade. This stretch is the one part of the day that doesn't compete with anything else, so it's the safest window to fully commit to the square without watching the clock.
- Late afternoon (starting at 4 p.m.): BBQ and Blues opens at the park. If the park is where you want your evening, this is the moment to head that direction rather than lingering downtown, since the drive and parking take a little planning on a festival Saturday.
- Evening (around 7 p.m.): The demolition derby has historically started around this time at the fairgrounds in past years, directly overlapping the middle of the park's music schedule. This is the actual fork in the road. Pick one.
The trick isn't showing up and hoping the day sorts itself out. It's deciding in advance which evening anchor, the derby or the park, matters more to your group, and building the rest of the day around getting there without rushing.
If the Park Wins Your Evening
McCormick's Creek has a case for being where the whole day happens. It's Indiana's first state park, established in 1916, and the roughly 10 miles of trails around the limestone canyon and falls give you a legitimate reason to spend the whole afternoon there before the music even starts. Canyon Inn sits inside the park if you want a meal or a break between the trail run and the evening set. Combine the 8 a.m. run, an afternoon walk through the canyon trails, and the 4 p.m. music start, and you've built a full day that never requires the drive back downtown at all.
If the Square Wins Your Evening
If the derby and the downtown energy are the bigger draw for your family, the smarter move is treating the park as something to visit another weekend rather than trying to squeeze it in. The festival itself runs late enough that you can catch the parade, work through the vendor booths at a normal pace, grab dinner downtown, and still make the derby at the fairgrounds without feeling like you're racing a second event across town. Owen Valley Winery, Vineyard & Bistro, out on Timber Ridge Road, is worth keeping in your back pocket for a quieter night later in September if festival Saturday feels too full. It pours from the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail lineup, including a persimmon wine that's become something of a local calling card, alongside $8 wine flights and charcuterie. Just know their cheesecake is a Friday-only thing, so it won't be on the menu that particular Saturday.
Spencer doesn't usually ask residents to choose between its landmarks. Most years, the festival, the derby, and the park each get their own turn on the calendar without stepping on each other. This year they don't, and knowing that ahead of time is the difference between a Saturday that feels rushed and one that actually delivers on both traditions, just not all in the same four hours.
If you're the kind of resident who tracks these overlaps because you actually live here and plan around them, you already understand what makes Owen County worth staying in. Dyer Creek Property Group works with people across Putnam, Hendricks, and the surrounding West Central Indiana communities who feel the same way about the towns they call home, whether that means finding the right property here or helping a longtime neighbor with what comes next. Contact us when you're ready to talk.
