2 food festivals you should check out in Dayton area this weekend

Credit: Tom Gilliam

Credit: Tom Gilliam

Two of the Miami Valley’s favorite food festivals are happening this weekend.

From a festival all about sauerkraut to a festival all about apple butter, attendees are sure to not leave hungry or without some interesting treats.

Credit: Tom Gilliam

Credit: Tom Gilliam

Ohio Sauerkraut Festival in Waynesville

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday

WHERE: Main Street in Waynesville

DETAILS: A festival with more than 30 nonprofit food booths and civic groups from the community will be serving over 11,000 pounds of Franks Sauerkraut this weekend. Sauerkraut-inspired food includes sauerkraut pizza, German sundaes, sauerkraut balls, sauerkraut doughnuts and more.

For those who don’t love kraut, there will be several non-sauerkraut food vendors on site. The festival also has over 400 arts and crafts vendors from over 25 states.

The Ohio Sauerkraut Festival is a showcase for Waynesville’s shopping and dining businesses, helping them connect with visitors who might return throughout the year. Kelly Miller, executive director of the Waynesville Area Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the annual Sauerkraut Festival, noted that the village of less than 4,000 residents usually swells to nearly 400,000 for the annual event.

Shuttle bus service will be available from Waynesville High School’s parking lot.

For more information, visit www.sauerkrautfestival.waynesvilleohio.com or the festival’s Facebook page.

Credit: Bill Lackey

Credit: Bill Lackey

Apple Butter Festival in Enon

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.

WHERE: South Xenia Street in Enon and at Enon Elementary School

DETAILS: A festival with warm pints of apple butter is returning this weekend.

The Enon Historical Society will make apple butter on site the old-fashioned way in six, 50-gallon copper kettles, cooked over open wood-burning fires. Canning and selling of the apple butter is done at the festival as it becomes ready. Two jars can be purchased at once, but nothing keeps a person from going through the line again or coming back the next day to buy more.

“They love to hear the ‘pop’ when the canned apple butter cools enough to seal the jar,” said Jessi DeVore, Apple Butter chairman of the Enon Community Historical Society, adding that apple butter cannot be fresher than this.

Other food available at the festival include pork chops, hot dogs, chicken noodles, apple dumplings, walking tacos, funnel cakes, sausages, hamburgers and more. The festival will also have a variety of craft booths, music and other entertainment.

Parking is available behind the old brick elementary school.

For more information, visit www.enonhistoricalsociety.com.

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