Bringing Apple Fest to All

By Grace Collins '22, October 8, 2021

Park School production class brings Ithaca’s iconic Apple Harvest Festival online.

Students from the live event production class filmed live from the Ithaca Commons during Apple Harvest Festival. (Photo Credit: Natalie Daffinee)

Every fall, the smell of apples fills the Ithaca Commons as thousands of Ithacans head downtown for cider donuts and apple mac ‘n cheese at the annual Ithaca’s Apple Harvest Festival.

After the cancellation of the 2020 festival due to Covid-19, the return was something to celebrate. This year’s festival also had a unique twist: students in Chrissy Guest’s live event production class spent weeks creating and producing original productions that brought the weekend’s festivities to people everywhere.

Students in Guest’s course regularly plan and produce remote broadcasts. Thanks to a generous donation from Bryan Roberts, associate dean of the Roy H. Park School of Communications, students were able to build a control room and set downtown in the Ithaca Commons. From there, they produced three one-hour shows that were live-streamed to the Park School YouTube channel last Saturday.

Watch Apple Harvest Festival

Want to experience the excitement of Apple Harvest Festival for yourself? Watch the recording of the live broadcast! Ithaca Apple Harvest Festival 2021 produced by Ithaca College Park School TVR Students

The production wasn’t just beneficial to students. With some community members still exercising caution about large gatherings, the remote broadcast allowed more people to take part in the festival and show support.

“I reached out to the Downtown Ithaca Business Alliance to talk to them about what collaborating on a production could mean for the students, but also what it could mean for Apple Fest by providing a safe alternative for people who didn't think they could travel here or take part in the festival in-person this year,” said Guest, associate professor of media arts, sciences and studies. “This would allow people to still participate and support the vendors, the farmers, and the businesses.”

Students began planning their content in August, designing the set and overall aesthetic, and learning the ropes of technical engineering. Each student was assigned an individual role, from segment producers who created, filmed, and edited individual segments to the executive producers who managed the budget, secured sponsorships, and oversaw the entire production. While the class met for six hours a week, students dedicated countless additional hours to meetings and work to ensure the project was a success.

“Producing segments is a really valuable tool to have going into the industry. Being able to showcase your abilities to carry an idea from conception to reality with quick turn around and volatility to the circumstances is easily one of the greatest tools learned, and was built upon with this project on a scale different than previously experienced.”

Mikey Lullo ‘22

Students working to film the Apple Harvest Festival. (Photo Credit: Grace Collins '22)

“This is one of the largest scale productions with the most creative freedom that most of us have ever worked on,” said student executive producer Mikey Lullo ‘22. “Professor Guest has afforded us a tremendous amount of creative liberty with the segments we produced and the livestream overall. You become a jack of all trades working on a production like this where roles are assessed and assigned as needed.”

The live streamed segments, which featured everything from cooking demonstrations with local celebrity chefs to a costumed apple mascot exploring the festival, were a hit, as hundreds of viewers streamed the content on YouTube.

In addition to achieving its goal of bringing the excitement and ambience of Apple Fest to those who couldn’t be there in-person, it also gave students an exciting opportunity to develop skills they’ll need going forward in their post-grad careers.

“We’re immensely grateful to Professor Guest, Dean Roberts, and the Downtown Ithaca Alliance for enabling us to have such an in-depth experiential learning experience,” said Lullo. “Producing segments is a really valuable tool to have going into the industry. Being able to showcase your abilities to carry an idea from conception to reality with quick turn around and volatility to the circumstances is easily one of the greatest tools learned, and was built upon with this project on a scale different than previously experienced.”