A celebration of the birth of a tasty product is underway in Winchester, Virginia. It’s the 98th annual Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival and it wraps up this weekend with concerts and a parade, which is one of the most popular events.

“The Grand Feature Parade is Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. It’s a mile and a half long through the downtown streets in Old Town Winchester. It’s one of our traditions,” said Brad Veach, executive director of the festival.

The festival started back in the 1920s as a way to celebrate the strength of the local economy, which was in the apples, the orchards and the growers. The apple blossoms were the harbinger of the fruit season to come.

“It’s an agricultural celebration that has grown into something much, much bigger. It’s a homecoming of sorts for many. We see people that come from all over the country,” Veach said.

And even though this festival is about the blossom, he said there will be some tasty apple goodies to try, a teaser, if you will, of what the area’s apple harvest will offer later this year.

“We have some branded apple goodies,” Veach said. “You can get your apple salsa and apple butter and all sorts of different things apple.”

The festival runs through Sunday.