The Big Pick & Cider Fest 2026 - Family Weekend

** TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED ON EVENTBRITE LINK **

Get ready for a fun-filled weekend of apple picking & pressing, cider tasting, live music and family friendly vibes!

OPEN FOR ONE WEEKEND - 19th & 20th September 2026

Part of the 9 day Taste East Devon Festival

Explore. Pick. Press. Dance. Relax.

The 'Courtney's of Whimple' ancient cider orchard in Southbrook Lane, Whimple will be open to the public for two days - Sat 19th and Sun 20th Sept - (10.00am to 5.30pm). Join us for a magical weekend in the ancient Whiteways orchard - a rare chance to wander through historic cider trees, enjoy live music, and take part in the traditional Courtney’s apple pressing, cider‑making experience.

What to Expect

The stunning Courtney's of Whimple orchard will be open to explore, relax, and soak up the atmosphere. Bring family, friends, or simply yourself and enjoy a day surrounded by East Devon heritage.

Apple Harvest, Pressing Experience

Help with this year’s cider apple harvest and learn how we craft our cider - the traditional way. There is the opportunity to press the apples you have collected using our crushing and pressing equipment to create your own natural apple juice. Alternatively, bring your own apples and we'll press and create your own juice to take home.

Live Music

Local musicians will be performing throughout the weekend to keep the orchard buzzing and people dancing in the cider yard. See Eventbrite link for more details of the line up.

Let time pass you by in one of East Devon's oldest orchards - one of the 'original' Whiteways of Whimple orchards. Some of trees are over 100 years old and still producing a fabulous crop!

WHAT'S ON OVER THE WEEKEND

Apple Picking: Dive into the Courtney's cider-making tradition by helping to harvest this year’s apple crop. Wander through our ancient East Devon orchards and soak in nature at its finest.

Apple Pressing: Create your own fresh juice by pressing apples you bring or those you pick from the orchard. Note: £2 per kg charge applies. Bring your own vessels for juice or we can provide them free of charge.

LIVE MUSIC: Enjoy live music all weekend long. We've a cracking line up to keep everyone entertained. Sunday  

SATURDAY:

Vine & Dandy - Vine & Dandy formed in 2012 and are an acoustic duo from Devon, made up of long-time friends Will Vine and Ashley “Dandy” Leeds. They bring a warm, lively, and feel-good mix of acoustic favourites, foot-tapping classics, soulful harmonies, with a few original songs along the way. With guitars, cajon, big voices and plenty of charm, Vine & Dandy are all about creating a relaxed, fun atmosphere to get people singing, smiling and tapping their feet. Perfect for a day in the orchard, cider in hand, and good company all around!

Better Luck Next Time (UK) - Better Luck Next Time formed in 2011, and are a 5-piece band from Crediton and Exeter, with the motto 'Let's Get Serious About Having Fun!'. They'll delve into the world of Classic Rock & Pop to bring you timeless classics from bands including Queen, Bryan Adams, David Bowie, Foo Fighters and Thin Lizzy, there's even a few surprises thrown in for good measure - all with audience involvement / participation. Lively, energetic, and full of the songs that we all know and love. There's even a few songs you may have forgotten about and need reminding of!

SUNDAY:

Joy Machine - a band created from a love and passion for all genres of music from 60s to modern pop. Two girls and a whole load of attitude!

Other bands still being finalised.

Bar: Savour the Courtney's Drinks range, including cocktails, our award-winning traditional, fruit, cloudy, low-alcohol ciders, and soft drinks from our cider bar.

Refreshments: Hot and cold refreshments will be available all day including awesome pizzas provided by Ember Pizza.

A RELAXING DAY: Grab a cider, some tasty food, and relax in the beautiful East Devon countryside. Enjoy our apple picking and pressing experience with live music.

All in all, it's a cracking day out for everyone in the fresh air at a local family business in East Devon. Not to be missed!

TICKETS

Day Tickets: Adults £6 per person, Under 16s £1.

'FLEXIBLE' Weekend Pass: Adults £8 per person, Under 16s £1.50.

Purchase your tickets on Eventbrite HERE

(Note: tickets are non-refundable, Under 2s FREE)

OTHER BITS

Well behaved dogs are permitted. We just request that they remain on a lead as we have sheep grazing in the orchards.

Limited parking facilities (we would encourage those that are close to walk or cycle, if possible).

We keep beehives in the orchard to pollinate our trees. Please keep a reasonable distance away from them as they are very busy bees!

HOW TO FIND US

Courtney's Orchards, The Old Orchards, Southbrook Lane, Whimple, EX5 2PD

View on Google Maps: HERE

Your Sat Nav may take you to a neighbouring farm. Our orchard is on 'Southbrook Lane' just past the railway bridge. 1 mile from the old A30.

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A short walk or cycle from Cranbrook, Whimple, Broadclyst and Rockbeare.

ABOUT COURTNEY'S DRINKS

We create our range of award winning ciders and juices from the apples in our orchard. Everything is done naturally with as little human intervention as possible. We hand pick, press and bottle within the orchard. We don't use harmful chemicals or fertilisers, just let nature do what it does best. Our range of ciders available include traditional, fruit and low alcohol. We also produce THE EXE GIN and Grumblebee Honey Spiced Rum which will be available to try and / or take away.

Whimple Orchards (GOLD winner) and Silly Cow Cider (SILVER winner) at the 2024 Japan Cider Cup. Yep - we export our Whimple cider to Japan!

Full range of Courtney's Drinks HERE.

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