What the Naples Grape Festival Is

The Naples Grape Festival is a two-day outdoor festival held annually in the Village of Naples, New York, a community of roughly 1,000 people at the southern tip of Canandaigua Lake. It is one of the largest grape and wine festivals in the northeastern United States, drawing more than 40,000 visitors over a single weekend. The festival fills the village’s main streets with food vendors, craft booths, live music stages, and the unmistakable smell of Concord grapes — the dark, aromatic variety that defines Naples and its surrounding hillsides.

The festival has run since 1961. It is not a wine-industry trade show or a sommelier event. It is a harvest celebration rooted in the agricultural economy that has sustained this valley for over a century. The star of the festival is not wine. It is grape pie.

Grape Pie: The Reason People Drive Two Hours

Naples calls itself the Grape Pie Capital of the World, and no other town has mounted a serious challenge to the claim. Grape pie is exactly what it sounds like: a double-crust pie filled with Concord grapes, sugar, and a thickener, baked until the filling turns into a deep purple jam-like consistency. The flavor is intensely grape — not artificial grape like candy, but the real Concord grape taste that most Americans only encounter in jam or juice. The crust matters: a good grape pie has a flaky, buttery crust that balances the sweetness and acidity of the filling.

During the festival, multiple vendors sell grape pie by the slice (typically $4 to $6) and by the whole pie ($15 to $25). Lines form early. Monica’s Pies, the most prominent year-round grape pie bakery in Naples, operates a booth at the festival and sells pies at their Route 21 storefront. Cindy’s Pies and Arbor Hill Grapery also sell their versions. Each baker has partisans. The consensus: try more than one.

The World’s Greatest Grape Pie Contest

The festival hosts an annual grape pie baking contest that draws amateur and semi-professional bakers from across the region. Entries are judged on crust, filling, and overall presentation. The contest runs on Saturday, typically in the early afternoon. It is free to watch, and the atmosphere is competitive but good-natured. Winners receive a modest prize and permanent bragging rights in a town that takes grape pie seriously.

What Else Is at the Festival

Arts and Crafts

Over 200 vendors line the streets of Naples during the festival, selling everything from pottery and woodwork to paintings, jewelry, textiles, and photography. The craft quality is generally high — this is a juried show, meaning vendors apply and are selected based on the quality of their work. The booths stretch along Main Street and several side streets, creating a walking loop that takes 60 to 90 minutes to browse at a comfortable pace.

Wine and Food Vendors

Local wineries pour tastings and sell bottles from booths throughout the festival grounds. Arbor Hill Grapery, which sits on Route 64 just outside the village, specializes in grape-based products — wine, grape pie, grape jelly, grape mustard — and has a prominent presence. Other Canandaigua Lake and Keuka Lake wineries participate as well. Beyond wine, food vendors serve grape sausage, grape slushies, kettle corn, barbecue, and standard festival fare. The grape-themed foods are the draw; the standard options are the fallback.

Live Music

Two stages host live performances throughout both days, ranging from local folk and bluegrass acts to regional rock and country bands. The music runs from late morning through early evening. Seating is limited to whatever you bring (lawn chairs are common) or standing room in front of the stages.

When It Happens

The Naples Grape Festival takes place on the last full weekend in September, typically Saturday and Sunday. Hours are generally 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. The exact dates shift year to year — check the official festival website or the Naples Chamber of Commerce for the current year’s schedule. September timing puts the festival right at the edge of grape harvest season and the beginning of fall foliage in the surrounding hills. The drive south on Route 21 from Canandaigua to Naples, through a valley lined with vineyards and hardwood forest, starts showing color by late September in most years.

Getting There and Parking

Naples is on Route 21, about 30 minutes south of Canandaigua and roughly 90 minutes from Rochester or Syracuse.

Parking

In-town parking is extremely limited during the festival. The village streets that normally accommodate a few hundred cars are closed to traffic and filled with vendor booths. Satellite parking lots are set up in fields and properties on the outskirts of the village, with shuttle buses running continuously to the festival grounds. The shuttle is free (or included in a nominal parking fee, typically $5 to $10 per vehicle). Use the satellite lots. Attempting to park in the village itself on festival morning leads to gridlock and frustration.

Traffic

Route 21 is the primary road into Naples from the north, and it is a two-lane highway. On festival Saturday morning between 9 and 11 a.m., traffic backs up significantly — delays of 20 to 30 minutes on the approach are normal. The south approach on Route 21 from Bath is usually lighter. Arriving before 9:30 a.m. or after 1 p.m. reduces wait times substantially. Sunday tends to be slightly less crowded than Saturday, though both days draw heavy attendance.

What to Bring

• Cash. Many vendors accept cards, but some craft booths and smaller food vendors are cash-only. An ATM is available in the village but lines are long during the festival.
• A cooler in your car. If you buy whole grape pies to take home, they travel better in a cooler, especially on warm September days. Wine bottles also benefit from staying cool on the drive back.
• Comfortable walking shoes. The festival covers a significant area on paved streets and some grassy areas. Plan on 2 to 4 hours on your feet.
• Layers. Late September in the Finger Lakes means mornings in the 40s to 50s Fahrenheit and afternoons in the 60s to 70s. The temperature can swing 20 degrees over the course of the day.
• A lawn chair or blanket if you want to sit and enjoy the live music.

Beyond the Festival: What Else to Do Near Naples

If you arrive early or want to extend the day, several stops within a short drive complement the festival:

• Cumming Nature Center (15 minutes north on Gulick Road) has 6 miles of trails through forest and meadow. Operated by the Rochester Museum and Science Center, it charges a modest admission and is open seasonally.
• Grimes Glen, accessible from a trailhead on Vine Street in Naples village, leads to a pair of waterfalls on a streambed walk. The hike is about 1 mile round trip but involves walking in the creek — water shoes recommended. Open year-round, free.
• Bristol Mountain (20 minutes north on Route 64) is a ski resort in winter, but in fall it offers scenic chairlift rides with panoramic views of the Canandaigua Lake valley during peak foliage. Operating dates vary; check their schedule.

The festival falls during the early stage of Finger Lakes October, when the region transitions into full fall mode. If you are visiting from outside the area, combining the Naples Grape Festival with a broader Finger Lakes trip — wine trail visits, gorge hikes, and foliage drives — makes for a packed and well-timed weekend.