For the 13th year in a row, some 40,000 pie lovers will converge on Celebration, Fla., April 26-27 to celebrate their love affair with pie at the American Pie Council's (APC) 2014 Great American Pie Festival.

The free-admission, family-friendly event will feature the Duncan Hines Comstock/Wilderness Pie Creation Station, pie art, chef hat decorating, a Paramount Pictures photo booth and pie-eating contests for children and adults. In addition, Village Inn and Bakers Square Restaurants will sponsor the Pietopia Demonstration Stage, which will feature entertainment and baking demonstrations with chefs from across the country.

The highlight of the festival is the Never-Ending Pie Buffet, featuring 90,000 slices of sweet offerings by Bakers Square Restaurants and Pies, Legendary Baking, Kroger's Private Selection, Publix Super Markets Inc., Village Inn, Wick's Pies, Harlan Bakeries, Winn-Dixie and Cabot Cheese. The buffet and children's activities are the only paid events at the festival. All stage entertainment and demonstrations are free. Tickets to the Pie Buffet are $10 for adults (ages 13 and older) and $5 for seniors (65 and older) and children (ages 6-12). Admission for children age 5 and younger is free.

The festival will also feature special appearances by food-industry celebrities. Susan Spungen, a food stylist for numerous movies, will be at the Paramount Pictures booth. Also appearing will be Francine Bryson, finalist of CBS’s The American Baking Competition, winner of more than 200 local and national baking competitions, and an APC member.

The Show Us Your Best Apron contest will give bakers a chance to show off their cutest aprons in a fun runway themed contest. Anyone attending the festival is invited to model their favorite apron on the PieTopia stage for a chance to win a $250 Emile Henry gift certificate.

For the second year in a row, the APC is sponsoring The Pie Learning Center, to be held April 25-26 at Caribe Royale Hotel in Orlando during the APC National Pie Championships. Championship attendees and the general public can attend free demonstrations and seminars conducted by pastry chefs and industry professionals. This year’s scheduled speakers are Francine Bryson; Susan Reid, Baking Sheet editor, King Arthur Flour; Jim Kline, The EnSol Group; chef Joe Di Paolo, Duncan Hines Comstock/Wilderness; Ken Haedrich, author of Pie and dean of the Pie Academy; and chef James Gallo, Hyatt Regency Atlanta.

For more information, visit www.piecouncil.org.