Appel Farm Marks 65 Years, Recalls Glory Days

Appel Farm Arts and Music Center in Elmer recently marked its 65th anniversary with a weekend celebration, reminiscent of  those it hosted for 25 years starting in 1989. This music festival at its peak in the 1990s and 2000s drew crowds of 10,000 and became known as a cultural landmark for the region—“New Jersey’s Woodstock.”

Appel Farm began as a dream of poultry farmers and music and culture enthusiasts Clare and Albert Appel and was originally started as a summer arts camp.

The residential camp at Appel Farm draws a large number of campers from the region and beyond and remains essential to the organization’s operation.

Clare’s and Albert’s vision that every child needs inspiration and an opportunity to express his or her unique talent in creativity lives through the current operation of community events, performances, classes, and retreats in music, dance, theater, painting, sculpting and many other areas for children and adults alike.

A public charter school with an arts focus, Creative CoLaboratory, was founded in 2019 by local residents both associated with the farm and not. It’s independent, located on the grounds, and serves middle schoolers in grades five through eight with small classes, a creative curriculum, and an atmosphere of originality and cooperation.

The anniversary event was filled with the styles of music that once filled the campus with thousands of fans of artists like Tom Rush, Don McLean, and Livingston Taylor, who headlined the inaugural concert and festival. Richie Havens (who led off the real Woodstock) also appeared at the farm. The Indigo Girls  and many other top 90s groups were later part of the fun.

There has been a lot of interest in bringing these glory days back to Elmer.